After a few years of being forced to cut staff positions throughout the Jamestown Public Schools district, if this year’s budget is any indication, that trend may end. Included in the proposed 2007-08 budget are a math coordinator, reading coaches for Fletcher, Lincoln, Love and Rogers elementary schools and Washington Middle School, extracurricular adviser positions, an English as a second language teacher and a bus mechanic. Dale Weatherlow, assistant superintendent, said he is optimistic no layoffs will take place. ‘‘This is the first year hopefully we won’t have to do that,’’ he said. The addition of an ESL instructor will also benefit students in the district, Kathman said. ‘‘We’re hopeful we’ll serve the needs of our ESL kids more effectively with another ESL teacher,’’ he said.

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“One Day at a Time” was the song that eight adult students sang Wednesday night. It’s also the credo of their classroom. They performed in the Burbank Adult School auditorium in front of more than 100 friends and family of fellow students. It was the middle of Adult Education Week in the district and the end of the school’s multicultural appreciation day, in which students performed songs and dances that reflected their cultures.

Most who sang, like Osmin Zelada, 30, of North Hollywood, are learning English as their second language and taking extra classes at the school on the side. “I want to learn English,” said Zelada, whose first language is Spanish. “I want to write and speak English. If I do that, I can say to anybody what I want or what I don’t want, or what I like or don’t like. It’s hard, but I have to do it.” The week included a trip to the state capital on Monday to present three Assembly bills on adult education. The bills would increase funding and make more money available to students who take classes through the Internet and other correspondence. English as a second language and literacy classes and civic and citizenship education programs throughout the state were awarded funds. (more…)

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In Academy School District 20, one student speaks Azerbaijani, an Ethiopian tongue, and three speak Tagalog, the language of the Philippines. In Colorado Springs School District 11, students speak languages ranging from Bosnian to Burmese, Hindi to Hungarian. There are 14 distinct African dialects. Welcome to the culturally chaotic world of English Language Learners — also called English Second Language — where students come from more countries than some people can name. About 2,500 students speak more than 46 languages in the Pikes Peak region’s two largest districts.

Schools are required by federal law to provide programs for non-English-speaking students, and teachers who undertake the challenge relish in bringing communication to a classroom where students quite literally have spanned the globe. “We have all the way from university professors’ kids to laborers’ kids, to all the areas in between,” said Christina Clayton, ELL foreign language and migrant facilitator. “We run the gamut.” Most are Hispanic, but sometimes students come as refugees from war-ravaged countries. In Lewis-Palmer School District 38, where about 140 students speak about 30 languages, many are international adoptees, said Jalen Waltman, ELL facilitator. The programs are not taught by bilingual instructors, as a foreignlanguage class is usually taught. Instead, teachers use pictures, props, and acting to show students English words and expressions. (more…)

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Some Hispanic students at St. Pauls High School have joined the immigration debate. The students, in an English as a Second Language class, recently wrote an open letter expressing their views on the topic. The letter was a project after a class about immigration reform. Teacher Morris Cardenas used news articles to get the students talking. He said students should be aware of what’s happening in the world and in their neighborhood. “I also want them to be aware that there are two sides to every argument,” he said. “Also, that they need to understand that democracy means you can state your opinion in a manner that is educated. That they have a right to voice their opinion whether they are from here or not from here. Democracy does not know borders. Democracy is a human right.”

Cardenas’ goal was for the students to feel comfortable stating their opinions on issues that affect them. “Some kids act as if they could care less, and then there are some kids who are very active and want to know what is in store for them now and in their future,” he said. The students read the articles then discussed the pros and cons. “One thing I have expressed to the kids is their rights,” Cardenas said. “I tell them: ‘As far as U.S. citizens’ rights, you have none. Coming over here by the means most of you have, you broke the law. But you are guaranteed civil rights.’ “If I am an educator, I cannot just tell them, ‘This isn’t right.’ I have to explain to them why this is happening and to present to them the other side of the coin. If I don’t tell them why others disagree, I am not being fair.” The students, all from Mexico, shared their views about arrests at Smithfield Packing Co. and proposed immigration laws. More than two dozen illegal immigrants were arrested at the hog-processing plant in Tar Heel nearly two months ago. Many face deportation. (more…)

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Rosa Venancio, a South Puget Sound Community College student born in Mexico, wrote that her first few years in the U.S. made her as scared as a small chick away from its mother. Fellow student Cuong To wrote about seeing snow for the first time: it really paints a beautiful picture that I could only watch in movies when I was in Vietnam.

The English as a Second Language students were among the contributors to the department’s annual publication ESL Students Bring You the World, unveiled Thursday during a reception at the college. The publication started in 2002 in one class with 25 students. It has grown to 83 pages with more than 175 writers of many levels. The publication has grown because the number of students in the program and the percentage writing stories have risen, ESL teacher Heather Williams said. About 225 students take ESL classes in varying levels at SPSCC, she said. College president Gerald Pumphrey thanked the contributors before a program in which students read some of the stories. (more…)

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Third-grader Joseph whips through a math section on symmetry, which Lam approves based on his assurances. “He say, ‘Easy, Mommy,’ ” Lam said , switching to English from the Vietnamese the children learned first. She learned later that Joseph didn’t quite understand, nor fully complete, that evening’s homework. Guilford County Schools serves about 5,700 children who come from more than 80 countries. They speak 100 languages. They are refugees from war-torn nations. Children fleeing poverty. And, educators say, many already lag behind in their education.

Educators here and across the nation call that a major flaw in the federal No Child Left Behind Act , enacted in 2002. They want to see changes when legislators revise the law this year. As the federal measures stand , Guilford County schools fail miserably to reach these students. However, another test that educators call more appropriate shows Guilford at just above the state average in teaching these students English. And state officials gave Guilford high marks in an October audit of its program, which includes adult English and computer classes, translators at schools, and Saturday and summer school for students. The district wants to add more school-based interpreters and create a separate school for the students furthest behind in learning English. “If you’re not literate in your own language, then it’s a greater leap to build on the English language,” said Mary Allred, who helps Guilford teachers who work with students still learning English. (more…)

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English-learning students at College of the Canyons will have additional opportunities to improve their speaking skills this semester, as the college’s ESL program will begin offering a new supplemental English language instruction course this week. Helping non-native English speakers – both foreign and domestic – grasp the skills necessary to thrive in a collegiate classroom setting, COC’s English as a second language program offers students a number of beginning, intermediate and advanced supplemental instruction style courses to assist students with their educational goals.

With a focus on strengthening the student’s writing, speaking, reading and vocabulary skills, ESL courses are structured to encourage student classroom participation and peer-to-peer communication. Beginning instruction March 6, ESL 083 – an entry-level course focused on reading and vocabulary and speaking skills – will be offered from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Golden Valley High School. “That’s actually a fun class,” said ESL department chair Heather Maclean. “They get to do a lot of talking, so students tend to like that.” During a typical class, students begin the session by conducting a group reading or speaking exercise, before breaking off with a partner and then a small group for more language practice, Maclean said. After the initial set of drills, students then gather to discuss new student reading strategies and play vocabulary-building games with each other. “There’s no teacher standing there lecturing,” Maclean said about the class format. “It’s very active, and it’s very student centered. But it’s a very safe and structured environment with teachers who are there to help.” Although class sessions have already started, students interested in enrolling in the course can do so in the COC admissions office, or simply attend a session – where ESL instructors are available to individually assist in the process. (more…)

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Think of the culture clashes that Toyota’s arrival may bring to Northeast Mississippi: East and West, cosmopolitan and rural, wealthy and, well, hoping to be wealthy. Ole Miss will provide facilities, faculty and administrative support for classes aimed at a couple of those – Toyota’s native Japanese culture and the company’s special way of working – that will come with the auto plant. “I think our primary mission is to help them,” said Ole Miss Provost Carolyn Staton. “We’re planning to work with them on the Japanese Saturday school for the children and an engineering program in combination with (the Business School) that teaches the methodology that Toyota uses.”

Ole Miss officials are eager to see how Toyota’s presence may impact demand for Japanese language courses, which currently have 40 to 45 students. “Unlike with traditional classes, students in Japanese attend class four days a week,” said Dr. Donald Dyer, chair of Modern Languages. “We have a co-requisite class in Japanese culture.” Along with Japanese instruction, the university – along with local school systems – may see more demand for English as a Second Language (ESL) classes because of Toyota’s coming. A possible influx of even more Spanish-speaking construction workers could push the need even further. For industry and education alike, Dyer said, “ESL and things like that are becoming big-ticket items.” (more…)

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