Madjiguene Falls Named January 2019 Holmes Scholar of the Month
Congratulations to Madjiguene (Madji) Falls, Holmes Scholar of the Month for January 2019!
Falls is a 3rd-year doctoral candidate at Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey. She is part of Rowan’s inaugural cohort and is a professor in residence at West Avenue School in Bridgeton, NJ. Falls is devoted to social justice and equity in education. Her areas of specialization are language literacy and working with students who are English language learners. She fluently speaks five languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish, and Wolof.
As founder of her own language literacy company, Language for Work, Falls helps to eradicate barriers hindering families and children’s whose first language is not English. She provides cultural diversity training and occupational language courses to help students and families to engage with and be able to communicate more effectively with various systems. In addition, she partners with the Family Success Center of Glassboro, NJ and the Glassboro Child Development Center. Falls has provided other humanitarian services such as providing free Spanish classes to families in need, advocating for families involved with immigration services, and using her voice to speak out against violence.
She uses every opportunity at her disposal to become involved with organizations focusing on social justice and language literacy. During her tenure as a teacher, Falls assisted with the development and implementation of the district’s first elementary bilingual education program and was a member of the district’s Minority Recruitment Committee. She currently facilitates sessions for the New Jersey Network to Close the Achievement Gaps (NJCAG). She is a member of the American Council on The Teaching of Foreign Languages, New Jersey Education Association, Camden and North Gloucester County Chapter of the New Jersey Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages/New Jersey Bilingual Educators. She has also served as co-chair for NJ TESOL for the past four years. Other volunteer experiences include working with Hospice in Patient Services, with Catholic Charities in Immigration Services, and with Community Action Stop Abuse.
Falls has presented at numerous conferences and is an author of several published works. She has received a number of awards for her work, which include New Jersey Governor’s Educator of the Year 2015-2016, Outstanding Leadership Award, and recognition for her involvement in District Minority Recruitment Efforts.
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