Alabama World Languages Association
The mission of the Alabama World Languages Association is to motivate educators to contribute to
and to advocate for improved world language education for all students at all levels.
AWLA Board
AWLA Members may access Executive Board, Executive Staff and Affiliated Organizations representatives' information through our Member Directory. For all other inquiries please email us at theawla@gmail.com 2025 AWLA Board Slate of Nominees |
2025 Executive Board
Lisa Loyd is a graduate of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She received a Masters in Spanish for Secondary Education from the University of Alabama and has studied abroad in Mexico and Spain. In 2023, she achieved National Board Certification in World Language for Early Adolescence to Young Adulthood in Spanish. She has taught all levels of Spanish, and she currently teaches at Mountain Brook Junior High. She attributes her passion for teaching and language advocacy to her love for people, travel, and her years of service with dedicated colleagues in AWLA and other language associations. Away from the classroom, she enjoys time with her family and friends.
Cody Rawlinson is a native of Rockford, Alabama. He obtained his Bachelors of Arts in Spanish and Dance from the University of Alabama and continued his education at the University of South Alabama where he graduated with his Masters in Spanish Education. He taught Spanish and Dance classes at Fairhope High School for ten years where he was the Sponsor for National Spanish Honor Society, Diversity Club, and the school’s inaugural dance company, Fairhope Dance Collective. Additionally, Cody has been an Instructor of Spanish at the University of South Alabama since 2023. He has had the pleasure of chaperoning students on an extended tour of Spain while also creating an Immersive experience in his classroom. In his free time, Cody enjoys traveling to Spanish-speaking countries and spending time anywhere near a body of water with his family and his dog. Secretary, Kristi Gentry (2025-2027)
Chase Krebs is originally from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. After obtaining his B.A. in Spanish from the University of South Alabama in Mobile, he moved to the Midwest to pursue his M.A. in Spanish Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is currently living in Mobile, AL where he is a Spanish instructor at the University of South Alabama. He teaches a variety of courses including Introductory Spanish, Intermediate Spanish, and Spanish for Healthcare Professionals. His research interests include instructional design and curriculum development. He is particularly interested in using current research on second language acquisition to implement pedagogical practices that focus on providing comprehensible input to support the development of proficiency. When Chase isn't teaching, he enjoys studying meteorology, traveling, and creating materials for other world language teachers.. 
Membership Coordinator, Bethany Powell (2025-2027) Bethany Powell is originally from Brandon, Mississippi. She graduated from Mississippi College with a B.A. in Elementary Education and from Belhaven University with a Master’s in Elementary Education. While in Mississippi, she taught kindergarten and 6th grade. She then started a Spanish program at the middle school where she taught 7th and 8th grade Spanish for 5 years. Bethany moved to Alabama in 2014 and began teaching elementary Spanish for Madison City Schools. Since then, she has taught pre-k through 5th grade Spanish. She has also taught ESL online. Bethany lives in Cullman with her husband, Anthony, and son, Weston. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family and friends and traveling.
Jenna Reynolds earned her Master’s degree from the University of Alabama in Spanish Literature with thesis research centered on feminism during the Spanish transition from dictatorship to democracy, and undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Spanish from the University of Alabama. She spent a year teaching English in Madrid as a Fulbright Scholar. Jenna teaches courses at University of Alabama at Birmingham at the elementary, intermediate, advanced, and honors level. She is also the Course Director for Spanish for Health Professionals at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. Jenna serves as Director of World Language Media Services and UAB’s Language Lab. Her areas of interest are food studies, feminism, memory and trauma, film and television studies and SLA pedagogy. Her teaching focuses on student-centered learning, the use of contemporary cultural resources, and incorporating technology in the classroom. | 2025 Executive Staff
Kristy Britt, MA, is Senior Instructor Emerita of Spanish at the University of South Alabama. She has held many leadership positions including Treasurer of the International Association for Language Learning Technology, President of Southeast Association for Language Learning Technology, Director of the USA Language Resource Center, Coordinator of Introductory and Intermediate Spanish, Director of USA Study Abroad in Spain and Costa Rica, and Secretary of the USA Faculty Senate. She received her BA in Spanish and English from the University of South Alabama and her MA in Spanish from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has taught levels 4-16. She was the 2015 Teacher of the Year (post-secondary) for the Alabama Association of Foreign Language Teachers. Kristy lives in Mobile and in her free time loves traveling, attending concerts, and being with family and friends.
Christina Thurman joined the AWLA executive staff in 2017. She received her B.A. in Spanish, M.A. in Secondary Education and Ed.S. in TESOL from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.. Her instructional leadership certificate is from Auburn University at Montgomery. She taught Spanish 15 years in the K-12 setting, through ACCESS, and at the undergraduate level at UAB. She taught ESL and served as a district EL coordinator for five years before moving to the Alabama State Department of Education in 2022. In her role as an English learner specialist, she also creates the ALSDE’s World Languages, Latin, and American Sign Language newsletter. Christina is a lifelong learner who is passionate about languages, cultures, and volunteerism.
Chelsea Lawrence (2023-2025) Chelsea Lawrence is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and a Masters in the Teaching of Languages. Since completing her degree in 2015, she has taught Upper School Spanish at UMS-Wright Preparatory School in Mobile, Alabama. Alongside her colleagues, she has developed intermediate level curriculum with a focus on Central America and the Caribbean Basin. This expertise stems from her time abroad in Spain, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, and Costa Rica. Dedicated to her profession, Chelsea presents innovative teaching methods at education conferences at the local, state, and regional levels. When not in the classroom, you can find her working in the garden, spending time with family or enjoying a great cup of coffee!
Dr. Hamsa Mahafza is a faculty member at the College of Education at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), specializing in multiculturalism, foreign language teaching methods, and differentiated instruction. She earned ESL and Languages Other Than English (EC-12) certifications from the University of Texas at San Antonio, along with an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction and a PH.D. in Culture, Literacy, and Language. Her research focuses on service-learning and heritage language education. Dr. Mahafza taught various levels of Arabic at St. Mary's University and contributed to the development of an Arabic-English bilingual curriculum for Northside ISD. She served as Chair of ACTFLs Heritage Languages SIG, is the Advocate Director for AWLA, and a Board Member for Alabama NAME. A UAH Honors College Faculty Fellow (2022-2024), she is also the organizer/director of the UAH Teach to INCLUDE conference. She received the 2022 AWLA Friend of Languages Award and the UAH Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Award. Passionate about children's literature, she authored The Arabian Cinderella and The Secret of the Woven Threads.
Past President, Liza Heath (2024-2026) Liza Marilyn Heath teaches middle school Spanish and French at UMS-Wright Preparatory School in Mobile, Alabama. Born and raised in Puerto Rico she graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, where she received her B.A. in Special Education and Elementary Education. Her experience teaching languages includes teaching English, Spanish, Latin, and French to elementary, middle school, and high school students in Puerto Rico, Miami, Morocco, and Mobile, Alabama. Learning Moroccan Arabic as an adult and teaching students their core subjects in their L4 was not only a big eye opener for her, but has transformed her teaching style and provided her with tools she loves to share with other language educators.
Yohanna Jiménez is a native of Puerto Rico and lives in Daphne, Alabama. She began her teaching career twenty four years ago in Mississippi as an elementary (K-6) school Spanish teacher. She has taught Spanish to grades K-16 in both public and private schools. She currently teaches seventh and eight grade at Bayside Academy in Daphne, AL. She holds a B.A in Science from the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, and a Master of Arts in the Teaching of Languages from the University of Southern Mississippi. Yohanna has served in various leadership roles, including webmaster, regional workshop coordinator, postcard contest coordinator, board member, vice-president, president, and past president of the Mississippi Foreign Language Association (MFLA). She has also been president and poster contest coordinator of the AATSP Mississippi Chapter, program director of SCOLT, and a representative of NNELL . Yohanna is an active member and presenter at state, regional and national world language conferences, including AATSP and ACTFL. Social Media Coordinator, Chrissy Roe (2025-2027) Exhibits Chair 2026, AWLA Past Presidents: Liza Heath (2022-2024) Jennifer Charles (2020-2022), Kristy Britt (2018-2020), Malinda O'Leary (2017-2018), Krista Chambless (2015-2017) |
President (2024-2026), Lisa Loyd
Vice President / Program Chair Cody Rawlinson (2024-2026)
Treasurer, Chase Krebs (2024-2026)
Parliamentarian, Jenna Reynolds (2025-2026).jpg)
Executive Director, Kristy Britt 
Registration Chair, EL Liaison, AWLEF President Christina Thurman (2025-2027) 
Awards Director, Professional Development Director, Conference Host 2026,
Webmaster, 
AWLEF Executive Director, Krista Chambless
Dr. Krista Chambless is an Associate Professor of Spanish, French and Foreign Language Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She holds a Master’s degree in Romance Languages (Spanish and French) and a PhD in Foreign Language Education. She is a frequent presenter at state, regional, national and international conferences. She is the President of SCOLT, Director of the Elementary Spanish Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Professional Development Director for the Alabama World Language Association. She has published articles in System, Foreign Language Annals and the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. She also co-hosts a podcast called Step Into Mondays about world language teaching. She was the Southern Conference on Language Teaching Educator of Excellence in 2013. In 2021 she received the Wilga Rivers Award for Leadership in World Language Education. In 2022 she was selected as the ACTFL/CALICO DL SIG Excellence in Online Education awardee and in 2023 she was name the AATSP Teacher of the Year for Four year colleges and Universities.
AATSP President for Alabama, Brandon Cole
The Spanish language has always been intriguing to him, beginning with his first Spanish class in the ninth grade. Brandon has been blessed to have had several wonderful teachers throughout the years who have served as role models to him and inspired him to become an educator. He is passionate not only about Spanish but about sharing my knowledge with others as a teacher. He havs had several teaching experiences, mostly with college education classes, but also as volunteer positions.
SEALLT Liaison, Ari Gutman
Ari is from Jacksonville, FL originally but has lived in Auburn, AL since 1997. After receiving a Master of Hispanic Studies in 2002, he began teaching Elementary and Intermediate Spanish courses for Auburn University. He also served as the Elementary Spanish Coordinator for six years. Currently, he is a board member of SEALLT and FLAG serving as the Techspert (Technology Expert). He has a wonderful wife, two stepchildren and six-and-a-half-month-old twin girls. They are the light of his life! In his spare time, which is rare, he enjoys sculpting and watching Star Wars and horror movies.
AATG President, Ian Samlowski
Ian Samlowski grew up in Madison, Alabama. He graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa with a BA in German in 2017. Ian then attended the Pädagogische Hochschule in Karlsruhe, Germany where he studied Germany and general pedagogy. He went on to earn his MA in German at the University of Alabama in 2020. Afterward, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to work as an English Teaching Assistant at the Martin-Luther-Europaschule in Herten, Germany. Upon returning to the United States in 2022, Ian was hired as a German teacher at the Jefferson County International Baccalaureate school where he currently teaches German grades 6 - 8 and sponsors the after-school Debate Team. Ian lives in Pelham, Alabama and when he is not teaching, he enjoys cooking, playing guitar, and engaging with the German community in Alabama.
ACA Liaison, Buck Crowe
Buck holds a BA in Classics from Wheaton College in Massachusetts and a MA in Field Archaeology from the University of York in the United Kingdom. Over the past nineteen years he has taught Latin and Greek at Mt Brook Junior High, Altamont School, and Indian Springs School where he currently chairs the Department of Modern and Classical Languages. He has served the Alabama Junior Classical League for the last twelve years as co-chair. Outside the classroom, he has participated in summer study sessions with the American School of Classical Studies in Athens along with archaeological fieldwork in Greece, Italy, the UK, Egypt, and Alabama. Buck is a former NCAA Division III swimmer and a Certified Cicerone candidate. Making Greek and Roman inspired pottery with his students is his latest passion. He lives in Birmingham with his wife and their two-year-old daughter.
AATF President, Peter Rosborough
Peter Rosborough holds a BS from the United States Air Force Academy and an MA from Middlebury College. He joined the faculty of The Altamont School in Birmingham, AL, in 1999, where he teaches Exploratory to AP French to 5th – 12thgraders. Prior to that, he taught all the upper school French courses at the Webb School of Knoxville for two years. He is passionate about curriculum development, and he has led a dozen student trips to France. Peter has held a variety of officer positions in support of French in the state of Alabama through the Alliance Française of Birmingham, the Alabama Association of Foreign Language Teachers, and the Alabama Federation of French Clubs (French Convention).
NNELL Liaison, Sara Ahnell
Sara Ahnell, Ed.D., has taught French and English in public schools in Alabama since 2012 and was named 2023 AWLA World Language Teacher of the Year. Currently she teaches all levels of French (I, II, III, IV, V/AP/IB) at Auburn High School, and she taught previously at Opelika High School and Sylacauga High School. In 2018, she achieved National Board Certification in World Language for Early Adolescence to Young Adulthood in French and maintained certification in 2023.
Dr. Ahnell is also an instructor at Auburn University in the College of Education’s world language teacher preparation program and has served in this role teaching courses in classroom management mentoring both aspiring and veteran language teachers since 2013. Her areas of research interest include integrating high-leverage teaching practices for language acquisition, developing proficiency-based thematic curricula, and implementing effective classroom management strategies for secondary world language teaching. Dr. Ahnell’s work has been published in The French Review and The Language Educator. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys spending time with her husband and three small children.
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