ELL News Headlines

Every year, tens of thousands of people descend on San Juan to attend Puerto Rico Comic Con, an annual comic book and pop culture convention. For the last 16 years, comic book artists, entrepreneurs and content creators from the island, the mainland US and other places in the Caribbean showcase and sell their work, while attendees meet their favorite artists and entertainers from the industry. Now, nearly eight months after Hurricane María made landfall across Puerto Rico, regular attendees of the event like George Camacho are excited to finally be able to enjoy and showcase their hobby.

During his visits to several courts as a translator-for-hire, Victor Abundis grew increasingly frustrated at the amount of people who didn’t know they could be eligible for interpreter. "It'll state that in the package they get, but the package is always in English," he says. What usually happens next, he says, is that the lawyers and agents scramble in the waiting room to find any random person who can speak or interpret the language. Abundis thought that wasn't fair. "This is the most important appointment of their lives. And it literally hangs in the balance of some random person they found out of a waiting room." With Interpreter Tap, Abundis is hoping to change that. Interpreter Tap is an app that offers interpreter services in real time on your mobile device. The idea is that the app will connect you to an interpreter through a video call and interpret on the spot.

"I want The Three Bears!" These days parents, caregivers and teachers have lots of options when it comes to fulfilling that request. You can read a picture book, put on a cartoon, play an audiobook, or even ask Alexa. A newly published study gives some insight into what may be happening inside young children's brains in each of those situations. And, says lead author Dr. John Hutton, there is an apparent "Goldilocks effect" — some kinds of storytelling may be "too cold" for children, while others are "too hot." And, of course, some are "just right."

A 17-year-old Pakistani exchange student killed in a mass shooting at a high school in Texas was laid to rest Wednesday in her hometown of Karachi. Sabika Sheikh was among 10 students and staff slain Friday at Santa Fe High School. Sabika had planned to return home in a few weeks for Eid al-Fitr, the three-day holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Qusay Hussein was playing volleyball with friends in the Iraqi city of Mosul Aug. 3, 2006, when a car pulled up. The driver looked him in the eyes and smiled. Then he detonated. On Thursday, the 29-year-old graduated from Austin Community College in Texas with an associate's degree. And he shared his remarkable story as the keynote speaker.

The funeral was about to begin, the first of 10 for the victims of the Santa Fe High School mass shooting, and the body of Sabika Sheikh was waiting at the mosque. Sabika, 17, dreamed of being a diplomat, of working to empower women. A Muslim exchange student from Karachi, Pakistan, she had come to the United States through a State Department-funded study program, excited to leave behind the dangers posed by extremists at home to experience a country that represented all that was possible.

University at Buffalo undergraduate students have been participating in a literacy training program at a Buffalo Public School. WBFO's senior reporter Eileen Buckley says they are teaching students from around the globe how to read in English.

When Jeremy Baugh took the helm as principal of School 107 three years ago, a school where 38% of students are English language learners, staff turnover was so high that about half the teachers were also new to the struggling elementary campus, he said. For his first two years, the trend continued — with several teachers leaving each summer. But when he surveyed his staff this year, Baugh got some unexpected news: about 97 percent of teachers said they plan on returning. "I was thrilled," he said. Staff say the change is heavily driven by a new teacher leadership program Indianapolis Public Schools has rolled out at 15 schools. Known as opportunity culture, some teachers are paid as much as $18,300 extra per year to oversee and support several classrooms. Educators at School 107, which is also known as Lew Wallace, say opportunity culture helps retain staff in two ways: It gives new teachers, who can often feel overwhelmed, support. And, it allows experienced teachers to take on more responsibility without leaving the classroom.

When Elycea Almodovar was searching for a college three years ago, she had just two criteria: It had to be diverse, and it had to have a record of actually graduating students like her — not just taking their money and letting them drop out. Salem State, the most diverse public university in her home state of Massachusetts, checked both boxes. Thanks to the efforts of schools like Salem State to recruit and support more Latino students, hire more diverse faculty and expand cultural programming, more Hispanics are going to college, and their graduation rates are rising. The bad news? This progress remains uneven. Nationwide, the proportion of Hispanics who graduate within six years is still 10 percentage points lower than the proportion of whites, according to the Education Department. The proportion who graduate in four is nearly 14 percentage points lower.

New York City has named 17 teachers winners of Big Apple Awards, a competitive prize that rewards 'exceptional success' in instruction, impact on student learning, and overall contributions to school communities. The winners were culled from a pool of more than 6,500 nominees. The winners include a special education teacher who had her students' artwork exhibited at MoMA, a dual language teacher who wrote her own Chinese literacy curriculum, and an early education teacher who uses an app to communicate with parents.