AKRON - What does it mean to be Mexican? What does it mean to be white?
How are Latinos treated by white people they know or don't know? How do Latinos treat white people they know or don't know?
Tippecanoe Valley High School Spanish teachers Kris Walker and Karley Arens asked Valley middle and high school Latino students these questions Wednesday during their weekly English 4 Success program. The students then wrote their responses in English.
English 4 Success is a new program in about its fifth week. It meets every Wednesday from 11:15 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. during Arens' and Walker's prep period.
All English Language Learners students take a proficiency test called The Las Links. The result will determine if an ELL student qualifies as a "one" on the test, meaning they are least proficient, up to a "five", most proficient.
For the E4S program, Valley takes the students from the middle and high schools who tested as a one, two or three on The Las Links.
Walker said they've seen students graduate or not graduate not knowing English. They want to change that, and E4S is one way to go about doing that.
"I think it's going to pay off," Walker said. The goal is to get a student in the four or five range of the test in two years.
Without knowing English, students can't pass ISTEP. And if they don't pass ISTEP, they can't graduate, Arens said.
Currently, there are about 10 to 15 students in the E4S program. And each week they meet is different than the last.
"There's nothing typical. Each day is different from the day before," Walker said.
Arens said it all happens in English, too, so it's encouraging to see the students process everything in English.
While The Las Links may be one way to measure success, in the E4S program there's another way to measure it. Arens said if a student is afraid of getting up and giving a speech to others because the student doesn't know English that well, that student's success comes when they are able to stand before a class and give their speech.
If a high school freshman doesn't have success early on, they will stop trying. Walker said they are trying to give the students increments of success.
"Success builds on success," Walker said.
"One of the problems we're trying to address is motivation," said Walker. He said some students would do better at school if their motivation was turned back on for them.
Walker said the E4S group will be talking about goal setting. The students need to learn to think beyond what's going on right now and look to the future.
"I feel like this (E4S) is really tailored for each student," he said.
In addition to E4S, Valley has Student Resource Time on Thursday. During that time, the E4S students meet with English-speaking students and they mentor each other. Arens said it's cool because the English-speaking students learn more Spanish, and the ELL students learn more English. It's also good for relationship building among students.
"My thought is that this is going to change the whole school," said Walker. "We know there are bugs to work out, but we want to be a model school for other schools."
He said they should have thought of the E4S program sooner. It doesn't cost the school corporation anything, and anyone can do it. The goal is to change the way students learn and the amount they learn.
"We think it's a privilege to work with kids and give them the knowledge and tools they need to work with," said Arens. She said they are blessed to work at Tippecanoe Valley that gives them the opportunity and freedom to have such programs.
Senior Cassie Long is an English-speaking student who helps with the E4S program. She said she benefits from the program as much as the ELL students.
"I get more complex Spanish-speaking skills. I feel they get more English from me," she said.
"This is totally amazing. I love this program," said Long.
Jaclyn Stiffler is a junior mentor during SRT.
"We help them with their homework. We try to teach them English so they can do their homework," Stiffler said of what they do Thursdays. "It's a little challenging."
Stiffler said she learns more Spanish by volunteering, and the ELL students learn more English from her. She also makes friends.
"It just helps them a lot. It makes you realize how much they need it," Stiffler said.
During group discussion Wednesday, Walker and Arens presented nine questions for the students to think and respond to, such as: What does it mean to be Mexican? What does it mean for a white person to be white? How are you treated by white people who do not know you? How do you treat white people you do not know?
Walker asked the students why they thought they were being asked those questions. Vania said it was so the teachers could get to know the students and vice versa.
Walker said he hears so many people put Latinos down. If they understood who they were, he said, they wouldn't do that. "That's why we do this," he said.
It's important for the students to know how they feel about this, Arens said. "This isn't stuff we normally talk about," she said.Luis said sometimes people call Latinos names and they mean it. Sometimes it's people he knows and he knows they are just playing.
Vania said when people use derogatory words, she may act like she doesn't care, but inside she's hurt.
Students in the E4S program have been in the United States from four to 15 years. Marcos was born here. However, since people can't tell Marcos was born an American citizen, they don't treat him any differently than had he been born elsewhere.
Luis said he arrived here in the first grade, and he didn't know English. White people helped him learn English, and he said he appreciated them for being nice.
Vania didn't have an older sibling to help her out when she came here. Luckily, again, people were willing to help her out and help her learn English.
Luis said it's easier to learn English if you come here as a little kid. His parents have been here 15 years, but they can't speak English as well as he can.
Lupe's sister came here when she was 6 years old, and she speaks better English than Lupe.
"I know from my students the experiences they're learning here, they are applying to at the middle school. It's helping them appreciate where they're coming from and integrate into the American school system," said Melanie Lowman, ELL instructor at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School.
