Jessica Crawford Nelson is excited to join the team as our District49 Dual Language Immersion Specialist. In her role as the DLI specialist, Crawford works with our world language students, educators and families to put our students on the path to proficiency as they develop an appreciation of other cultures while learning to further understand and appreciate their own.  

With 20 years of Spanish education experience, Crawford has taught in North Dakota, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado and worked with Immersion programs of all levels, from elementary to high school. She pioneered the Spanish Immersion middle school model for the 5^th largest school district in the nation.

Crawford has served as an elected board member to the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers and is a current member of both CCFLT and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. She was selected as a Curriculum and Professional Development Division Instructional Partner Cadre Member for Clark County Foreign Language Curriculum Revision Task Force, is a DuoLingo Certified Educator and a RAND American Teacher Panelist. She has been a District49 Model classroom teacher, presented and/or facilitated World Language Professional Development for the Clark County School District and Academy District 20 and mentored world language teachers from Lewis Palmer District 38, District 49 and District 20.

Crawford has been nominated for many honors including Colorado Teacher of the Year, Horizon Middle School Teacher of the Year, National Conference on Digital Convergence Personalized Learning Classroom of the Year, Las Vegas Academy of the Arts Teacher of Distinction, Clark County School District Rave Review Recipient and more.

Outside of school, Crawford enjoys traveling with her husband and three sons, watching hockey, camping, reading, snowboarding and playing piano.