January 1, 2022
We are pleased to announce that the Nellie Mae Education Foundation awarded our district $25,000 to support a new Deeper Connections Through Heritage Language and Culture program, which will launch in a few months.
Language acquisition research shows that multilingual students with strong first language skills are more successful in acquiring second language literacy skills. So, this program will benefit students academically, and importantly, help develop strong connections to the culture of their family.
Keeping the connection between generations and closing the cultural divide between children and their parents has been identified by WSD multilingual liaisons and multilingual families as an important goal. Our hope is that through growing skills and appreciation of heritage language and culture students will build stronger connections with their elders.
We plan to launch three Heritage Language Programs in Swahili, Somali and Nepali. Each program would run two hours a week and employ a number of teachers and high school students who come from those language and cultural backgrounds. This model could support between 20 and 60 students, depending on the program, and will focus on developing the heritage language along with an appreciation for arts central to each culture.
The program will not be open to other language speakers interested in learning a new language at this time.
Contact Emily Hecker with questions ([email protected]).