ELL News Headlines

It's the first week of Ramadan, a time when observant Muslims fast from dawn to sunset.  In the Washington region, that can be as late as 8:30 p.m. And sometimes, going out to eat that late can be tricky. Katherine Ashworth Brandt wants to make it easier for local Muslims who want to dine out during Ramadan. She's the founder of Dine After Dark, a new initiative calling for restaurants in D.C. to stay open later to accommodate fasting Muslims. Brandt, who isn't Muslim, says it’s good business to be inclusive.

During Ramadan, observant Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. That usually means there are festive and huge iftars — the evening meal — all month. Buffets, parties, family potlucks, especially on Friday nights. But the trickier meal for American Muslims is suhoor, the pre-dawn meal, which usually happens around 3 or 4 a.m. For decades, IHOP, the home of that famous, smiling chocolate chip pancake breakfast, has been one of the only places across the country — from big cities to country towns, from Los Angeles to West Virginia — where a Muslim family can load up on a filling meal before the day-long fast ahead.

A new report that delves into the K-12 experiences of American Indian and Alaska Native students found that roughly half of them have never been exposed to their native languages in school or at home. The paper, which explores findings from the National Indian Education Study — a report that comes out every four years — found that students in schools with a larger share of American Indian and Alaska Native students were more likely to be exposed to native languages than were their peers in schools with fewer native students.

A powerful painting about immigration by a Yorktown High School student is now set to hang in the U.S. Capitol. The art features two young children looking to the side with pinched expressions while one of them holds a sign that reads, "Bring Our Mom Back." The artist behind the work is 17-year-old Dominick Cocozza, who notes on his website that his passion for art began "at a very young age."

After a classmate pulled out a gun in class, Kendrick Castillo couldn't just stay still. He was surrounded by the friends he considered family and they were all in danger. Kendrick died when he lunged at the shooter, giving other students at STEM School Highlands Ranch enough time to hide, his family and a classmate said. "I know that because of what he did, others are alive, and I thank God for that. I love him. And he is a hero and he always will be," his dad, John Castillo, said.

A high school football player who has been in the U.S. since he was a toddler was in custody for possible deportation to his native Mexico, prompting a protest Monday by classmates outside an Arizona sheriff's office.

A Prince George's County elementary school principal has been placed on administrative leave, a school system spokeswoman said Friday, after distributing an unauthorized permission slip that said fourth-grade students who are not citizens would not be allowed to go on a planned field trip to the White House.

The creators of the group 123 Andrés (Andrés Salguero and his wife, Christina Sanabria) put on a bilingual show for kids — sometimes shifting into only Spanish. "Families want that," Sanabria says. "They want an immersion experience, whether they are Hispanic and speak it at home, or they’re learning."

In 2018, we watched "Black Panther," the first film about an African-American superhero that became a worldwide blockbuster, breaking several historical records. And this year, on March 8th, the story of "Captain Marvel" finally became a movie, the first from the MCU with a solo female superhero. After seeing this vital approach to diversity and inclusion, it's logical to wonder if we will soon see a movie with a Latino superhero from Marvel. Let's get to know some of the most popular characters out there.

After the success of her debut novel in verse, The Poet X, whose cover is now adorned with the National Book Award and Printz Award medals, Elizabeth Acevedo's new novel, With the Fire on High, explores similar themes of family and heritage. Told in prose, the book follows high-school senior, mother, and budding chef Emoni Santiago as she forges a future for herself and her daughter in Philadelphia while defining her own rules and boundaries. Acevedo spoke with PW about portraying an underexplored side of teen motherhood, deciding how best to communicate a character’s story, and the importance of Emoni’s Afro-Puerto Rican and African-American heritage to her experience.