ELL News Headlines

As a teacher at Kyrene de los Lagos Dual Language Academy in Ahwatukee, Diane Mylod shares the motto: "The power of two languages. The power of two worlds." So it is only natural that the Glendale native, who has lived in Ahwatukee for five years, chose to write a children's book for her first foray into the world of authors, penning Spanish and English versions.

The Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation was founded in 1988, and this academic school year, the organization has helped more than 375 students by giving out more than $750,000 in scholarship money. Many of the students use those funds to go to college at CSU Pueblo and Pueblo Community College, while others pursue their degree in different parts of the country.

Ambreen Tariq is the founder of BrownPeopleCamping, a social media initiative that works to increase diversity in the outdoors and challenge definitions of what it means to belong in nature. More recently, Ambreen authored a children's book called Fatima's Great Outdoors, which mirrors some of her own experiences camping for the first time with her family.

Earlier this summer, Newark’s youth vaccination rate was still alarmingly low. Then something remarkable happened. The city and its partners embarked on a shot-giving spree that drove up Newark’s youth vaccination rate by 25 percentage points in just two months. Now, 55% of 12 to 17 year olds have gotten at least one shot — nearly erasing the city-state gap. (Among all Newark residents 12 and up, 72% have had at least one dose.)

When the school year began in August for the Cajon Valley Union district in California, some members of the school community from Afghanistan were missing. Through local and international phone calls, staff in the district tracked down eight families who, after going to visit relatives in Afghanistan, had been unable to return to the United States amid the chaos of military evacuations and rising Taliban control, said Michael Serban, director of the district’s family and community engagement office. Like administrators in some other districts, Serban’s staff suddenly found themselves contacting legislators and government agencies to help bring families back.

Heejae Lim is the founder of TalkingPoints, a nonprofit, multilingual educational technology platform that helps teachers and families connect for student success. In this commentary, she writes, "If the last year and a half of virtual learning and debates about school closures has taught us anything, it is that family-school connections are critical to student well-being and learning."

After spending much of the 2020-2021 school year learning in virtual environments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students are once again filling classrooms this fall. Juli Dominguez, a teacher at Kekionga Middle School, says she can feel a renewed sense of excitement and relief among her students.

Dr. Trini Hernandez is a new associate principal at Montgomery C. Smith Elementary School. Prior to becoming an administrator, she taught Spanish to junior and senior high school students. As an assistant principal, she collaborated with teachers and administrators to develop strategies to increase individual student achievement and prepare students for a successful transition, whether it be into their career or higher education. Dr. Hernandez also served as the Director for the Questar III BOCES Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network.

Nearly a month after the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan, hundreds of refugees who fled the Taliban are preparing to settle here in Western New York.

In California, home to the largest number of Afghan refugees in the country, school officials are preparing for an influx of refugee students who fled Afghanistan with their families after the Taliban seized power in the country last month.