Mr. Valentin Cukierman, the Langley Russian teacher, recently won the national teacher of the year award for Slavic Languages. The AATSEEL, or American Association of Teacher of Slavic and Eastern European languages, award is a national honor, which according to Mr. Cukierman “has never been won in the history of Langley.

Mr. Cukierman spent Jan. 6-9 in Pasadena, California for the national conference, recognizing his achievements. “I call it my Oscar…the award is very validating and makes me want to do more for the students at Langley.”

Starting at Langley 22 years ago, Cukierman created Langley’s Russian program, which is the 2nd largest in the nation.

“I try to emphasize passion and love of learning.  When you have those, you can climb the mountains,” said Cukierman exuberantl.

“I love his energy and enthusiasm, especially in the Russian songs that he uses.  He is able to include everyone in the lesson,” said junior Jake Mazelsky, a Russian 1 student.

“I will for sure take Russian next year.  I love it,” said junior Saleem Mokhiber.
Mr. Cukierman teaches all levels of Russian, up to AP at Langley.  At all levels, he tries to teach his students “to see the differences and recognize similarities between the Russian and American culture.”