OFFICERS
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Jean M. Copeland
PRESIDENT
Jean M. Copeland lives in Lansdowne and retired from teaching French at JR Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia, in June 2020, where she was World Language Department Chair, as well as sponsor for the Masterman Chapter of The French National Honor Society. She is also a member of the NECTFL Executive Counsel and is the Chair of the AATF High School Commission.
Rochelle Ostroff-Weinberg
VICE PRESIDENT
Rochelle Ostroff-Weinberg is the current Chapter Vice President, editor of the Chapter newsletter, le Réverbère, and creator of le Coin de la Francophonie, a column which provides members with information, lessons and activities on different regions of the Francophone world. She began her teaching as a Teaching Assistant at Penn State University and the University of Pennsylvania while pursuing her Master’s Degree in French Literature and Linguistics from 1974 to 1976. She recently retired from teaching the Upper School French program at Friends’ Central School in Wynnewood, PA where she began in 1994.
Sally Cushmore
SECRETARY
Sally Cushmore lives in Conshohocken and has been teaching at Souderton Area High School since 2013. She is Secretary of the AATF Philadelphia Chapter. She obtained her M.A. in French from Middlebury College in 1997 after spending a year in Paris.
Valérie Gasbara
TREASURER
Valérie Gasbara, Chapter Treasurer, lives in Collegeville and teaches French at the Phoenixville Area High School where she is the Coordinator of the Franco-American Student Exchange and Faculty Advisor of the French Honor Society. She also participates in the AP reading.
Golaleh Daryoush
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Golaleh Daryoush has been a teacher of French at Radnor High School since 2006. With a BA degree from ICHEC in Brussels, Belgium, she has a background in finance and landscape architecture, she earned her teacher certification from Rosemont College. Daryoush organizes student trips and has been a volunteer at the Barnes Foundation.
Rita Davis
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Rita Davis lives in Bryn Mawr and has been teaching French at the Agnes Irwin School for the last 37 years where she is currently Chair of the Modern Language Department. Rita served as co-president of the Philadelphia chapter from 2009 through 2013. She has been a consultant for the College Board since 1998 and at this time she is a table leader for the AP French language and culture exam. Rita is currently serving her second three-year term as vice-president of the AATF.
Dianne Goodard
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Dianne Goodard lives in West Chester and is a French teacher and Chair of the World Language Department at Villa Maria Academy in Malvern. She is moderator of the French Honor Society and the French Club at VMA.
Edith Guay
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Edith Guay lives in Collegeville. She served as Co-President of the Philadelphia chapter from 2013 through 2017 and as Vice-President from 2017 through 2021. Edith teaches French at Jenkintown High School where she is the World Language Department Leader, Coordinator of the French Exchange Program, and Faculty Advisor for the World Language Honor Society.
Sister Mary Helen Kashuba
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Sister Mary Helen Kashuba, Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques, recipient of the Nelson Brooks Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Profession, and the Dorothy Ludwig Teaching Award, is professor of French and Russian at Chestnut Hill College. She has been National French Contest Administrator since 1978. She is a past member of the Boards of NECTFL and ACTFL, and currently serves on the Executive Board of PSMLA and MLAPV. She is Past President of the national AATF.
Sarah Thatcher
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Sarah Thatcher has had a passion for speaking French and learning about the francophone world since her year spent as a Rotary Exchange Student in Nantes, France during her junior year of High School. She has taught French and Spanish at all levels from Exploratory Middle School Programs through High School in a variety of schools from rural to an international school in Spain. She has been lucky enough to teach mostly 7th and 8th grade French and Spanish at Saucon Valley Middle School since 2004. Sarah joined the board of AATF Philadelphia in 2018.
Deborah Watson
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Deborah Watson lives in Radnor, and enjoys teaching French to home-schooled children and Ph.D. Theology and Biblical Studies students. She teaches biblical Greek, serves as Chaplain, and translator for Palmer Seminary of Eastern University. Before moving to this area, Debbie taught French and ESL at Salem and Newport High Schools in New Hampshire. She studied French Language and Civilization at Gordon College and at the Université de Paris – Sorbonne. During her time in Paris, Debbie helped raise two delightful little girls, who now have families of their own, and Debbie enjoys visiting them as often as possible!
Emily Wagner
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Emily Wagner lives in Huntingdon Valley. Now retired, she has taught French for 43 years at all levels, from preschool to college. Most recently she was Head of the Middle School Modern Language Department at Germantown Academy and Adjunct Professor of French at Chestnut Hill College. She has been honored with the first endowed Chair in World Languages at her institution in 2001, the 2002 AATF Dorothy S. Ludwig Excellence in Teaching Award for Middle School Teachers, the 2007 PSMLA Educator of the Year Award, the 2008 Northeast Conference Teacher of the Year Award and was a finalist for ACTFL Teacher of the Year in 2009.