“Somewhere in the Middle”

Now, before we go can discuss what school life might be like for E.S.L. students, we need to learn somethings about the program. I spoke with E.S.L. teacher, Mrs. Laurine Sibilia and learned from her what the program is all about. No one knows the program better than her.

Students in the program are referred to as E.L.L., English Language Learners. There might be some misconceptions as to what the E.S.L. program is about. Firstly, the program is not just learning English. E.S.L.’s main focus is indeed language, but also American culture, and adjusting to school life here in Americas a Puerto Rican who came to this country at 16, I can speak from experience that schools in America are definitely different. Mainly in the sheer size of the buildings, the number of courses that they all offer, and miscellaneous things such as lockers, or indoor gyms. WTHS has E.L.Ls from Greece, Puerto Rico, Iraq, India, Iran, Germany, Jordan, the Philippines. The school district has students from Kindergarten to High school, this year, we have two seniors graduating with us, Ishmael and Evita.

An E.L.L.’s ability in English will vary, for example: you might have a student with very good conversational English, but not so strong in academic English. This pertains to things such as writing essays, taking tests, even math Some students can do these things, having learned them prior, just needing to translate that knowledge from their native language to English. Academic English is the challenge for most students. Once again, it’s not just English, but also American history, culture, and geography. Some students however are what’s known as S.I.F.E. which stands for Student Interrupted Formal Education. These are students that have gaps in their education because of various circumstances. In some cases, S.I.F.Es might not have the documents that they require to continue their education. To remedy this, the students can take exams to resume learning. Newly arrived families are given what’s called a Newcomer’s Packet by the district to help them get around and adapt to their new community.

Because E.L.Ls tend to learn English faster than their parents, this might put pressure on the students, particularly the eldest. This means that they (the eldest) might have to act as a translator or mediator between they’re family and the school staff. To take this pressure off them, the district brings in interpreters to help mediate between the family, teachers, and the school district.

The E.S.L. program holds other events outside the classroom. They hold district wide E.S.L. nights where they alumni come out and speak to the current E.L.Ls. These events help to build a community and inform visitors about the program and their current status. The most well-known and in my opinion the most fun event has to be International Night. The E.L.Ls, their families, and staff members all get together and congratulate the students, all the while exchanging dishes from around the world.

This tends to be an event for the families of the E.L.Ls to get together, however, any guests that from said families are more than welcome to attend.