Celebrating Collaboration and Innovation at the 2025 WIDA Conference

Search Associates Jennifer and  Robert Imolt joined more than 2,500 educators, leaders, and innovators in Seattle for the annual WIDA Conference, held October 28–30. With over 200 presenters and more than 100 breakout sessions, the event brought together professionals from across the United States dedicated to advancing English language learning. Inspired by the energy of the gathering, Jennifer shared:

We were amazed to meet so many high-quality educators coming together at WIDA from every corner of the U.S., all of them committed to helping ignite language learning in students.

The opening keynote was delivered by Viet Thanh Nguyen—Pulitzer Prize–winning author, university professor, and an influential voice on the immigrant and refugee experience. As the acclaimed writer of The Sympathizer, Nguyen offered reflections rich with humanity and insight, resonating deeply with educators of multilingual learners.

The conference concluded with a keynote from 2024 National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman. A veteran first- and second-grade teacher, Testerman recently expanded her impact by earning an ESL endorsement through Tennessee’s Grow Your Own initiative. She now serves as the ESL specialist and program director at Rogersville City School in East Tennessee and has additionally led summer programs and contributed to district leadership efforts.

Search Associates was honored to participate in a conference that continues to inspire and elevate the work of educators serving multilingual learners. We look forward to supporting this vibrant community in the year ahead.