Baldwin leaders search for ways to expand English classes for growing Hispanic population
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Help wanted: Receptionist for growing school. Ability to speak English and Spanish preferred. That’s basically the job description devised by Foley Elementary Principal Bill Lawrence last summer. He found the perfect candidate — Nancy Quezada Hunter, who speaks Spanish and English — to help bridge the communication gap between English-speaking staff and Spanish-speaking parents. “Sometimes, I come in at 7:30, and they’re here waiting for me; maybe a parent wants something translated for a teacher,” said Hunter, who was born in Mexico and arrived in the Mobile area in the 1960s. |
Welcome to south Baldwin County, where the growing Hispanic population is transforming the landscape for school communities. They are hiring bilingual staff, helping some families find shelter and, perhaps most important, joining with civic leaders to rapidly expand English-training classes — English as a Second Language, better known as ESL — to reach entire families. The county school board recently approved spending $30,000 to refurbish the upstairs of an old Methodist church, situated adjacent to Foley Middle School at Pine Street and U.S. 98, for an ESL classroom. The program at the facility will target adults for night classes, and it’s a partnership between the school system and the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.
search for : Ability to speak English and Spanish preferred, Hispanic, English-training classes, English as a Second Language, ESL
