Pictured are Peerada Lertnimitphun, Nadya Abdellaoui, Karol Ugalde, Leah Flores, Gabby Pozos, Ben Rangel, Edwin Sanchez, Mary Wages, Heather Mayfield, Lisa Lambert, Andrea Sanchez, Karla Sanchez, Omar Venegas, Lian Graham, Adilene Sanchez, Diana Sanchez, and Alicia Sanchez. Not pictured is Tono Rodriquez.
Pictured, from left, are Penny Moore, first-grade teacher at Margaret Elementary School; Susan Hill, ESOL Instructor; Nadya Abdellaoui, a foreign exchange student at SCCHS; Gabby Pozos, a SCCHS senior, and Peerada Lertnimitphun, foreign exchange student at SCCHS.
Two kindergarten classes at Odenville Elementary School, along with a First grade and Third grade class at Margaret Elementary School wanted Susan Hill and some of her students to come share.
Hill is the ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) instructor for Odenville and Margaret schools. The program she instructs is an ESL, and it is a Title III Federal Program.
“I took my three EL (English Learner) students from SCCHS and the book, The Cat in the Hat, and divided the pages among the four of us,” Hill said.
Hill said when they reached classrooms, the students introduced themselves and told where they had been born.
“We depicted this on a map of the world with little stickers to make a visual the children could understand showing how we had students/languages represented from all around the globe right here in our county,” Hill said. “Then we read the story to the children while their teacher projected the pages from their ELMO.”
Hill said the languages the children heard that day included English, German, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Thai.
“After we completed the reading, we left each class with a gift appropriate for their grade level,” Hill said. “Either a color sheet and game, or an acrostic with Dr. Seuss’ name.”
Hill noted that within the four Odenville schools and the Margaret school, she has students or parents who speak Spanish, German, Thai, American Sign Language, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Chinese.
“This is all so pretty interesting and great fun, but what a challenge,” Hill said. “At one time this year, I had a Thai student whose grandparents were all from China attending an American school (St. Clair County High School), and studying the French Revolution.”
Contact Gary Hanner at ghanner@thestclairtimes.com.
