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USF and Hillsborough County Public Schools Partner to Launch Pathways to Biliteracy Symposium
On March 7, the University of South Florida College of Education and the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching served as the host site for the inaugural Pathways to Biliteracy Symposium, organized by Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS). The event brought together more than 200 dual language, world language, and ESOL resource teachers from across the district for a day of professional learning, collaboration, and celebration of multilingual education.
The symposium was designed to support educators working across bilingual, dual language, and ESOL contexts while strengthening pathways to biliteracy for students throughout Hillsborough County. The event highlighted the district’s ongoing commitment to multilingual learners and the educators who support them every day.
The symposium was brought to life through the leadership and collaboration of an outstanding HCPS team, including Melissa Morgado, General Director of Multilingual Learners; Verónica Schmidt-Gomez, World Language and Dual Language Supervisor; Jessica de la Prida, ELL Supervisor, Secondary; Cristina Fernandez, ELL Supervisor, Elementary; Eduardo Escudero Garnica, Coordinator of World Languages DoDEA; and Maria Perez, Dual Language District Resource Teacher. Additional support was provided by ELL District Resource Teachers Miranda Saklani, Ana Lachapel, Ana Baylis, and Stania Peña.
USF’s involvement in the event was coordinated by Dr. Molly Hamm-Rodríguez, Assistant Professor of Social Foundations of Education, and Dr. Rachel Hatten, Co-Director of the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching. The symposium also welcomed participation from Interim Dean Jenifer Jasinski Schneider, Associate Deans Bill Black and Zafer Unal, and College of Education faculty engaged in bilingual education research and teaching, including Dr. Lisa Lopez, Dr. Wenyu Guo, and Dr. Jane Govoni.
Graduate students from the USF College of Education — Adrianna Vianna, Ajara Mahmoud, Anusha Govada, and Pengju Guan — also played an important role in supporting the event through volunteer service and event coordination throughout the day.
The symposium reflects the strong and growing partnership between USF and Hillsborough County Public Schools in support of multilingual learners, educator development, and community-engaged professional learning. Organizers expressed excitement about continued collaboration and future opportunities to support educators and students across the region.