NJ Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages/
NJ Bilingual Educators

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Jumping from Early Childhood through Bilingual Elementary to Adult Ed., Megan Butler, in Technology in the Adult Basic Education Classroom, discusses the importance of bringing ELLs into the technological world, a portal to learning English. She provides practical suggestions. Rosalie Pereda, our ESL Elementary SIG rep, also gives practical pointers to get our students writing in Making Writing Manageable. Joyce Farr, our Rep-at-Large, reveals a very personal struggle that transcends to all ELL and bilingual students: self-identification. I strongly recommend that all read this selection, Defying Labels at Tables. It is powerful.

Our president, JoAnn Negrin, writes about the changing, and increasing, ELL population in her district and how it impacts all ESL/bilingual professionals across the board. She invites you to our Spring Conference as a venue in which to learn useful strategies from your colleagues who are experiencing or have experienced common issues. Our business administrator, Gwen Franks, reminds you to start the process NOW for attending our Spring Conference in 2018 Spring Conference Registration. You don’t want to be left out especially after you read Vice President Caia Schlesinger’s preview of the conference in The 2018 Spring Conference Schedule.

Executive Board members attended professional development workshops to enhance their professional credentials and then turnkey their new knowledge. Hana Prashker (Reflections on Training Content-Area Teachers in Sheltered Instruction) attended Sheltered Instruction training to learn the process and then continued on to become a trainer. She reports on her experience and that of others in the training. Michelle Land (What a WIDA!) recalls her experience at the Annual WIDA Conference held in Tampa, FL. She, too, reminds us of the power in networking.

Networking is not just for the teaching professionals: parents and caregivers need to network as well. And, the teaching professionals need to network with parents and caregivers and vice versa. With a networking goal in mind, a very successful Parents’ Expo was held. Read I am Bilingual. What is Your Super Power? by Jacquelyn León from the New Jersey Department of Education. NJTESOL/NJBE co-sponsored this event; you can read the Rutgers Graduate School of Education report in The Parent Expo: Biliteracy for Student Success- Bilingual and Proud.

Sonya Bertini addresses the global needs of students displaced from their home countries as a result of the intense 2017 summer hurricanes. She gives advice and provides resources while also reminding us of the important developmental time frames of BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills) and CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency). Read the article Meeting the Academic Needs of the Victims of Hurricane Maria.

In The Truth Was in the Chaos, Angeline Sturgis, our Parent and Community Special Interest Group (SIG) Representative, recalled a heartwarming event at a student’s home that helped her resolve a personal mini-crisis.

Bryan Meadows, our Teacher Education SIG representative, discusses a newer way of assessing non-bilingual, non-ESL methodology-trained, future teachers of bilingual and ESL students in Rethinking Preparedness of Non-ESL Teacher-Candidates.  Also, with a theme of preparedness, Diana Sefchik, in Opening Doors, reports on three recent news articles discussing college-aged ELs and the responsibilities of higher education teachers on behalf of those students.

Our technology guru, Marilyn Pongracz, reviewed the website, Rewordify. I was so intrigued by what she reported about the accessibility of simplified language in text for our ESL and bilingual students that I had to explore the site. My first thought of a document was The Gettysburg Address; the rewording was amazing. Check it out.

And, last, but by no means least important, mentioned in this editor’s column, is Tina Kern’s, A Strategic Helping Hand. Tina tells us about a situation in which she found herself, one that many of us can relate to: being in the company of those who think that they know it all about ELLs and that there is nothing left for them to learn. Ouch!

So now venture forth and read on in, this, the first issue of Voices for 2018.

Happy New Year,
Roselyn
Roselyn Rauch, Ed. D, is the editor of Voices and a retired ESL/ESL Resource teacher from the Paterson Public School System. She is a consultant with ESL Unlimited

* “  circumlocution noun definition in Linguistic devices topic from the …

circumlocution. noun: Linguistic devices topic. using more words than are necessary, instead of speaking or writing in a clear, direct way.”

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President’s Message

Ever-changing Dynamics and Networking

By JoAnne Negrin

It is hard to believe that we are already this far into the school year. It has been an eventful year for many of us. The hurricanes in Texas, Florida, and, most notably, Puerto Rico, left my school district with an influx of about 90 ELLs (English language learners), many of whom needed a space in our bilingual program. Although receiving them definitely posed logistical challenges, I am so grateful that we had the knowledge base and the personnel to support these students and families in their time of need. I am also grateful that New Jersey has a bilingual education law that permits us to meet their needs in the language students best understand.

Recently, I was reviewing some data and I was amazed by the growth of our language programs over a relatively short period of time. When I came to my district in March of 2012, we had around 560 ELLs in the district. As of this writing, that number stands at 887. Aside from our hurricane arrivals, we have seen increasing numbers of students whose native language is other than Spanish, as well as students who have limited or interrupted formal education or have arrived unaccompanied by their families. I know that other districts are undergoing similar changes, whether you are morphing/have morphed from an ELS (English language services*) to an ESL (English as a Second Language) program, are developing new or more expansive bilingual offerings, or are figuring out how to effectively deliver professional development to all staff on the needs of ELLs.

The demands are endless, and for every question we answer, we seem to generate ten more questions. These are times when we need to rely on others. Fortunately, in New Jersey, we are never alone. We have a state Department of Education (NJDOE) that is energized and responsive to our needs. NJTESOL/NJBE stands ready as a clearinghouse of information. All you need to do is ask a question on our Hotlist and you can be sure that you are going to get an answer you can rely on. Last, but not least, I would venture to say that our ESL/bilingual teaching staff in this state is second to none. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of you across the state who are truly experts at what you do, and serve our students and our ELL community with distinction.

In that spirit of unity, I want to extend to you the invitation to attend our Spring Conference. This year’s conference will be better than ever. We will have a day devoted to advocacy with Dr. Pedro Noguera as our keynote speaker. Dr. Noguera is at the forefront of the battle for equity for all students and I have no doubt that you will be energized and inspired by his presence. We will also have a day focused on engaging ELLs in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), featuring keynote Malcolm Butler. Dr. Butler has dedicated his career to helping under-served populations, including ELLs, to access STEM curricula and fields of specialization. Our final day focuses on biliteracy, featuring Cheryl Urow, one of the authors of the book Teaching For Biliteracy that many of us use. Ms. Urow has consulted for the NJDOE, and is very familiar with biliteracy in New Jersey.

As wonderful as our three keynote speakers will be, in my view, the absolute best thing about the conference is learning from fellow practitioners. None of us work under ideal conditions and yet we experience a great deal of success with our students. I guarantee that you will find colleagues who are experiencing some of the things you are experiencing and have found ways to make it all work. We always try to select workshops that are practical – we want you to be able to apply what you learned on the very next day. These workshops are a great way to develop the relationships that make our work easier and our outcomes better.

I look forward to seeing you there.

JoAnne Negrin, President NJTESOL/NJBE, is Supervisor of ESL, Bilingual Education, World Languages, Performing Arts, and ESSA for the Vineland, New Jersey, school district. Her district’s K-5 Bilingual Program was recently selected as a model program by the New Jersey Department of Education.

*ELS: English language services- A state defined program for districts with fewer than 10 English language learners (ELLs).

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Vice President’s Message

The 2018 Spring Conference Schedule

By Caia Schlessinger

Planning for the 2018 NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference is well underway. On a Saturday in early December, the extremely dedicated members of the volunteer Executive Board gathered to review the proposals for the Spring Conference. Our volunteer Board members reviewed proposals that are in their area of expertise, and they began to build a schedule for our three-day Spring Conference.

We will continue with a three-day conference format this year on May 30, May 31, and June 1, 2018, at the Hyatt Hotel in New Brunswick. The conference theme this year is Cross-Curricular Conversations for ELLs. We are looking forward to fostering collaboration that can only come from dedicated educators coming together for three days to reflect and improve their practice. We are excited to have strands with different interests represented on different days. Wednesday, May 30th, will be dedicated to the special strand of advocacy and our keynote speaker is Pedro Noguera. Thursday, May 31st, will focus on ELLs and STEM. Our keynote speaker is Malcom Butler. Friday, June 1st, will have special strands for higher education, teacher education, adult education, PreK-12 administrators, and biliteracy. Our keynote speaker for Friday will be Cheryl Urow. There will be workshops that will appeal to a general audience on all three days and vendors will be available each day as well so attendees can explore materials that pertain to their teaching areas.

We will continue the schedule of 75-minute presentations with 15 minutes of passing time in-between. In addition to the regular presenter sessions, we look forward to our keynote speakers each day addressing the specific interests of the targeted groups. The Department of Education and a representative from WIDA will be there each day. We will also have featured advocacy sessions and invited featured speakers all three days. We plan to have a preliminary conference schedule available to you with plenty of time for you to make planning decisions.

I hope to see you at what promises to be our biggest and best Spring Conference ever.

Caia Schlessinger, Vice President/Conference Chair, NJTESOL/NJBE

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Conference

2018 Spring Conference Registration

By Gwen Franks

Register Now! Don’t Miss Out!
Registration information has been available on-line since the first week of October. Last year, we reached capacity prior to the cut-off date.

Conference Dates:  Wednesday, May 30, Thursday, May 31, & Friday, June 1

Early Registration ends March 2, 2018.
Regular Registration ends May 4, 2018 (unless capacity is reached before this date).
            (March 2nd and May 4th are RECEIVE BY dates so please plan accordingly)

3 ways to register:

• Print out the registration form and mail in with a personal check (keep in mind the RECEIVE BY dates)
• Print out the registration form and mail in with an approved and signed Purchase Order (PO). (Plan accordingly keeping in mind how long it will take for your district to process your request and PO.)
• Pay on-line with a credit card or PayPal account. 

All registrations and payment (P.O., personal check or credit card/PayPal) must be sent together. Registrations sent without payment will not be processed. 

If your registration fee is being paid by your district with a Purchase Order, PLEASE, PLEASE, follow up with them as to the status of the P.O. and your registration. DO NOT ASSUME that it has been sent in by your district once it leaves your hands! Keep in mind the time and many steps it takes for your district to approve your request to attend the conference when filling out the registration form.  Early registration ends March 2nd and regular registration ends May 4th, these dates are firm.  Please provide your personal email address on the registration form if you wish to receive a confirmation from NJTESOL/NJBE once your registration is processed. If you do not receive your confirmation from NJTESOL/NJBE contact me early, before  the cutoff date to double check your registration. Do not wait.

Special note: Check your NJTESOL/NJBE membership status before filling out the registration form.  Your membership expiration date is listed under your name in the email introducing this issue of VOICES.  Your membership must be valid through June, 2018, in order to register at the member rate.

LOOK FOR YOUR CONFIRMATION from NJTESOL/NJBE

Please read it carefully and completely.
Email confirmations are sent to all those who are registered and supply a valid email address. Save this email!

Don’t delay. Click on the following link to start the registration process.

Gwen Franks, Business Administrator, NJTESOL/NJJBE, Inc.

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(From the Hotlist)

Travel Waiver Granted

By Caia Schlessinger

Dear NJTESOL/NJBE Members, 

I am pleased to announce that the NJDOE (New Jersey Department of Education) has approved our travel waiver request for the 2018 spring conference. 

You may view the details here.

Here are some important points: 

• Because of this waiver, school districts, charter schools and renaissance school projects will be able to reimburse attendees for overnight lodging on May 30 and 31, 2018, provided that the remaining conditions delineated in this letter are met. 
• Moreover, please be advised that the waiver of the prohibition for reimbursement for overnight lodging covers only those attendees whose home to event commute exceeds 50 miles. In other words, only those individuals whose one-way commute to the NJTESOL/NJBE’s Spring Conference in New Brunswick, New Jersey, exceeds 50 miles may obtain reimbursement from their school district, charter school or renaissance school project for overnight lodging for May 30 and 31, 2018.

Caia Schlessinger, Vice-President and Conference Chair, cschlessinger@njtesol-njbe

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Liaison (Spring Conference)

A Strategic Helping Hand

By Tina Kern

I had an epiphany recently: If someone says they know something, many people believe them.  I have been teaching many years and I don’t know everything.  Sometimes, I think I know less than I do because I learn so much every day – even from my students. I listen and wonder, “How can I do it better?” It sometimes makes me crazy because I feel like I’m always searching for a better way. 

Then I meet some people who say they know everything. They don’t want to go to professional development because there is nothing for them to learn. They are not too shy to offer their advice – and that’s when I bite my tongue because I recognize that some of what they are saying is not true. I’m too professional to tell them but that was my epiphany: The best teachers seem to be those that don’t know everything but choose to find out what the answer is by being a life-long learner. Actually, they usually know more than they think they do.  And if you’re reading this article, you are a teacher who seeks an answer when you don’t know it.  And that is the kind of teacher our kids need. And that’s why we are colleagues in NJTESOL/NJBE. 

Recently, I gave a workshop for general education classroom teachers that have some of our ELLs in their classrooms. It was for only an hour and so I agonized on what to present. I sent out a survey and the results were in a word: “everything”. I organized a presentation that included a background of our ELLs, some theory, and some practical ways to modify and adapt their lessons, knowing that it would only be an overview in that short amount of time.  One of the points I tried to make was how I deconstruct a lesson and then look at the parts that I need to adapt in order to reach my goal.  As an ESL and Bilingual Arts teacher at a high school with many SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education) students, I find that “breaking it down” often means reworking and revising again and again.  One of the teachers that attended is very sensitive to our students’ needs. She gave an example (with visuals!) of a recent assignment. I listened and looked and realized I couldn’t understand the procedure in her lesson about “building a motion machine”. I concluded that I needed more steps. I applauded her effort and offered my observation that I was a little confused and perhaps I needed to have it broken down further in order to understand how to get to the goal. I realized that though she had good intentions, her point of view came from general education students and needed a little insight into how to make it understandable for our ELLs. I was in the position of having no knowledge of the concept and the vocabulary of the lesson. That point of view made me realize that with a few steps integrated here and there, our students could accomplish the goal and could enjoy the product they would make.

Tweaking the lesson was a small elucidating step in helping to create success for our ELLs. Sometimes it just takes a strategic helping hand to reach our ELLs and make their lesson more reachable. We can turnkey some information.  Our general education classroom teachers often have no idea of the challenges for our ELLs.  For example, when I mentioned that many of our students have “interrupted education,” some of our general education classroom teachers had no idea what it was, and what the obstacles associated with this were. Sometimes they just need some strategic help.

At my workshop, I emphasized how ESL and bilingual teachers must share insights with our general education classroom colleagues. We have to step back and look inwardly to what we do.  Even the resistant teachers might look at the WIDA “Can-do” descriptors.  They might realize the extent of the diversity of our students and be able to modify lessons and be able to better reach our students if they have a more information about the students they teach.  What are their ACCESS scores?  What do these scores mean? They might appreciate a “gift” of some websites to help them or some examples of lessons differentiated for our students.

As ESL and bilingual teachers, it seems we automatically integrate the skill of “backward design” where we look at the result and create the steps to get to that goal.  Our students often need additional steps in order to be successful, including more background information, vocabulary, and visuals. This is a fact that our general education classroom teachers might not fully appreciate because they haven’t had much experience in the education of ELLs.

In the classroom, even more than general education classroom teachers, we have to keep our antennas posed for changes in the dynamics of the class, and for individual changes in posture and demeanor. My classes have many SLIFE and trauma students so I have to be especially sensitive to these changes. 

As I have written before, I learn every day more and more about individual challenges. Sometimes even a small challenge can render a student inattentive to a lesson. For example, recently, one of my students seemed very uncomfortable. She kept on licking her lips and had that chafed burning red skin around her lips. I could sense that she was preoccupied and wasn’t listening to the lesson, nor was she beginning her reinforcement exercises. I asked her to step outside the classroom with me and asked her if her lips were hurting her. I asked her if she had a lip balm or Chapstick. She didn’t know what I was talking about even though I’ve seen many students in the class with these products. (Didn’t they all know?) After a short conversation, she seemed relieved when I sent her to the nurse for Vaseline.  When she returned, she went right to work. I decided to bring in some lip relief for her.  After class the next day, I asked her to wait in the class after the bell rang.  I offered her an Eco lip product I had in the house.  Her eyes lit up, a smile spread across her face, and she told me that she would never forget my kindness. I was almost in tears that such a small gesture could mean so much to her.

There are so many emotional and educational issues that our ELLs encounter every day. They vary from grade to grade and from situation to situation. Many of our young ELLs that were born here, but start school without any English, have never met their grandparents. So when our general education teachers talk about visiting family, these students are puzzled, for this extended family unit doesn’t exist for them.  On the other hand, many newly arrived high school students lived with their grandparents, and yearn for them again, even after being reunited with their mothers after an often ten to twelve year absence from their biological parents. 

Our colleagues in the general education classrooms often need that strategic helping hand which ultimately facilitates the learning for both the teacher and student.  They often aren’t aware of the intricacies of the emotional and educational challenges of our students’ everyday life – and how it affects their behavior and progress in the classroom.

We, too, need to keep our eyes and ears open.  A change in the demeanor of a student, or resistance to continue the lesson, could be precursor to a different problem. Often, I look for cues. Our students can teach us every day. We also learn from speaking to colleagues. If we can learn one little nugget each day, it’s a good day.

We are also evaluating and reevaluating the materials we use. What is appropriate for our students? How can we adapt the lesson and make it more comprehensible?  What technology is available? (Remember to check out the plethora of materials from our conference sponsors and exhibitors.)

Each day we meet new challenges and search for answers.  I love our field.  It is so dynamic and rewarding. We are helping our ELLs have a great experience in school.

Tina Kern, Liaison

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Representative-at-Large/Liaison to Chapters and NJEA

Defying Labels at Tables

By Joyce Farr

Sitting at the only occupied table in the conference room, and seeing all around the faces of individuals who looked like me, at least superficially, was so unbelievably strange, I could barely contain myself nor find the words to describe my emotions. It dawned on me then, just how homogeneous my professional workspace has been all these years and how isolated I, as a Chinese-American educator, have been in my community. These were fellow educators, current and potential members of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus (APIC) at NEA’s Minority and Women’s Leadership Training Conference, and I was bursting to share my troubling experience at dinner the night before.

“Could I just clarify,” I paused, wondering if the answer was ridiculously obvious or whether I was posing a ridiculous question, “are APIs considered people of color?”

I looked at each face, our skin-tone and complexion, rarely ever mentioned in discussions, debates, and appellations of race and color, waiting to learn if we were included in the conversation and the struggle. I wondered whether this coalition amongst minority groups or caucuses in our national education union was strong enough to raise the social justice platform to the forefront of the national education and political arena.

Was I digging at old wounds, mine and theirs, when I innocently and courageously opened up about my cultural ambiguity at the dinner table the evening prior? There I was, amongst companions of such diverse cultural heritage, munching on Barcelona’s tapas, in Atlanta, the cradle of the civil rights movement, cornered like a bewildered animal of prey, and made to feel more aware of my racial and cultural roots than I cared. How did I not foresee the potential opening of a can of worms as my own remark awakened my age-old sense of alienation? It had lain dormant like a sleeping dragon until the young Asian unionist, who unwittingly saw in my skin-tone and physical attributes, a kinship, and then the others, began a series of questioning that forced me to question, defend, and clarify my nebulous self-identification.

The desire for understanding and neat categories feels comfortable and is perhaps comforting for many people, unless you, like me, and the various individuals of the API Caucus, have to confront, not only the black and white lines of race relations, racism and inherent stereotyping, but the gray, hazy spaces. We, the almost invisible minority, dismissively labeled the model minority, cast as success stories, the intention of which has been simply to drive a wedge between us and other minority groups, struggle to find inclusive spaces, dialogue spaces and tables that are traditionally black, or brown, or white. Just as I couldn’t, and eventually over time, elected not to identify completely with the culture of my birth when I still lived in the country of my birth, I subconsciously allowed the ambiguity to persist in my adopted country. Yes, perhaps my union sister was right, the United States afforded me the opportunity to reinvent myself and to cross borders into a blended sense of self. After all, it is here, that I’ve found my metaphysical home, and in spaces scarred by intersections of systemic and interrelated forms of discrimination, I have been awakened.

Later that morning, after the API Caucus meeting, at the Social Justice session, a young Millennial’s rant rang in my head as I realized the impact of boxing individuals in. She, this pre-service educator, shared at our table how she was not “black enough” for her own people because she was raised in a different social class, in a different neighborhood than her peers. It resonated with me, as I recalled my own question to my dinner companions, “Why isn’t it enough to identify as a human being?” and more painfully, “Why am I not enough?”

Pigeonholes invariably diminish the individual. What is the point of “box-checking” individuals to fit the census definitions of race when the benefit of seeking and harnessing our commonality outweighs those categories? Stratification is so widespread and insidious that it feels for me, like I had escaped the frying pan and landed in the fire when I came to this country. The point I am making, or tried to make that evening, is that I don’t have to be black or brown to identify with the struggle that is basically a human struggle against injustice and oppression. The ancillary issue of an individual’s self-identity undercuts the central issue of human and civil rights. When we commit to social justice and our inalienable rights, as educators and advocates, our lens must not be colored by our own personal narratives alone but the common struggle of us all. As an ESL educator, a woman of color, a minority amongst minorities, teaching in a classroom filled with language minority and culturally diverse students, US-born and immigrant alike, this issue of social justice lies at the forefront of my practice and activism.

If ever our goal as a nation is the undoing of racism, the unshackling of those “manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” enshrined in Dr. King’s speech, then, no matter how fraught with rocky steps and missteps the road toward redemption is, it surely must begin with admission of the sins of the past, open acknowledgement of a clear and present threat, and a recommitment to a future where the dream that all may “sit down together at the table of brotherhood” is realized.

Joyce Farr, NJTESOL/NJBE Representative-at-Large

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Technology

Favorite Websites: Rewordify

By Marilyn Pongracz

Neil Goldman, a high school special education teacher, created the free website, Rewordify, to make text more accessible so that people would read more, while at the same time, learn new vocabulary.

Any document can be copied and pasted to produce a simplified version.  The site changes both words and phrases into more basic vocabulary through its own highly technical system based on the context of the words.  Users can choose how they want to view the text, either the original above the changed text, side by side, or inline.  They can also see parts of speech and a reading score analysis of the text.

The site is open to all, and each learning session has a unique URL, so it is possible, even if the user is not logged in, to stop a session and go back to it.  They can also check their progress chart and receive learning stars as a reward.

Teachers can create student accounts and share the original and reworded versions of the text with their classes. Once the text has been shared, teachers can also create vocabulary lists for their students. These lists can be customized with additional words of the teacher’s choice and the teacher’s own definitions of any of the words on the list.  The site provides step-by-step online, video, and printable instructions for this. To protect the integrity of the site, vocabulary lists are private, available only to the teachers and the students for whom they are created. Students can also create their own lists by clicking on words that they want to learn from a text. These words go to their list, which they can practice at any time through a learning session with the option of additional practice using online flash cards.  

In learning sessions, students see a word, hear it, spell it, and view it in context. Once students have learned a word, the site tracks what they have done, so those words will no longer be changed in their text although words are may be re-taught if needed.  There is also the option to print a variety of activities such as vocabulary lists, quizzes, matching, cloze exercises, and the text with definitions. 

Rewordify is a valuable tool for teachers and students who must grapple with complex texts.

Marilyn Pongracz is the Technology Coordinator for NJTESOL/NJBE and the English Language Resource Center Supervisor at Bergen Community College

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NJDOE Bureau of Bilingual/ESL Education

I am Bilingual. What is Your Super Power?

By Jacquelyn León

The New Jersey Department of Education, in partnership with Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education and NJTESOL/NJBE, welcomed over 300 parents and families of New Jersey’s English language learners (ELLs) to Rutgers University, New Brunswick, Cook/Douglass campus for the Parent Expo: Biliteracy for Student Success.  The event was held on Saturday, September 23, 2017, at Rutgers University, Douglass Student Center, from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. 

The Parent Expo provided resources for parents of ELLs and celebrated the role of biliteracy in preparing students for success. Parents and families attending the Parent Expo represented diverse cultures speaking nearly 15 languages.  Parents and students had the opportunity to converse with fifteen service agencies, including the Education Law Center; the N.J. Department of Family and Children Services; N.J. PTA [Parents and Teachers Association]; N.J. Boys and Girls Club; N.J. Seal of Biliteracy; and representatives from universities. 

Representatives shared materials, resources, and information in various languages with parents. While families were engaging with these agencies, kindergarten through fourth grade students participated in interactive learning, read with volunteers, and decorated backpacks they filled with bilingual books donated by The Bridge of Books Foundation.  The event’s keynote speaker, Susana Matos-Kruck, President of Up The Bar, engaged families and reinforced the social and instructional advantages of bilingualism.

The event was received enthusiastically by school staff, parents, families, students, workshop facilitators, and the nearly 50 volunteers that demonstrated a commitment to New Jersey’s English language learners.  Yuisa Pérez Chionchio, an educational consultant, led a workshop entitled “Cooking Up Conversations At Home.”  Mrs. Pérez Chionchio noted most who attended the workshop were parents and “we had meaningful discussions around their roles in supporting their child’s academic success. [They] enjoyed reviewing N.J. parent’s rights, attendance matters, and 20 minutes a day support tools.”   Maritza Villanueva, a member of the event’s planning committee and Director of ESL/Bilingual Education at the Maria L. Varisco Rogers Charter School in Newark, NJ, shared, “The parents had an amazing experience. They enjoyed everything and they were thrilled to have been part of an event in where they left very educated and motivated to volunteer and speak to others of the wonders a parent can bring to the schools.” 

Parents shared that they were thrilled about the number of multilingual resources provided at the Expo.  They commented that their children were walking away with a renewed pride in the educational value of their culture and language.  The value of family’s experience centered on education and pathways to opportunities for New Jersey’s at-promise students.   

“It was a very organized event, the children had an amazing day, [and] they can’t wait to tell their friends… I learned that speaking Spanish at home will benefit my children.” Blanca

“[I] never took a tour of a university, I want my children to one day come to Rutgers, I am proud of the parents that came to this trip.” Rosanna

Gloria Vargas and Felix Plata of the Passaic City Public School District Bilingual/ESL Program, along with other volunteers provided volunteer interpreter services in various languages.  One parent shared, in Spanish, her 18 year-old daughter’s takeaway about the importance of biliteracy and her younger children’s enthusiasm to attend university when they get older, “Una de las cosas que mi hija de 18 año sentendió  más clara mentees la importancia de hablar dos idiomas. Otra cosa más que mis dos hijos pequeños de 5 y 8 años me dijeron, ‘mami cuando sea grande yo quiero estudiar allí en esa universidad.  Es muy bonita y las personas son muy amables’.”

Jacquelyn León, NJDOE, Bilingual/ESL Educational Specialist, Parent Expo Coordinator

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Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE)

The Parent Expo: Biliteracy for Student Success Bilingual and Proud

NJTESOL/NJBE collaborated with The New Jersey Department of Education and Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education at this Parent Expo. NJTESOL/NJBE sponsored the tote bags and the t-shirts. Caia Schlessinger, BJ Franks, Joyce Farr and Sandee McBride represented our organization.

The following selection from the Rutgers website is reprinted with permission.

Bilingual and Proud: GSE and the NJDOE Score a Success with the First-Ever Bilingual Parent Expo

In September, Rutgers GSE partnered with the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) to host a statewide event geared towards the parents and guardians of English language learners. The event, “Parent Expo: Biliteracy for Student Success,” was the first of its kind, offering attendees a full day of engaging, informative, and affirming activities.

The NJDOE, the GSE, the New Jersey Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages/New Jersey Bilingual Educators Association, and a number of local school districts worked together to leverage a variety of academic, legal, wellness, cultural, community, and state resources to support the event. The expo included exhibits by community organizations and informative workshops on the Seal of Biliteracy, parent engagement, and the rights of undocumented students.  Children who attended participated in engaging activities and guided tours of the Rutgers University campus.

GSE Director of Local and Global Partnerships, Mary Curran, commented on how this type of event is especially important for our community. “New Jersey is fortunate to be a state populated with people from many diverse backgrounds, which enriches our local culture and community,” said Curran. “The Parent Expo empowered our English language learner families with information and resources that will enable them to advocate for their children in a wide variety of contexts. We felt it conveyed a strong message of affirmation and support.”

Prior to the event, New Jersey Commissioner, Kimberly Harrington, expressed the NJDOE’s excitement for the expo, remarking that they are “thrilled to welcome hundreds of  parents to the Rutgers—New Brunswick parent expo.” She added, “The event will provide important parent resources to help improve the experience of bilingual learners across the state. The Department would like to thank Rutgers for being a thought partner in this initiative and for collaborating on this celebration of learning.”

Testimonies from parents and guardians who attended the Parent Expo speak to its success and the influence it proved to have on the New Jersey community. “One of the things my 18-year-old daughter told me is that [after the event] she more clearly understands the importance of speaking two languages,” said one mother. “We also learned that there is a lot of support like counseling, web pages, community programs, and university scholarships.  Even my little children, who are 5 and 8, told me that when they are older, they want to study there in the university because it’s beautiful and the people are friendly,” she added.

Cindy, another parent who participated in the event, offered her gratitude for the efforts made by the NJDOE, GSE, and their partners. “I want to thank the organizers of the event. I am proud of being a parent volunteer, and this has motivated me to continue to be part of my children’s education. These are the steps we must take to have better opportunities.”

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