Katie Murphy approached the board, ready to practice her beginner-level Spanish skills.
“There is a quiz on Wednesday.”
“Hay una prueba el miércoles.”
Her students, part of a record number of Spanish-speaking students in the Hazleton Area School District, are learning a new language. She feels that she should learn a new language, too.
Los profesores (teachers) become los estudiantes (students) after school on Tuesdays in Hazleton. With 1 in 4 Hazleton Area School District students learning English, about 50 teachers stay after school weekly to learn how to better connect with the children.
“I'm asking my students to come in and read English and speak English, and that can be nerve-wracking, especially if they came into the country fairly recently,” Murphy said. “I think my willingness to try gives them a little bit of confidence to try.”
The all-time high of 13,737 students in the southern Luzerne County district is up about 500 students from a year ago. Of those students, about 3,700 receive additional support for learning English, up about 400 from a year ago. More than 70% of the English Language Learners moved to Hazleton from the Dominican Republic. About 70% of the district’s students are Hispanic.
Hazleton started the Spanish classes for school staff three years ago, using federal Title III funds to pay for the instructor and supplies. The district also offers weekly English classes to families and provides childcare at no cost.
About 50 district employees have taken the classes each year, including teachers, cafeteria staff, maintenance and social workers, according to Lindsay Wagner, the district’s assistant director of English Language Learners. Teachers can earn state-required professional development hours for participation.
With the boom in Spanish-speaking students, the district opened a Newcomer Center last year, where students get dedicated language support before transferring to their home schools. The concept expanded to two middle schools this fall, with students grouped together and assisted by a bilingual paraprofessional throughout the day.
The district also is in early stages of planning and construction of a new elementary school to ease overcrowding.
When Pamela Houseknecht began teaching Spanish at the high school 22 years ago, the influx of Spanish-speaking students was just beginning. She now teaches Spanish to teachers after school.
“Our Hispanic population is huge, and these kids need to feel welcomed. They want to know what's going on in their classrooms,” she said. “So for teachers to take time out to come here, and for me to give them the tools to do that, it's wonderful.”
In her two sessions after school on Tuesday last week, Houseknecht went over common phrases for teachers. She also provided Spanish words for classroom items.
El lápiz , the pencil.
El libro, the textbook.
El pupitre, the student desk.
“We're going to learn how to be able to tell them, ‘You have a project due on Tuesday, there's a test on October 19,’” she told the adult students.
The students sang the letters of the alphabet, wrote dates and practiced pronunciation with partners.
Angela Graham, a band teacher at Heights Terrace and Maple Manor schools, took the Spanish class last year, and came back this fall to strengthen her skills.
“I have at least been able to somewhat communicate with the students, even if it's just simple words, getting them to recognize what I'm asking of them, and then them understanding it,” she said.
Graham sometimes relies on a student to translate, especially when she’s trying to teach students how to count rhythm in band or how to play a musical instrument.
“I think it's super helpful to be able to communicate with the students, even if it's fragmented Spanish, to let them know that we're trying to learn their language while they're also trying to learn English,” she said.
