“Guatemala,” said a girl with a bright blue bow. Kathy Alfaro, a new English language teacher at Russellville Elementary, exchanged a few words with the girl in Spanish and then turned to the other students. “Do y’all know what she said?” Alfaro asked the class. And I told her that I was born here, but I also have a lot of family in Guatemala.” “She said she has a lot of family in Guatemala because she was born there. This northern Alabama community with large numbers of Hispanic immigrants is using federal COVID-19 relief money for an experiment to serve students who are still learning English.
They are hiring and certifying more local, Spanish-speaking staff, like Alfaro. She was previously a Spanish teacher, but took a new role teaching children the English language. More than half of 2,500 students in the small Russellville city school district identify as Hispanic or Latino, and about a quarter are still learning English - known as EL students.īut the district at times has struggled to find the people and money necessary to help EL students achieve. It typically takes five years of intensive, small-group instruction, on top of regular classes, to help a student learn English and perform well in a regular classroom.Īdvocates say money for EL students often falls short, especially in rural districts that struggle to fund schools. “It takes a lot more money to educate a child that does not speak your language,” said state Rep.
Jamie Kiel, a Russellville Republican, who has called for putting more money toward EL students in the state budget.Īlfaro is one of three EL staffers at her school. They join about 20 other EL educators, aides and translators in the district - nearly half of whom are paid with COVID-19 relief money.Īt West Elementary across the street, Elizabeth Alonzo, who is in her second year as an EL aide, said she never expect to have such a role -– mostly because there were few bilingual teachers in her school growing up, but also because she didn’t think she had the qualifications.Īlonzo is finishing coursework through a teacher training program called Reach University, which is contracting with an increasing number of Alabama districts to help certify more local staff.
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