 |
|
2008
Leticia Maldonado Stamos
Fallbrook Elementary School District
When Leticia Maldonado/Stamos was a child, she wanted to become a teacher so she could have lots of crayons, paints, paper, pencils and books, just like her elementary school teachers had. The field of Education turned out to be something very different for her. From Mini-Corps in the early 70’s to California Statewide Coordinator of the Puente Project High School Pilot Program, Leticia has garnered a wealth of opportunities to serve Latino children, their families and the community.
2007 Para-Educator of the Year
Dolores Gurrola
Rowland Unified SD
When I first started as a bilingual educator in 1990, I worked with a young student who had trouble reading and writing in Spanish, which was her first language. She was expected to transition from Spanish to English in only a few school years. I remember thinking that the transition was going to be impossible without any extra help or interventions. I always think about this student when someone asks or talks about the importance of bilingual programs at elementary schools. If this student was not able to learn and master her first language, Spanish, and then slowly transition to English, she may have not made it through school. I couldn’t imagine putting a child in an English speaking classroom that barely knew a few words of the language and would be expected to pass tests, quizzes, and complete homework, projects or classroom assignments. Without bilingual programs, young students would not have the opportunity to understand their own language and culture. I believe that students that are given this extra help will graduate high school bilingual and biliterate, which gives them greater advantages in their higher education and careers. The transition from Spanish to English should also be gradual, and should involve a lot of time spent with a teacher and instructional assistant that are bilingual. Working at both languages will help each student become a better communicator, listener, professional or educator.
2007 Distinguished
Norma Labastida
Chula Vista Elementary SD
Children who have the opportunities to learn more than one language increase their abilities to think in more than one frame of mind. Language is a way of perceiving and understanding the world around us. The better we understand our world the more successful we will be in functioning in that world. I believe that acquiring a second language increases a child’s capacity to understand and achieve.
Bilingual education should be additive By that I mean that children should not lose their first language in order to learn a second language. They can do both, and we are being student centered when we give the opportunity to learn a second language and maintain their first language. We increase the opportunities when we engage the whole family in becoming multi-lingual.
“El que domina dos idiomas vale por dos”
2007 Distinguished
Anabelle Marín
Saddleback Valley SD
I believe that by working to build strong bilingual families and communities, I can support teaching and learning for our English Learners. Our Spanish-speaking parents face challenges of learning the language and culture of the U.S. schools. Many do not have the educational background in their own lives, so opportunities through bilingual education or bilingual support enables us to build a bridge to two-way communication and enables families to access learning in their primary language as well as in English. Bilingual education helps to strengthen our society economically, culturally and socially.
|
|
|
|
