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Joris De Roy Memorial Grant winners 2024

05/05/2024 - 11:19

Traditionally, BELTA Day ends with drawing the names of the Joris De Roy Memorial Grant winners.  And on BELTA Day 2024, it was none other than our previous grant winners Maggy Brusselmans and Vanessa Kint who picked the winners from a large group of applicants. The two lucky delegates of edition 2024 are Jacques Henet and Megan De Rouck.  

What exactly did they win? The Joris De Roy Memorial Grant supports teachers financially and enables them to attend the annual four-day IATEFL conference in the UK, which will be held in Edinburgh next year. BELTA pays their IATEFL memberhip for a year, sponsors the 2025 IATEFL conference fee and covers the BELTA Day 2025 costs. Our two winners will get the opportunity to join a worldwide network of English teaching specialists and attend the annual IATEFL conference with thousands of other teachers from all over the world. Find all the information about BELTA Grants and the Professional Development Aid fund that was set up to this end on our website.

We are happy our two winners have different profiles: one is a beginning lady teacher, the other an experienced gentleman teacher and long-time BELTA supporter. Let's meet them and see what their reactions are to winning the grant:

Megan is a new BELTA member and wrote the following:

"As some of you may know, BELTA Day 2024 was my first time attending. Being a relatively new English teacher, I understand the challenges that come with the profession. I was touched by the kindness and warmth of everyone I had the pleasure of interacting with that day. Participating in a variety of presentations allowed me to glean insights into the endless possibilities within our field. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to have been part of such an incredible event. Meeting such remarkable individuals, whether they were speakers or fellow attendees, not only enriches me personally but will undoubtedly benefit the students I encounter in my journey. I am also deeply grateful for the Joris De Roy Memorial Grant, which has afforded me the incredible opportunity to attend the IATEFL conference in Edinburgh next year. Once again, I cannot adequately express my sincere gratitude for this opportunity and assure you that I will make the most of it."

Jacques already attended 5 BELTA Days, 2024 was his 6th. He is not exactly a novice when it comes to conferences:

I've attended a few IATEFL conferences in the past. The last one was in Brighton (2018), the first one was in Edinburgh in 1999! So back to Scotland after 25 years! Attending an IATEFL conference means attending dozens of interesting workshops over 4 days. The programme is very comprehensive, with workshops on a wide variety of topics, so there is always something for everyone.

I've always come back to Belgium with lots of new ideas that can be put into practice immediately in the language classroom. I have always shared all the good teaching tips from IATEFL conferences with my colleagues. In a way, they will be able to benefit from the Belta grant as well. Thank you so much!

CONGRATULATIONS, Megan and Jacques! We wish you a wonderful IATEFL experience in 2025 and look forward to seeing you back on the next BELTA Day to share your experiences.