ELL News Headlines

A number of communities across the state of Connecticut are holding fundraisers and donation drives for the people of Puerto Rico impacted by Hurricane Maria, while school districts statewide are preparing for new student arrivals.  Here is a snapshot of what's happening:

• Hispanic Heritage Committee in Stratford Rallies to Help Puerto Rico (Stratford Star)
• New Haven Preps for Puerto Rican Students Displaced by Hurricane (New Haven Register)
• Hartford School Communities Step Up As Puerto Rico Crisis Deepens (Hartford Courant)
• Local Schools in Meriden Prepare for Influx of Students from Storm-Ravaged Puerto Rico (My Record Journal)

The author/illustrator Susie Jaramillo is the creator and publisher of the acclaimed "Canticos" books. Here she talks about what inspired her latest bilingual, foldout, lift-the-flap board book, Little Skeletons Countdown to Midnight/Esqueletitos: un libro de contar en El Día de los Muertos (Encantos).

PBS is turning its lens onto viewers this October to celebrate Latino Heritage Month through a new social media campaign, #MiHistoria! The campaign encourages audiences to celebrate Latino stories and culture, and to contribute their personal stories — memories, photos and videos — via their favorite social networks.

Schools across Puerto Rico are still largely closed since the storm hit. But two have opened as school leaders try to bring some normalcy to students' lives.

The University of Virginia's Curry School of Education is adding a new Ph.D. program for scholars interested in the growing field of language education. The "Language Education in Multilingual Contexts" Ph.D., a new concentration within Curry's existing Ph.D. in education program, is designed for students interested in topics related to teaching and learning in kindergarten-through-high school language education. The new Ph.D. students will explore language education through multiple lenses and in various contexts – whether that’s students learning English as a second language, English-speaking students studying world languages, or students learning within dual-language settings in the classroom or at home.

A fellowship program in Washington state, which allows bilingual paraprofessionals to earn bachelor's degrees and K-8 teaching certificates while taking classes on nights and weekends, is one approach to meeting the demand for bilingual teachers, according to analysis of two reports from New America by The 74. In another model, Portland Public Schools is working with Portland State University to line up candidates for its fellowship program in which bilingual educators with bachelor's degrees work as teachers, substitutes or paraprofessionals in the district while earning graduate degrees. 

A new mentorship program designed by the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco is pairing high school students from immigrant families to Bay Area university student mentors, including some from UC Berkeley.  

The Washington Post has begun reporting on the victims of Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas who have been identified so far. At least four were educators. Here are their stories.

Sylvia Acevedo became a Girl Scout when she was seven, a life-changing moment that propelled her into a field with few Latinas: science and engineering. After earning her science badge by building model rockets, she realized she loved math and science and eventually became one of the first Latinas at NASA. Now, as the CEO of the Girl Scouts, she finds satisfaction in encouraging girls to envision themselves in science and engineering jobs, hoping to inspire them to follow in her footsteps.

Puerto Ricans fleeing the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria have already arrived at Florida's public schools. Broward County schools took in 128 hurricane refugees last week, mainly from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Miami-Dade district enrolled 31 from Puerto Rico, in addition to the 16 students from the Keys and two from Texas the district got after Irma and Harvey. School leaders are preparing for what could be a much bigger influx. "If there's one system in America that can actually respond quickly to these types of situations, it is a system like Miami," Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, said during a recent interview in his downtown office. "We are ready to embrace them, to hug them, to love them and to teach them."