ROBIN DE ANDRÉS Robin de Andrés  The "The Robin Bjoraas de Andrés Grant for Presentations Related to Primary and Secondary Education" is given in honour of Robin de Andrés, a long-standing member of TESOL-SPAIN and local coordinator for Gijón until her sudden and untimely death in 2002. Her unstinting dedication to the English Language Teaching profession unquestionably merits awarding this grant in her honour.

 Robin's family kindly provided the following biodata:

Robin Bjoraas de Andrés was born in Battlecreek, Michigan, on July 22, 1954. As a child, she travelled widely throughout Europe, which aroused her interest in cultural and linguistic differences, a feature which later became a core element of her teaching. She graduated cum laude from the University of Texas in Austin in 1975, majoring in bilingual education. She started to work in this area and, in 1979, obtained an MA in Foreign Language Teaching Methodology from the same university. In 1983, she obtained a second MA, this time in Business Administration, and from that time on worked in bilingual education in various North American School districts, basing her methodology on the practical use of audio visual material together with the use of arts and crafts as well as pictures.

Her teaching reflected a concern for using authentic English to develop communicative competence, although always keeping in mind that she was working with young learners. She was recognised as a prestigious speaker at numerous seminars and conferences, in particular at the annual conventions of Bilingual Education in Texas and Virginia as well as at TESOL International conventions.  Robin also contributed to many publications including Logoi, the English Teaching Professional magazine and the TESOL-SPAIN Newsletter.

Arriving in Spain in 1998, Robin taught in a number of academies and bilingual schools, and it was then that she began to give talks and courses dedicated to teacher training and teaching English to young learners. She travelled widely throughout Spain giving presentations sponsored by major publishers, was invited to speak at numerous teacher training centres in the country, and gave sessions at conventions dealing specifically with bilingualism. Her practical talks such as "Tell Me A Story", "Puppets are Great" (including explanations of how to use toilet paper tubes to make puppets) and "Learning English is Fun" were always received enthusiastically by teachers who were often tired of the purely theoretical approach.  Robin died suddenly on June 14, 2002 , but she will always be remembered for her dedication to the field, enthusiasm and her delightful personality.