The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction recently convened a task force for the purpose of expanding dual language programs in our state for all students. Should the initiative get traction and be implemented throughout our state, this would make dual language available across our state. All students would have access to instruction in two languages. As an English language educator and the parent of a child in the Spanish Immersion program in Spokane, the prospect of dual language rolling out for all students is exciting. The benefits of bilingualism are countless, including expanded job opportunities and brain function.

Few districts in our state currently provide dual language programs. However, there are a few ahead of the game and can serve as prime examples of what dual language can look like and accomplish. Pasco school district has a robust bilingual program which particularly supports their Spanish speaking English Language Learners. They are working on expanding to all students. Seattle public schools also has several dual language programs in multiple languages and there are successful programs in Burlington and Mt. Vernon. 

One program in particular, though, serves as a model for the potential outcomes of successfully implementing dual language throughout a school – Evergreen Elementary School in the small district of Shelton, Washington. Evergreen elementary school implements a 50/50 model, in which students have instruction in both English and Spanish every school day, across all subjects. This is a key piece to the program. Students have access to academic language for every subject, which is essential to gaining true biliteracy. Additionally, Evergreen serves students from pre-k through 5th grade and has shown tremendous growth in all students. 

Under the new Every Student Succeeds Act which measures academic growth, Evergreen is a Tier 1 school, outperforming the other two elementary schools in the Shelton school district in academic growth for Hispanics, whites, students of poverty and English Language Learners. In addition, Evergreen has the highest transition rate for English Language Learners. This success is based on data from 2014 to 2017 (See data link below).

An additional impact of the program has been a positive effect on attendance. In Shelton, Evergreen has the highest attendance rate for the whole district at 94.4%. Students are not only learning content and language, but also learn to value school. They enjoy being at Evergreen and are so engaged in their classes and connected with their teachers and one another that they want to go to school every day.

I had the pleasure of meeting the pre-school teacher, Celia Butler. She is from Columbia. Her passion was clear from the moment I walked into her classroom and her connection with her students was inspiring. She greeted her students in English and in Spanish and had a room rich in color and in language. Each tiny student who came in, greeted their teacher with “Good Morning” and a hug. There was love in her classroom – an uplifting community to get them started on there journey through school. This classroom is representative of all the classrooms in this school. This in and of itself shows the community and engagement in a dual language environment. 

I am anxious to see what comes out of the OSPI task force for dual language. With such tremendous programs, like Evergreen elementary, with its excellent student outcomes, the Office of the Superintendent has good examples to draw from in developing the initiative as it rolls out across the state. One of my English language learning colleagues, Amy Ingram, is a member of the Task Force. I’ll be following Amy’s blog, as she documents the work of the task force. Particularly, how it will work in concert with existing English language learning programs and its potential positive impact on recruiting bilingual and diverse educators. 

Check out Evergreen Elementary’s date:

http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/SchoolIndex_2018.aspx?groupLevel=District&schoolId=1&reportLevel=State&yrs=2016-17&year=2016-17

(The report is on the OSPI Report Card site.  You have to press New WA School Improvement Framework, and then go into the SIF Data Display tab, and click on district and school.)

Statue of Liberty seen from the Circle Line ferry, Manhattan, New York

I would be willing to guess that most people born in the United States have at least one immigrant in their family. Immigrants are people who settle in a country other than the one in which they were born. This can be said of most of our ancestors. Unless you identify as “Native American,” a member of an indigenous tribe here in the United States, you are likely the descendant of immigrants. Immigration is a permanent and important part of our shared history in the United States. Despite this shared history, every day in my newsfeed, I witness a heated debate about immigration. 

One important piece of that debate is terminology. I see people use the terms, “immigrant,” “documented immigrant,” “undocumented immigrant,” and “refugee” interchangeably. I also see some use other terms, more derogatory terms that seek to dehumanize others, which only work to divide us. Since this post focuses on creating a shared understanding, I will not share those here. 

When we use “immigrant,” “documented immigrant,” “undocumented immigrant,” and “refugee” interchangeably, we are confusing the conversation. It is essential when discussing people coming to our nation seeking refuge that we use the appropriate terminology, otherwise, we have the tendency to group all people and “other” anyone not born in the United States. This leads to fear and isolation, neither of which connects our communities or makes them stronger. 

Here are the basic definitions of the three terms:

Immigrant: A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.

Documented Immigrant: A person who comes to live in a foreign country, either permanently or temporarily, having the appropriate legal documentation. 

Undocumented Immigrant: A person who comes to live in a foreign country, either permanently or temporarily, not having the appropriate legal documentation.

Refugee: A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster and has been granted legal refuge in a foreign country.  

More importantly, behind each of these terms, is a person – a man, woman or child – with a story. As the teacher at the Newcomer Center at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington, I have the honor of being the first teacher for some of the immigrant and refugee children in our country. In the United States, public schools are responsible for educating all students and cannot check a student’s immigration status or otherwise discriminate on the basis of a students national origin. As a public school teacher, I get to know these students and their families as people, hear their stories and understand their cultures. It’s incredible. These stories are what is missing from the debate I read about each and every day. Here are just a few: 

Sara is a refugee. She came to the United States from Kenya. She was originally from Sudan, but war and persecution in her home country forced her family to flee their nation in order to find hope and life in a foreign country. During their journey to refuge, they walked on foot for hundreds of miles and spent several months hiding in caves. When they finally arrived at the refugee camp in Kenya, they struggled to provide enough food for the family and lacked sufficient water. Due to this upheaval, Sara had severely interrupted formal education. They applied for refuge as a family. After seven years of waiting, they were granted legal entrance into the United States. Sara came as an eighth grader. Despite her limited formal education prior to coming to the U.S., Sara graduated from high school only five years after coming to our country. She entered University and is studying to be a nurse. She applied for and took the exam to become a U.S. citizen as a freshman in college. She is now a U.S. citizen and productive member of our community. 

Jesus was a documented immigrant who became undocumented. Jesus came to the U.S. with his mother, brother, and sister. His mother was working in a law firm in Mexico, but after she discovered corruption in her office, she feared for her family’s safety and decided to move to the U.S. She applied for and was granted a six-month work visa. After moving to the U.S., she had some difficulty finding work that matched her skills, but found a job on an orchard. She attempted to extend her work visa, but was denied. Back in Mexico, her former boss had been arrested, and feared returning home until she knew it was safe for her children. She overstayed her visa, and the family became undocumented. Jesus, the oldest son, wants to attend university to work with computers. He is an excellent student, but is not sure there is a path for him to attend college. He hopes one day he can a U.S. citizen. 

Linda was an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who became documented. She came to the United States because of extreme violence due to civil war in her nation. Her life and the lives of her family members were in danger, and they had to flee their home. They fled on foot, crossed rivers, road on busses and trains to get to the border. They crossed the border at the southern end of our nation and took refuge with a church, who fed their family, clothed them, and gave them a safe place to stay as they attempted to navigate the immigration process. After countless more Salvadorians entered our nation due to the civil war, the U.S. finally granted them temporary protected status, opening a way to citizenship. After a lengthy and difficult process, Linda received her Green Card, became a permanent resident, and after fifteen years became a U.S. citizen. She works as a Paraeducator, helping to instruct students who are going through similar traumatic experiences.

It is important as we address immigration in our nation that we understand the difference between documented and undocumented immigrants, and refugees. It also is important that we be compassionate and empathetic to the circumstances under which most people leave their home countries in search of refuge in the United States. While refugees are granted entry to the U.S. due to violence and persecution in their home countries, it is clear that many documented and undocumented immigrants also seek entry into the U.S. for equally dire reasons that are not yet recognized for refugee status. No one wants to leave their home. It is not easy and takes a toll on themselves and their families. But what would you do if your children’s lives were in danger? Moreover, what I have come to learn the most as the Newcomer Center teacher is that immigrants and refugees who come to this nation are dedicated, focused, and determined to give back to this country. They are committed to becoming productive and successful members of our communities and they succeed in doing so. 

*Names and minor details such as locations in each story were changed to ensure identify protection.

On the morning of April 20, 1999, I stood inside the Student Union Building at the University of Puget Sound and watched the images on the two TVs with captions blaring “School Shooting in Colorado.”  At first, I wondered what a “school shooting” even meant – back then, this phrase was not a part of our everyday lexicon.  Then I wondered what school it could be.  Finally, it slowly dawned on me that this was my high school, Columbine High School, from which I had graduated only ten months earlier.   Those were my friends, running out of the school with their hands up.  Two days later, I flew to Colorado to be with my community. I attended vigils, memorials and funerals.  I sat with grieving and scared friends. I hugged teachers and neighbors.  

I am now exactly twice as old as I was on that day in 1999.   So for half of my life, I have lived with the idea that schools are not always a safe place to be.  But for fifteen years of my life, I have worked in schools as a teacher, coach, supervisor, mentor and volunteer.  For six years of my life, I have sent my daughters to schools.  I will always be a part of schools and they will always be a part of me.

So what does being a Columbine alum mean for me as a parent?  It means that I send my daughters to school with a blessing every single day.  It means that I have to hold back my fear and tears when there’s a fire alarm when I’m volunteering in my daughter’s preschool class as I imagine what their experience would be like if this were the “real thing.”  It means that my stomach turns when my daughters play “lock down” as part of their imaginary play.   It means that I wonder when they’ll understand that the event they read about in their history books happened at my high school.

And what does being a Columbine alum mean for me as a teacher?   After all, this is a blog about being a teacher, where “policy meets practice.”  One might assume with the ongoing school shootings and the talk about how teachers might play a part in stopping them, that I might have given this some serious reflection, that I would have a detailed plan for what I would do in such an event.  But I don’t.  Honestly, I am way more worried about the immediate and real dangers of poverty, sexism and systemic racism that deeply affect my students’ everyday experiences.

But there is one thing I know as a teacher, one policy that I know will be true if it’s ever the “real thing” at my school.  In loco parentis.   Latin for “in the place of a parent.”   This is the idea that teachers and other responsible adults will act on behalf of the student when the parent is not available. There have been two occasions in my career when my schools had legitimate lockdowns.  My parental instincts kicked in.  I jumped into full mom mode, calming and protecting my kids.   It was only after the events were over and I was by myself that I could fully reflect on and pour out my emotions and fears that had been triggered in those moments.

Every day, I am thankful that I send my daughters to teachers who care for them in my place for the 6 ½ hours that I am away from them.  Every day, I try to love on my students with the fierce love of a parent: I push, challenge, console, support, feed, and advocate for all of my students.   And every day, I hope that the doctrine of in loco parentis is engrained deeply enough that I will know how to act and what to do should the nightmare of April 20, 1999 ever echo in the halls outside of my classroom.

I am passionate about my students and providing them with every opportunity to advance toward a happy and fulfilling future. For most this means graduating from high school and going on to some sort of post-secondary education. One requirement which can be a hurdle for them is world language. Most universities require students to take 2 years of a foreign language. For my students, English is their foreign language, so studying a language on top of English can be daunting. Over the past two years, though, Washington state has introduced the option to show language proficiency through a competency based credit (CBC) exam. This exam can result in the equivalent of two years of language study and can also qualify students for the Seal of Biliteracy. The exam is currently given for hundreds of languages, so many of my students are able to take this exam for their first language and receive credit. This gives students pride in their first languages and a leg up as they move forward in life. This is not, however, the case for our Native American students. 

During my recent visit to White Swan High School, a public school on the Yakama Reservation, Jenny Tenney, 2018 Education Service District 105 Regional Teacher of the Year, gave me a tour of her school. As she took me through the halls of the high school, Jenny shared the demographics of the student body, 60% Native, 38% Hispanic, and 2% a smattering of white and other ethnic groups. She also shared the community’s efforts in teaching the tribe’s indigenous language, Sahaptin. The district has the start of a program at the elementary school, through which they teach Sahaptin to the 3rd and 4th graders. There is discussion of moving classes to the high school, but because classes in Sahaptin are not counted for world language credit, students would only receive elective credit. This might limit enrollment. 

After this discussion, I wondered if this was the case across the state. As an English language teacher, I understand the value of having literacy in one’s first language, and its impact on learning English. Plus, fluency in one’s native language also increases pride in one’s culture. 

Washington state has a large number of Native American tribes, with a wide array of indigenous languages spoken throughout our state. The idea that students would not receive world language credit for learning their native tongue didn’t make sense to me, so I did some digging. What I found was inconsistency.

Right here in Spokane, WA. both Rogers High School and North Central High School offer Salish language classes. Students who take these courses receive world language credit. The teacher, Robert Wynecoop, is highly qualified and fluent in Salish. He explained to me that he teaches “a curriculum similar in nature to what is taught at Salish School of Spokane (…written by the same people). It is similar to what is included in [other] world language curriculums and has the same basic scope and sequence.” Rogers HS currently offers Salish 1 and Salish 2, with a total enrollment of between 35 to 50 students. 

Another program is offered at Port Angeles High School in Port Angeles, WA. This program is taught and was created by Jamie Valadez. Valadez teaches Klallam language, a language that was nearly extinguished due to federal policies concerning the schooling of Native children, during the 19th and 20th centuries. Since implementing the Klallam language program, the school has seen dramatic shifts in their Native students. Their grades have improved and they have a sense of pride in their culture. Over 600 students have completed the course since 1999. 

At the university level Native American students also struggle to receive world language credit for their indigenous languages. Yale University offers students an opportunity to study indigenous languages, such as Cherokee and Navajo, through their Native American Language Project, but not for credit. While at the University of Washington students are beginning to see progress, as a student recently became one of the first to receive world language credit for showing proficiency in her native language, Quinault. 

Based on my research, it would appear that one major hurdle for Native American students to study and receive credit for their indigenous languages is a lack of qualified and fluent educators to teach the courses and/or to score the exams. Robert Wynecoop and Jamie Valadez are in the minority as highly qualified educators who are also fluent in their respective indigenous languages. However, this is no fault of the individual tribes. For centuries Native Americans have faced the systematic dismantling of their cultures. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries Native American children were sent to boarding schools in an attempt to force them to assimilate to white culture, in an effort to “kill the Indian in him, and save the man.” Due to these abusive federal policies, many indigenous languages were nearly extinguished. Over the past several decades, however, various tribes are revitalizing their indigenous languages and their cultures. 

It is clear that providing Native American students with an opportunity to learn, study, and use their indigenous languages leads to positive academic outcomes. Studying their indigenous languages also increases pride in their Native culture and preserves their heritage. As a state we make a concerted effort to meet the language needs of our immigrant and refugee populations. We should be doing the same for our Native American students. Indigenous languages are world languages and deserve to be credited as such.