October, 2009
To All of our Bilingual Services Program Students, Families, and Personnel:
Our Bilingual Services schools have made a very successful start to the 2009-2010 school year! Our 117 teachers are currently serving approximately 2300 students in 15 different schools in Rockford District No. 205.
Recently we celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, which ran from September 15 to October 15. Hispanic Heritage Month was set aside by the U.S. Congress to recognize the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States and to celebrate Hispanic heritage and culture.
 Eisenhower Bilingual teachers created and performed a play entitled “Pepito” for the entire school. It was very humorous but highlighted the important roles of many historical and current Hispanics worldwide using drama, music and dance. Eisenhower Bilingual staff also put on a luncheon for school staff that provided samples of foods from many different Latin-American countries and Spain.
A Riverdahl kindergarten teacher created lessons using maps and flags of the Hispanic countries, and had parents participate by sharing information with their children about their own particular country of origin, map, flag and background.
Many of the music, art and PE specialists and librarians in our Bilingual schools presented projects using the cultures of Hispanic countries. A PE teacher at Nashold incorporated laps run by students into a “road trip” that followed the path of explorer Cabeza de Vaca from Spain to Florida and Mexico. Nashold students also studied Hispanic biographies, literature, revolutionary and independence day celebrations, and hallway displays.
A middle school teacher at Barbour had his class research the lives of noted Hispanics from biography.com, do group reports, and report to the rest of the class, who evaluated the reports using rubrics. Another Barbour teacher is having his eighth graders do a research project on Spain to be able to present an oral report and compare that culture to their own.
Lathrop teachers did extensive projects involving the Aztecs and Mayas of Mexico that studied regions, cities, culture, traditions, food, monuments, religion, languages, and economy. Another Lathrop teacher studied the Mexican flag and used the flag’s colors to creatively decorate the entire classroom.
Hillman and Spring Creek put up large hallway displays, and Spring Creek and Eisenhower had daily announcements focusing on important Hispanic people and trivia questions.
Thanks to everyone who participated. We have a lot to celebrate!
On November 4th our department will be holding a parent event at Guilford High School in cooperation with our Parent Advisory Council (PAC). Mr. Roberto Carmona, a very accomplished and successful business leader from Chicago will be presenting on the vital role parents play in communicating to their children the importance of family legacy, expectations for education and career success, and a little on how to get into junior colleges and universities with scholarships and funding. Mr. Carmona knows what he is talking about, because he has two very successful daughters who followed his vision for them and dreamed big dreams. His daughter Tonantzin went to an exclusive East Coast preparatory school, and is on a scholarship for Hispanic students at Northwestern University in Chicago to become a physician. Tonantzin will be translating Mr. Carmona’s message into Spanish at the Guilford meeting. Mr. Carmona is a local product. He went to high school in Sterling, Illinois, and even worked in the Rockford Bilingual program for a short time. The Nov. 4th meeting will be from 6 to 8 PM, and we will provide free pizza to attendees from 6:00 to 7:00. A raffle will be held, and two new bicycles that have been donated will be given away to contest winners. Please come out, have some good food, enjoy the great company, and enjoy and learn from Mr. Carmona’s presentation. We will do all that we can to help you assist your children in becoming successful students and individuals. It is for that reason that we are all here!
Thank you to all parents who attended Parent/Teacher conferences in October in elementary schools, and who will be coming to the conferences at middle schools and high schools in November.
Please look over the 2009-2010 Handbook on the Bilingual Services Program pages of the Rockford Public Schools website, rps205.com, for further calendar events.
Let’s all have a very successful 2009-2010 school year!
Sincerely,
Paul Yankee
Director, Bilingual Services Department
Rockford Public Schools. |
