Cedar Ridge Students Celebrate Hispanic Heritage

Julie Evelsizer

The Pantagraph

Brandy Aguirre Cruz went to school Friday wearing a top hat, neck tie and green face paint.

“I have the part of the tadpole in our play,” said 8-year-old Cruz, a third grader at Cedar Ridge Elementary School in Bloomington.

Cruz and her classmates performed a play in Spanish based on the popular Colombian fairy tale, "Rin Rin the Tadpole," to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in October.

Students in the bilingual program at Cedar Ridge studied Spanish-speaking countries and then presented songs, plays and art to fellow students and visiting parents.

Cruz and her classmates studied the country of Colombia.

“I learned about the animals, money and authors,” said Cruz, whose family is Guatemalan.

“This is the home school for most of our kids, but some students are brought here from other local schools for the bilingual program,” said Leslie Romagnoli, English Second Language program coordinator for Unit 5 schools.

Unit 5's ESL program helps bilingual students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade whose first language is not English. Cedar Ridge has the highest number of Spanish-speaking students.

Over the summer, Romagnoli met with Cedar Ridge teachers to map out curriculum on cultural pieces for Spanish-speaking countries. Teachers will continue to focus on the countries throughout the semester.

“The students are excited to share their presentations with their parents and classmates,” said Romagnoli.

Seven-year-old Gael Sanchez Navarro learned about El Salvador in his second grade class. He and his classmates presented facts in Spanish to the crowd and played sacabuche instruments made from cups, leather and pencils.

“I talked about volcanoes in El Salvador,” Navarro said in clear English after the presentation. He started to explain more, but got stuck on a few tough English words. Romagnoli hopped in to help.

“There are things in El Salvador similar to ski lifts that take people up the sides of the volcanoes,” she translated. Navarro nodded.

In another room, a bilingual first grade class lined up to sing a about Guatemala. After the song, they each gave a fact about the country in English. As they were finished, they filed out of the room, but not before 6-year-old Antony Ramierez could dart into the crowd of visiting parents to give his dad a hug.

“I’m glad they have this activity at his school,” said his dad, Adrian Ramirez of Bloomington. “Our family is from Mexico and I don’t want him to forget his country and where we came from.”

National Bullying Prevention Month: Hugs and Communication

As the students of Unit 5 and District 87 continue to acclimate to new experiences and relationships, they also face the challenge of coping with bullying or the temptation to bully. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and an ideal time for parents to talk with teachers, communicate with their kids, and, hopefully, help eliminate bullying.

The Pantagraph's Derek Beigh recently examined one local effort to inoculate students against the damage of bullying.

For Antoinese Watson of Normal, reaching out to bullied teens isn't nice, it's necessary.

"My cousin is (a local suicide victim's) sister," she said. "No child should feel they're all alone, and something like that is necessary."

Watson, a senior at Normal Community West High School, joined about two dozen other local residents spreading that message during Wednesday's (Oct. 1) Operation Hug a Child event.

“I started it because of the young lady who committed suicide,” said the Rev. Rochelle Patterson, pastor of God's Decision Outreach Ministry in downtown Bloomington. "Any child from 2 to 92 needs a hug sometimes."

Patterson, members of the church and supporters organized events, including face painting, speakers and games Wednesday at Carl's Ice Cream in Normal.

"I was bullied in fifth grade," said 13-year-old Sharissa Jackson of Normal after getting her face painted. "It helps to make new friends or find an activity to do after school to get your mind off it."

Watson said "a ton of people get bullied," but she tells other students to "stay strong" and "find someone to talk to so you're not all alone."

Patterson said Jackson and 11-year-old Ashanti Hunter of Normal, both church members, were big parts of getting Operation Hug a Child rolling. The effort has visited local restaurants, grocery stores and downtown spaces offering hugs to passers-by, and the church maintains a board with photos of those hugs.

Hunter said she'd like to see more school-based organizations working to stop bullying. Watson is part of an anti-bullying group at Normal West that will hand out informational fliers at the school's homecoming parade next week.

"We're planning to go to the schools," Patterson said. "Too many kids don't realize people actually care about them."

Wednesday's main event was a hugging contest. Deborah Love of Normal and Tabu Triplett of Bloomington raced to see how many people in and around the restaurant they could hug.

After Triplett won, Patterson even offered hugs to people in the drive-thru lane at Carl's, including Bonnie Stephens of Pekin. Attendees also formed a massive heart to demonstrate their togetherness.

Patterson said she'll be out soon at more locations offering hugs to anyone who needs one. She refers to people who offers hugs as "Heroes Under God."

"Look out. There's a H.U.G. coming for you," she said with a laugh.

Normal Unit 5's anti-bullying/anti-bigotry resolution, passed last spring.

Notes In Our Town: NIOT:B/N Strengthening Community Partnerships

Roughly one busy year after community leaders and residents gathered at Illinois Wesleyan University's Ames Library to reinvigorate the 18-year-old Not In Our Town: Bloomington-Normal, NIOT:B/N returned to the library Saturday morning to forge new bonds in fighting local bigotry, bullying, and discrimination.

During a three-hour strategic planning meeting, Twin Cities officials, educators, and representatives of diverse Bloomington-Normal cultural communities hit the whiteboards to brainstorm ways to expand NIOT:B/N partnerships to help underserved constituencies and improve education and communications particularly among those who currently are not "engaged" out of a lack of awareness of local inequities or "discomfort" with discussion of race or culture.

As part of NIOT:B/N's strategy of "inoculation" -- the spread of social awareness on a person-to-person, group-to-group basis -- organization leader Phani Aytam appealed to Saturday's participants to reach out to additional community leaders about NIOT:B/N's mission.

"Is there one person you can talk to?" Aytam suggested.

NIOT:B/N's Art Taylor characterized the Twin Cities culturally as a richly diverse "community of a lot of dots," faced with the daunting challenge of "the connection of those dots." NIOT can serve as "the resource or brokerage for connecting the dots in our community" -- essentially a "one-stop shop" for specific groups seeking to reach the community at large.

Participants underlined the difficulties of bridging the Cities' cultural and economic divides. Meeting facilitator Gina Palmer acknowledged the tendency toward "self-segregation" among individual racial, religious, or social clusters, whether out of discomfort with or fear of offending or creating cultural misperceptions among other groups. Thus, cultural observances and festivals often become "preaching to the choir" rather than opportunities for multicultural education, according to Myra Gordon, who represented Bloomington's Moses Montefiore Temple. Gordon applauded the recent NIOT:B/N-sponsored vigil for the Charleston, S.C. church shooting victims, but suggested individual churches and groups could sponsor various general interest events as a way of introducing participants to other cultures.

Youth was a key focus both in raising early awareness but also as a way of reaching adults and, perhaps, changing the racial or cultural tone of the family dinner table. Unit 5 School District Superintendent Mark Daniel cited estimates that one hour per week of adult mentoring for a student significantly increases classroom participation and reduces disciplinary needs, while Bloomington Human Relations Commission member Rhonda Smith also emphasized the importance of student/student mentoring, arguing "their peers are who they are going to listen to."

Students are taking a hand in reducing school discrimination and bullying, through Not In Our School pledge efforts or the Bloomington-Normal Student Union organization studying possible strategies for leveling the playing field such as later school class times, standardized student testing, or dress codes that help set aside socioeconomic disparities.

McLean County YWCA head Dontae Latson recalled his first tour of Bloomington's west side, where he concluded the divide between east side and west side "wasn't just about race -- it was about class." Often, "capitalism itself is rooted in unfair practices," Latson said. NIOT:B/N's Mike Matejka, a former Bloomington alderman, noted that while the area has enjoyed a relatively low unemployment rate, minorities, ex-offenders, and others may see a far different perspective.

"You may be employed, but you may be stringing together a couple of jobs," Matejka maintained. Illinois Wesleyan University Center for Human Rights and Social Justice Director Irving Epstein held that "once you have a (criminal) record, you are screwed." 

Building community awareness of racial, socioeconomic, or cultural divides amid media downsizing, bustle, and bias is a key challenge, Saturday's participants argued. Cultural communities can help ensure awareness and transparency by securing "a fixed and permanent place for their voice" via weekly print columns or radio segments, Epstein said. Participants meanwhile stressed increased reliance social media and other alternative information sources for community insights.

Unit 5 Passes Not In Our School Resolution

The Unit 5 School District Board Wednesday passed a historic, student-presented "Not In Our School" resolution that formally sets down standards for addressing bullying and fostering inclusivity:

McLean County School District Not In Our School Resolution 
WHEREAS, bullying and intolerance has become a daily occurrence on many school campuses and in towns and cities across the nation; 
WHEREAS, bullying can take many forms, including verbal, physical, and most recently in cyberspace, and can happen in many places on and off school grounds;  
WHEREAS, history has tragically taught us what happens when people stand by and allow acts of bullying, intolerance, and hatred to occur; 
WHEREAS, it is important for parents, students, teachers, and school administrators to be aware of bullying, and to encourage discussion of the problem as a school community;  
WHEREAS, by teaching students to embrace differences, have empathy, and become upstanders who stand up for themselves and others, we create a safer school climate and prepare them to be upstanding citizens;  
WHEREAS, students, educators, and community members across the country who have started Not In Our School campaigns have been successful in opposing all forms of bullying and harassment;  
WHEREAS, schools and communities nationwide have used Not In Our School resources to create safe and inclusive environments where students feel accepted and belonging and can focus on their studies; 
WHEREAS, we, the Board of Education of McLean County Unit District No. 5, oppose any manifestation of bullying, harassment, prejudice and all forms of intolerance towards any group or individual; 
WE the Board of Education of McLean County Unit District No. 5, together with students and faculty across our District and the country, resolve to stand up against bullying and intolerance and actively work to make our campus free from discrimination and hatred. We also resolve to promote safety, inclusion, and acceptance, joining thousands of others to say with one voice, "Not In Our School.”  

Nancy: Unit 5 resources evolve with bullying

“Bullying has evolved” over the past 30-plus years since Nancy Braun’s public school graduation. The means to combating bullying also have evolved, with teachers becoming more attuned to the warning signs and sympathetic, confidential communications channels enabling students to overcome their fears and seek adult protection.

Braun is a special education supervisor and, for the past eight years, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) District coach with Normal’s Unit 5 schools. A 29-year Unit 5 veteran and a special education teacher for 23 years, she also assists with the district’s cyberbully hotline – a crucial resource for students being persecuted in school often as a consequence of afterschool activity.

Despite its label, students and parents are welcome to call the hotline (actually a shared junior high hotline and separate hotlines for Normal Community and Normal West high schools) to report either online or offline bullying incidents. Callers may remain anonymous, though Braun notes the majority provide basic information for response either by their school’s administrator or Braun.

“I see every call that comes in, and then I check with that school,” she related. “If we don’t know who that call is for, I’ll email back, I’ll ask some more questions, get some more information, and then we can get things headed in the right direction.

“When the hotline first rolled out a couple years ago, we got a lot of calls. Every year, the junior highs and the high schools bring it back up (with students) – there are posters in the schools with those numbers listed. The kids can call call or text or whatever and say, ‘This is what’s happening on the bus, in the locker room,’ and then I or the administrator will email back.

“I think it’s been a good first step for us. Some of these kids don’t feel comfortable going straight into a principal’s office or to an administrator or to a counselor, but as we get more information, we can encourage them to do that, to tell their parents, so we can get things going in the right direction and tackle the issue.”

All 24 Unit 5 schools are PBIS schools, with three level of behavioral support. “Universal” support focuses on teaching all students proper behavior in the hallway, restrooms, buses, and other environments. Unit 5 junior highs also incorporate advanced Peaceful Schools anti-bullying programs. PBIS itself includes an “Expect Respect” initiative that’s spawned various programs and projects based on the needs of individual kindergarten through 12th grade classes.

Braun is encouraged that teachers have become more vigilant toward bullying or potential bullying “as things have gotten harder.” In many cases, problems begin outside school, on Facebook or other social networking channels, “and then we’re left with the aftereffects,” she reported.

A major share of hotline contacts originate as texts (“Kids are mostly texters”) from students on the bus after school, enabling the district to track onboard video footage detailing bullying incidents. “The two hottest spots are buses and locker rooms,” Braun stated.

Braun sees a far more positive environment today for developmentally challenged and other special needs students, thanks to “the level of inclusion, starting as early as elementary schools,” in both Unit 5 and neighboring District 87 schools. In fact, she has seen no hotline calls involving bullying of those students.

What has worsened is “girl on girl” bullying – what Braun characterizes as “the mean girl mentality.”

Braun sees parents playing a vital role in preventing and reducing bullying, by controlling their own behavior and speech in front of their kids and being an active part of “the community within the school,” including the student’s entire family unit.

“Sometimes, we can only touch that kid from 8 until 4,” she nonetheless lamented. “At least, we can make positive changes for that little amount of time we have them.”

Contact your school to learn about anti-bullying efforts and hotline/reporting resources.

Local School Districts Cautious About Dual Language Programs

 Derek Beigh

The Pantagraph

BLOOMINGTON — When it comes to teaching children who speak languages other than English, Maura Toro-Morn thinks American schools have it all wrong.

"Schools see students who speak other languages as deficient," she said. "We need to see them not as deficient but as contributing something new."

Toro-Morn, director of Illinois State University's Latin-American and Latino Studies program, is one of the leading local voices pushing a new kind of language teaching: dual language immersion.

Immersion seeks to improve on two traditional language programs: foreign language teaching for English speakers that usually begins in middle or high school, and bilingual education that helps students who don't speak English learn the language but not necessarily the culture.

Dual language programs place students who speak fluent English and those who fluently speak another language — usually Spanish — into the same classroom.

Beth Hatt, an associate professor in ISU's College of Education, said that arrangement benefits both native English speakers and their new peers.

"Children who learn a second language in the early years develop advanced skills in communication and language ... denser gray matter in their brains, greater self-regulation skills, better literacy skills and a decreased propensity for developing dementia," she said. "Socially, evidence suggests bilingualism creates greater opportunities for employment ... and increased opportunities to develop cross-cultural understanding and relationships."

She added that students "who develop academic fluency in their native language typically develop stronger English skills than children in English only, ESL or bilingual programs because they are provided a more solid foundation. Additionally, children in the bilingual programs are typically segregated from their English-speaking peers. In dual language programs, they have opportunities to develop cross-cultural understanding and relationships as well."

The program also has economic benefits, both educators said. Graduates are more prepared for an increasingly global economy — "the future workforce of State Farm and Caterpillar requires a multilingual education," Toro-Morn said — and school districts can benefit, too.

"Dual language programs are typically less costly than the traditional bilingual and ESL programming," Hatt said. "Additionally, if dual language programs are high quality, the test scores of students will typically be higher than mono-lingual students, especially in reading and writing."

Bloomington-Normal schools, however, are cautious about jumping into dual language immersion. Some officials came away skeptical after an October summit on the topic at Illinois Wesleyan University.

“Right now, school funding is a limiting factor in looking at new programs,” said Cindy Helmers, assistant superintendent for curriculum and and instruction at Bloomington District 87. "We continue to look at the models and best practices that are out there."

Sandy Wilson, who holds the same position at McLean County Unit 5, said she doesn't "know that it’s realistic in the near future” to add a dual language program.

“It’s not a simple transition from what we have to dual immersion,” she said. "Funding, staffing, location, teacher certification, transportation ... you name it, we would have to consider it.”

Both District 87 and Normal-based Unit 5 host growing Spanish-to-English bilingual programs in addition to traditional pullout English-as-a-second-language instruction. Both have about a half-dozen bilingual staff members.

“Staffing of course is the biggest thing you have to look at (when considering dual language). That is where your largest amount of funding goes,” Helmers said. "Each year, the superintendent puts out hard-to-fill or specific needs that the district has, and it seems like bilingual teachers is always on that list.”

Added Wilson, “There’s not a large number of these teachers that the colleges are graduating” who are qualified to teach a dual language program. “It’s a small pool of candidates for a large need and a growing need."  

Both Twin City districts have traditional foreign language instruction. At District 87, it starts at the junior high level, and at Unit 5 at the eighth grade level. Offerings range from mainstays, including Spanish and French, to recent additions such as Mandarin Chinese.

Toro-Morn said the variety of languages spoken within a school district can make choosing a language for an immersion program difficult. Unit 5 houses students who speak fluently in 48 different languages, including 50 or more students who speak each of the top 14 represented; District 87 counts 35 languages spoken by its students.

Should local districts become interested in starting a program, they'll find a growing Latino population that supports Spanish as the best choice, according to an ISU report.

Unit 5's Hispanic enrollment jumped from 5 percent in 2009 to 7 percent — to about 950 — in 2014; District 87's increased from 8 percent to 12 percent — to about 650.

"If there we no Latinos here, we should still be having this conversation," said Toro-Morn. "Opportunities for young people who are bilingual or trilingual will be much more."

Alex Cardona, a business analyst at State Farm and member of the local Hispanic group Conexiones Latinas de McLean County, closed October's summit by affirming “the need is out there” for a dual language program in Bloomington-Normal.

“We can’t find enough truly bilingual employees (at State Farm). It’s not only bilingual but also biliterate,” he said. “You can be bilingual, but if you’re not bicultural, it’s like eating food without flavor.”

Toro-Morn said "as a nation, historically we have been multilingual."

"It's time for us to own that, and it's time for educational institutions to reflect that," she said.