ELL News Headlines

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.

Nearly 30 students enrolled in English as a Second Language writing classes at New Highland Elementary School are publishing an anthology of poems adapted from Kentucky educator George Ella Lyon's "Where I Am From" project that promotes a positive understanding of diversity.

Right now, students studying to be teachers in New York are required to spend six semester hours learning about language acquisition and literacy. Last month, state education policymakers proposed requiring teacher preparation programs to dedicate three of those hours to how English language learners learn and acquire language.

The Boston School Committee has voted to confirm Brenda Cassellius — a career educator who rose from paraprofessional to state commissioner, mostly in Minnesota — as the next superintendent of Boston Public Schools.

A 16-year-old Guatemalan boy who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without his parents fell ill while in federal custody and died Tuesday after spending several days in intensive care at a hospital in Texas, U.S. Health and Human Services said Wednesday.