CCSD educator honored with Lifetime Service Award for her contributions to the language teaching profession
Congratulations to Shauna Winegar, who received the Lifetime Service Award at the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching (SWCOLT) Conference! This award is given to educators who have made significant contributions to SWCOLT and the language teaching profession.
Throughout her 31 years as an educator, Winegar has served in various roles. However, no matter her position at the time, she always focuses on the importance and power of language. “I am motivated by my love for people and the joy it brings when you can connect through language. If you never learn a language, you will never know how useful, needed, and enriching such a skill can be. So, I want to provide the opportunity for as many students as I can,” Winegar explained. “Learning and growing myself is also important and has kept me passionate and has connected me to many incredible colleagues who share the same mission and passion, which is invigorating.”
Winegar began her career teaching German and English at Springville High School for 15 years. During that time, she was selected as a Fulbright Teacher Exchange scholar, which allowed her to go to a small town in eastern Germany to teach English to 9th- through 11th-grade students at Goetzinger Gymnasium for a year. Since it was an exchange program, the teacher she exchanged with came to Springville High and taught Winegar’s German classes for the year.
In 2007, Winegar came to Cache County to teach German and English at Mountain Crest High School. She began coordinating the dual immersion program and teaching German part-time at Mountain Crest in 2013. After three years of coordinating the program, Winegar became the DLI Stem Director on the Utah School Board of Education DLI Team of Directors in 2016. During that time, she also coordinated the DLI programs for CCSD and has been working as the Utah Portuguese DLI Director, helping Portuguese teachers throughout the state since 2019.
Winegar is passionate about helping students learn languages and use that knowledge to make a difference. “We need globally aware, linguistically talented, and culturally competent citizens. I believe that language learning is integral to this educational mission,” she said. “Proficiency in more than one language provides our students with a 21st Century skill that provides both academic and economic benefits and important cognitive and social benefits.”
Winegar has also been involved with various foreign language programs and committees. She has served on the Utah Foreign Language Association (UFLA) board in various positions, including as president. She has also served as president and treasurer of the Utah Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG). She is an active SWCOLT and American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language (ACTFL) member.
“I feel very lucky to have had many tremendous experiences as an educator. I am grateful for the many teacher-colleagues I have learned from, the excellent guidance I've received from many administrators, and, most of all, the students I have had the distinct pleasure of teaching,” Winegar expressed. “I could never repay the wonderful parents and students who have made my career as an educator so rewarding and enriching.”