Annette Orlando

I actually became a teacher by default. I am an American and was working in Europe, when my daughter was born with a congenital birth defect and needed to move back to the USA. By virtue of the fact that I spoke a few languages, thanks to my working abroad it was easy to find a program that allowed me to achieve a masters in teaching of world languages. Obviously helping our baby w/ the best medical outcome was the priority, however, changing career paths was difficult yet important 4 the future

My most memorable moments were taking 6-8th graders on a yearly French exchange program for 2 wks to France & reciprocated in the US. This lead 2 my hearing of many more student trips which were sparked by their initial experiences with us. What a great joy to hear of how that 4 weeks changed there life and opened their minds to travel and exploring different cultures.

I would most definitely give 1/2 to Smile Train which is the world’s largest cleft-focused organization. It supports safe, high-quality, and FREE cleft care for those in need & provides training programs that empower cleft professionals in 75+ countries to treat patients with care that is life-changing, high-quality, and free. I would set up a scholarship fund @ my HS with the remaining $ for children w facial deformities pursuing higher education.