Three years ago, McCallum High School got an influx of refugee students from Afghanistan. There was no English as a second language, ESL, class to help them seamlessly integrate into high school in the United States. The administration noticed that these students were put into regular English classes and were struggling to keep up with the work that they were given. Some students couldn’t write or read in their home language so throwing them into a class where they understand the new foreign language, English, at all was even more difficult.
This led English teacher James Hutcheson, or Hutch as his peers and students call him, to work with the admin before the start of the 23-24 school year to create space for three ESL classes in the master schedule.
“Helping out these kids means the same as helping out all of the kids at our school,” Hutch said. “Each student has their own individual challenges and struggles. It’s our job as educators to meet each kid where they’re at.”
During the ESL class, Hutch focuses more on verbal communication in addition to reading and writing as opposed to English classes for native speakers.
“The texts are simpler, and we hit grammar more explicitly,” Hutch said. “We also do a lot of structured dialogue, which looks a lot like a theatre class.”
One difficulty that the ESL class is facing this year is the fact that there are five different languages being spoken, and Hutch is a native English speaker. This is why students like junior Sara Hamlet and senior America Franken have chosen to be teacher’s assistants in the class.
Hamlet is a native Spanish speaker, and her mom taught ESL when she first moved to the United States from Mexico.
“I thought it would be a good opportunity to follow in her footsteps and practice my Spanish and people skills at the same time,” Hamlet said. “I like it because it feels like I’m helping them accomplish something and learn skills that they will use for the rest of their life.”
Translating instructions from Hutch’s English into Spanish is one way that Hamlet helps out. She also translates important information that they may need to know that isn’t given to them.
Hamlet does acknowledge that even though she knows Spanish, there are many different accents and mannerisms that make it difficult for her to fully understand what a student might be trying to convey.
Another struggle is students will also join the ESL class whenever they enroll at McCallum, which can lead to students being at different places in the class.
“Hutch just tries to fit them in because most of the work is independent learning,” Hamlet said. “They can use resources like IXL and Imagine Learning to help them get a good grasp of where they are.”
One of Hamlet’s favorite parts of the class is getting to know the students and talking with them about how culture, school and home life are different in the U.S. than in their home country.
“Getting to talk to them about transitioning is also something I enjoy because many of them just moved here a few months ago,” she said.
Franken is another student who has decided to spend a class period helping out students in the ESL class.
“I wanted to make a difference for students who might feel like they’re struggling to find their voice in a new environment,” Franken said.
As someone who is bilingual, Franken understands and acknowledges the challenges of navigating two languages especially when one is brand new.
“I wanted to use my skills to support others in building their confidence and communication,” she said. “It’s incredible being able to see them grow, not just in language but in self-assurance.”
Seeing the students who she has grown to know has made Franken so proud and also inspired.
“Helping out in the ESL class means a great deal to me because I know I am contributing to something that will profoundly impact these students’ lives, both now and in the future,” Franken said. “They are all incredibly bright and motivated, and it is so exciting to witness how quickly they are picking up English. Watching their progress every day inspires me, especially with Mr. Hutcheson’s ability to find ways to make learning both engaging and effective.”
One memory that Franken has of Hutch making learning more engaging is him printing out a scene from a play for the students to act out in English. This gave the students a chance to practice speaking and interacting in real-life situations. Hutch has also had the students create their own everyday life scenarios and record them in English for homework.
“For fun, when everyone is finished with their work, [Hutch] sometimes plays music in class and gets song requests from the students,” Franken said. “But, he only allows English songs and he displays the lyrics on the board so that the students can pick up words faster.”
Franken realizes that helping out students whose first language isn’t English makes them feel welcomed but it also helps her. She realizes that listening to the stories and lives of others will help her in her dream of becoming an immigration lawyer.
“Being given the opportunity to assist in the ESL classes allows me to not only improve my Spanish but also listen to the stories and lives of others,” Franken said. “It gives me a sense of what it will be like helping people in the future, which is a huge part of why I want to pursue this career. Helping them learn English and helping them translate words only makes me want to become a lawyer even more. I enjoy helping and being kind to everyone.”
