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KCJ2006

By Mary Stevens Decker

Redmond Reporter staff

December 4, 2006

Parents with the time to spend often help out in their child's classroom, but several years ago a group of parents in the Lake Washington School District found a disparity in the number of active volunteers at elementary schools districtwide.

"Some schools had an abundance of volunteers, some had a serious lack," said Nanci Wehr, one of the coordinators of LINKS, a district PTA effort designed to fill the gaps where volunteers are needed.

LINKS — which stands for Looking Into the Needs of Kids and Schools — was formed three years ago to recruit business people, retirees or others who are able and willing to contribute their time and talent.

At schools where parent involvement is low, "it's not a matter of disinterest," said Claire Beighle, who also coordinates the program, with Wehr. "Often, both parents are working long hours or there are language or cultural barriers that make them uncomfortable."

19 languages in district

Some 19 languages are spoken by families in the Lake Washington School District. In some cultures, it is considered disrespectful to offer assistance to an educator.

Another factor that prevents volunteers from coming forward is the fear that job descriptions are set in stone.

"Someone might say, 'I like to travel; if I sign up as a volunteer, I won't be able to take a week off,' which isn't true," Beighle noted. "It's OK to miss a week; it's very flexible. You develop a relationship with a teacher, tell them when you can or can't be there — and they are grateful for every bit of help they can get."

What kind of help is needed?

Being a lunch buddy — just an hour a week — is one of the volunteer roles. A counselor matches a caring adult with a child who would benefit from extra support. The lunch hour can be spent playing games, helping with homework or making a card for a parent; it's more about "being there" for a child than following a structured routine.

Classroom support for teachers is also critical, "to allow teachers to do things they can't do alone," said Beighle. For instance, a teacher can give one-on-one reading help if a volunteer is floating around the classroom, responding to other children's raised hands.

Simple help, huge impact

Something so simple has a huge impact on the learning environment, said Jeff DeGallier, principal of John Muir Elementary in Kirkland.

"In an era where we're expecting teachers to individualize instruction as much as possible, and with such a wide continuum in any classroom — students working at different paces and different levels — it is so important to have an extra set of eyes, ears or hands from another adult," he said.

Wehr and Beighle currently have about 20 LINKS participants and hope to have 40 or more by the end of the year.

 

Redmond Reporter

Volunteers bridge elementary school's language barrier
More are needed as the number of non-English-speaking students increases

By Sarah Koenig
March 22-April 11, 2006
 

Jack Tobin, principal at Einstein Elementary School, used to let a computer program translate his letters to parents into Spanish. He doesn't do that anymore.

With 25 percent of its students in an English language learners (ELL) program and about 40 percent with a Hispanic background, the school has a disproportionately large number of parents and students who aren't fluent in English. That's created a challenge.

"There are some ways where those (computer) translators will use words in the wrong context," Tobin said. "For example, I had a young man who made a poor choice on the bus, and I was writing the standard letter of: 'Your child's not going to be able to ride the bus for the next couple of days.''' "

Tobin's computer translated the verb "ride" into the Spanish verb that means "to ride a horse," he said.  ''The parent was very confused about how the son had acquired the horse and what had happened around the horse," Tobin said.

Tobin speaks enough Spanish to direct a child to class, but not enough to have a conversation with a parent about student behavior.

"Because the service providers, the teachers, many times are not bilingual/bicultural, the communication piece becomes alarming," said Sonia Figaredo-Alberts, a special service coordinator for the Lake Washington School District.

"We need to be able to communicate with our families."

The number of families whose first language isn't English has grown at Einstein in the past three years, Figaredo-Alberts said. That population used to be concentrated in the Juanita-north Kirkland area, but in recent years it has expanded to Avondale Road, she said. In addition, Einstein is a magnet school for ELL students in the district. Tobin said.

Those are some reasons why the school, with 25 percent of its students in an ELL program, has a higher-than-average number of students learning English. About 4 percent of students district wide are English language learners.

Einstein relies on interpreters , - some volunteer and some paid - to communicate with parents about discipline issues, school emergencies, paperwork and more. Interpreters are also needed at events like parent-teacher conferences, registration days and parent-information nights.

Translators are needed to translate letters and other documents.

Virginia Ramirez, a former journalist and a transplant from Venezuela, has done volunteer translating and interpreting for the school for more than three years.

"Three years ago, I just came by and said, 'I live next door and  I'm a Spanish speaker and I'm trying to improve my English,''' said Ramirez. "(A school secretary) said, 'Wow, I'm desperate. I need you, we really, really need you!'"

Ramirez sees many families that are overwhelmed by the language and new school system. A process like kindergarten registration involves a lot of paperwork, she said.

"Some of them, not all of them, come from a very low-income social situation, so they don't have time to learn the language," she said. "They have maybe two jobs. such a hectic, hectic schedule."

When Ramirez first started translating, she helped a mother who'd lived here for five years understand a school document she had to sign.

"She said it was the first time that she was signing something she could understand," Ramirez said.

The school needs more volunteers. Last year, it spent $2,360 on interpreters and translators. So far this year, it's spent $1,460 for about 70 hours of translation and interpretation work. Spring parent-teacher conferences, when the school will need more help, are just around the comer.

"We believe that communication with our families is a high priority, and obviously if we could use volunteers to accomplish that that would free up resources for us to do other things," Tobin said.

Program provides LINKS to help teachers in classrooms - Volunteers will fill in gaps for educators who are spread too thin

Sarah Koenig
February 22. 2005
Click Here For Story Link


REDMOND -- Some days, Mary Locke needs to be in 18 places at once. A kindergarten teacher at Einstein Elementary School, she knows firsthand what it means to attend to that many students.
That's one reason she's helping organize a program called LINKS, which will recruit volunteers to Einstein and other schools in the Lake Washington School District that suffer from low parent involvement.
In other district schools, parent volunteers in classrooms take the pressure off one teacher faced with 20 or more children.
``The teachers are spread too thin (at Einstein),'' said Nanci Wehr, a PTSA co-president at Horace Mann Elementary who's helping set up LINKS. ``It's hard for teachers to be able to run the class if they've got kids learning at different levels, and maybe one child needs a little more help than another.''
The description is apt.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Locke floated around the classroom putting out one academic fire after another as students struggled to complete a handwriting assignment -- the letter J.
``Mrs. Locke?'' said one student, holding his paper in hand.
``Mrs. Locke?'' said another, rising from his chair.
One student, who complained his crayons weren't sharp enough, wandered to the counter, opening and closing crayon boxes.
``The difference parents make in a classroom is huge,'' Locke said after class. ``You saw me floating around, and those kids getting out of their seats. They (volunteers) are lifesavers.''
Einstein lacks volunteers for a variety of reasons, Locke said.
``There are a lot of families where both parents work,'' she said. ``Also, language barriers make people feel more intimidated in coming here.''
The school has a high proportion of English language learners.
``A lot of the kids (at the school) may be the first generation in this country,'' Locke said.
In addition to the language barrier, the school has an abundance of families who aren't rooted in the area, because it draws students from nearby apartment complexes on Avondale Road.
LINKS will hook up available volunteers with specific needs at schools, including Einstein. The group is evaluating what other schools need more volunteers.
The volunteer experience is rewarding for both students and adults, said Wehr, who's volunteered in the classroom at Einstein. ``The kids react when they see people in the classroom,'' she said. ``Those kids, when I walked in the door, were just like `Read with me, read with me!'
``They're begging for that extra attention.''
GET INVOLVED
To volunteer with LINKS, call Nanci Wehr at 425-885-9158 or e-mail her at nanci.wehr@comcast.net.
 

Redmond Reporter

Program provides LINKS to help teachers in classrooms

Parents will fill in the gaps for district educators who are spread too thin

By SARAH KOENIG
February 9, 2005

Some days, Mary Locke needs to be in 18 places at once. A kindergarten teacher at Einstein Elementary School, she knows firsthand what it means to attend to that many students.

That's one reason she's helping organize a program called LINKS, which will recruit volunteers to Einstein and other schools in the Lake Washington School District that suffer from low parent involvement.

In other district schools, parent volunteers in classrooms take the pressure off one teacher faced with 20 children.

"The teachers are spread too thin (at Einstein)," said Nanci Wehr, a PTSA co-president at Horace Mann Elementary who's helping set up LINKS. "It's hard for teachers to be able to run the class if they've got kids learning at different levels, and maybe one child needs a little more help than another."

The description is apt.

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Locke floated around the classroom putting out one academic fire after another as students struggled to complete a handwriting assignment - the letter J.

"Mrs. Locke?" said one student, holding his paper in hand.

"Mrs. Locke?" echoed another, rising from his chair.

One student who complained his crayons weren't sharp enough, wandered to the counter, opening and closing crayon boxes. Miraculously, the class sat hushed and attentive 15 minutes later as Locke read a story.

"The difference parents make in a classroom is huge," she said after class, settling into a tiny chair as her son Alex, a sixth grader at Einstein, drifted in. "You saw me floating around, and those kids getting out of their seats. They (volunteers) are lifesavers."

Parents make a difference outside the classroom as well.

"There have been times field trips were canceled because of no parent volunteers," Locke said. "It happened to you, didn't it, Alex?"

"Yeah," Alex said, with a worried look on his face, "when we were going to the zoo."

Volunteers also are needed to help with parties, translate for parents who don't speak English and participate in the Lunch Buddy program, which teams an adult mentor with students.

In contrast, Mann Elementary School, nestled two miles away in a neighborhood of single-family homes, has an abundance of parent volunteers. Einstein lacks volunteers for a variety of reasons, Locke said.

"There are a lot of families where both parents work," she said. "Also, language barriers make people feel more intimidated in coming here."

The school has a high proportion of English Language Learners.

"We sent fliers home for food for a luncheon in English and Spanish, and it's the most food we ever got," Locke said. "It's just because (with English-only fliers in the past) they couldn't read the flier."

In that vein, some of Locke's students speak languages other than English at home. Before the bell rang, a student with waist-length black hair started chatting in Spanish with a friend who wore Barbie tennis shoes and a backpack that announced, "Mejores Amigos !," or "best friends," in Spanish.

"A lot of the kids (at the school) may be the first generation in this country.”, Locke said. "In this class. we have Hispanic, Japanese students, and kids come here without speaking English, too."

In addition to the language barrier, the school has an abundance of families who aren't rooted in the area, since it draws students from nearby apartment complexes on Avondale Road.

LINKS will hook up available volunteers with specific needs at schools, including Einstein. The group is evaluating what other schools need more volunteers.

Unlike Locke, the other parents organizing LINKS don't have children at Einstein. They hope they can attract volunteers who also want to work at a school where they don't have children in attendance.

The volunteer experience is rewarding for both kids and adults, said Wehr, who's volunteered in the classroom at Einstein. Once the program is up and running, she plans to fill in for volunteers who can't make it to an assignment.

"The kids react when they see people in the classroom," she said. "Those kids, when I walked in the door, were just like 'Read with me, read with me!' They're begging for that extra attention."

Sarah Koenig can be reached at (425) 453-4613, or by e-mail at sarah.koenig@reporternewspapers.com.