Loading ...Oak Lawn Outreach Event Invites Parents Who Speak Spanish, Arabic to School to ‘Let them Know They Belong Here as Well’
SOURCE: CHICAGO TRIBUNE
BY: JANICE NEUMANN
Parents whose main language isn’t English sometimes feel like outsiders when they visit Oak Lawn Community High School, missing out on the academic and extracurricular programs their teens enjoy simply because they speak another language.
But staff and students five years ago found a way to bridge that communication gap, beginning an annual Community Outreach Event for Spanish and Arabic Speaking Families, where students plan an introduction to their school in their native languages and organize fun activities to make families feel at home.
As families gathered recently for the fifth edition of the event, there was a flurry of activity in the school’s media center as dozens of students from Spanish Honors 4, Arabic for Heritage Speakers and members of the Muslim Student Association set up poster presentations.
Students set up a Pride Board, organized by student Cristina Jimenez, where parents, students and staff could post their cultural/family traditions, while others practiced speeches and tours of the building they would be giving to families and prepared refreshments, a raffle table and games. There were also information booths for Moraine Valley Community College and University of Illinois at Chicago. Arabic and Spanish music played in the background.
Sofia Serna, a junior who is taking Spanish Honors 4, said she looked forward to the event as a way to help parents, including her own.
Sofia Serna, a junior who is taking Spanish Honors 4, said she looked forward to the event as a way to help parents, including her own.
“Seeing that I’m first generation, I know my parents aren’t involved in the community because there’s an insecurity,” said Sofia Serna, whose parents came here from Mexico. “Parents can feel involved and understand what’s going on. They can fully see what I do every day and understand it.”
For classmate Grace Butler, the event was an opportunity to practice her Spanish, which she adores, and meet families of different backgrounds.
“That’s so important to be exposed to different ethnicities, religions and cultures because that’s what you’re going to see in the real world,” Butler said.
Teacher Alexandra Wong, who suggested the event to administrators five years ago, said she wanted students to be able to practice language in a safe space.
“I also wanted to do something positive for the community and school,” said Wong, who teaches Spanish 4 Honors. “I think this activity is just really positive and a way to welcome all Spanish and Arabic speakers and promote this relationship between these communities and let them know they belong here as well.”
Connecting with families and making them feel welcome was also important to Salma Salameh, a junior who learned both English and Arabic in her native Jordan, before immigrating to the U.S. as a child. This was her first year speaking to the crowd and leading tours
“I like doing that stuff,” Salma said.
Phalistein Suleiman attended to hear the different languages at her son’s school. Her son Fahed Suleiman, 14, speaks Arabic at home but also is studying it at school to improve his writing and reading.
“I see a lot of improvement in him,” said Suleiman. “He’s happy doing this.”
Marwa Elmasry, who teaches Arabic Heritage 1 and helped organize the event, said she wished she had been lucky enough to feel so welcome when she emigrated from Egypt and her children attended school in the U.S. Elmasry helped organize the event with Wong, Samantha Razik, who supervises the Muslim Student Association and Kaitlyn Byrne, who teaches Spanish 4.
“It’s very important for them to know this (that they are welcome) and good for the students,” Elmasry said.
