Katy Wheelock

Background

About Katy Wheelock

Katy Sheely Wheelock is the founder of Vive l'expérience, LLC to connect world citizens with enriching immersive cultural experiences. See to learn more about upcoming programs to Senegal & Tunisia for French language educators. Learn. Experience. Connect. An experienced trip organizer and leader, she has designed and led multiple student exchanges and educational trips to Senegal, Quebec, and France in her role as middle and high school teacher. In 1997, Katy won a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to the Université Cheikh Anta Diop. For the next two years, she lived and studied in Senegal and worked at the International Organization for Migration, various language programs, and at a Senegalese homeless children’s shelter. Through her professional work with the African Union as well as student and family trips, she has frequently returned to Senegal over the last several decades. Katy holds the role of AATF Vice-President of the Northern Virginia/DC chapter. She has also served on the Executive Council for the American Association of Teachers of French as the Regional Representative for the Mid-Atlantic region until December 31, 2022 and as AATF Vice-President on the Executive Council from January 1, 2023 through June 2024. The Government of France named Katy a chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques for her work promoting the French language and culture in the United States and promoted her to Officier in 2023. Katy works in Arlington Public Schools at Wakefield High School as a high school French teacher in a dynamic, multicultural environment. She previously held the role as World Language Department Chair and led a school-wide Declamation Contest (poetry recitation) for students of multiple languages, develops curriculum, mentors new teachers, and encourages students to use French in class as they explore the Francophone world.