My Story
Melissa Gould-Drakeley has been an active member of the MLTANSW for almost 20 years. She consulted with language educators, arranged administration and advocated for the reinstatement of the Association, and collaborated to revitalise it in 2004. Melissa held MLTANSW executive positions continuously from 2004-2019, serving as President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Public Officer and Media Liaison Officer. Melissa initiated and coordinated the Linguafest Film Competition which has been running successfully for16 consecutive years and continues to be a major initiative of the MLTANSW. Melissa has strongly supported and collaborated with many MLTANSW initiatives such as Denise Soos Award, Scholarships for new teachers and has always supported funding for teachers to travel to interstate conferences. Melissa received the AFMLTA Recognition of Service Merit Award (2017), the Professional Teachers’ Council Outstanding Professional Service Award (2009) and the Teaching Australia - Australian Awards for Teaching Excellence - ‘Excellence in Teacher Leadership Award’ (2009).
Melissa has led a number of highly successful MLTANSW conferences and workshops including convening the 2009 biennial AFMLTA Conference in Sydney, and the MLTANSW Indonesian Conference held in Bali in 2008. Melissa has generously donated many hours and expertise to present both face to face and online workshops/ keynote presentations and TeachMeets for MLTANSW, AFMLTA, Department of Education, Catholic, AIS and tertiary sectors. Melissa has mentored new committee members and worked with tertiary institutions to encourage preservice teachers to join MLTANSW.