ELL News Headlines

Around 400 students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are expected to participate in a reading program, Rising Up, this fall to boost literacy among 3rd to 5th graders who live in non-English speaking households. Coming out of COVID-19 school lockdowns, English-language learners faced serious challenges to recover their reading and writing skills.

The elementary school students in Kendra Hatchett’s summer school class in Compton are used to adults asking them questions. Teachers ask them questions in class and on tests; principals ask them questions in the office and in the hall. But this summer, the tables were turned. Students interviewed teachers and coaches and even the principal.

During the summer, I am sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 11 years. You can see all those collections from the first 10 years here.

When asked about my career path and trajectory as the only third executive director of local Denver nonprofit, Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK), I would love to weave a tale about an inherent thirst to conserve the environment, or a deeply rooted calling to inspiring young people. But alas, my path began with a free T-shirt.

Fewer first-year and transfer students returned to the University of California this past fall after enrolling the previous year, a trend that system President Michael Drake said he is watching “very carefully” but predicted will rebound.

For David Walker, entering his community garden in East Vancouver is an escape from the worries of day-to-day life. He's been gardening at Cottonwood Community Gardens for 10 years. Walker is one of the many passionate gardeners in Vancouver who utilize community space to relax, grow food and connect with others — some of the myriad benefits of gardening in urban spaces. 

Inside a small room in a house on Kabul's outskirts, about ten teenage girls are defying their Taliban rulers who have banned them from attending secondary school. "Let's learn," one student slowly reads to another as they review English lessons from a textbook. "Learn the words: Yellow, blue, red, green." The girls attend a secret school run by a young woman barely older than her students, 21-year-old Nazanin, whose lavender headscarf matched her nail polish on the day we visited.

On one poster, a stick figure family stands tall on green shaggy grass under a vast paper sky, with a big blue-and-yellow striped flag centered prominently. On another, a river of red roses flows next to big blue-and-yellow heart. One shows a family split apart by a scribbled mess of orange, captioned with the word "BOOM!" This was the Ukrainian children's understanding of the past six months with their families, scribbled away by an even more incomprehensible war.

Dr. Adriana Alvarez grew up in the border community of El Paso, Texas. As a bilingual student going through the education system, she can recall many moments where her language was punished and her identity not accepted — in fact, “devalued,” she said, recounting memories of a teacher who charged 25 cents every time she was caught speaking Spanish and a high school counselor who tried to discourage her from attending college. 

During the summer, Larry Ferlazzo is sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 11 years. You can see all those collections from the first 10 years here.