Helping English Language Learners (ELL) Parents Find Their Voice: A Reflection by Hannah Claugus

Hannah Claugus (Left), pictured here (L to R) with two of her English Language Learners, Carmen and Ysabel, and Katie Bisson, the ELL Program Family Liason

In Anchorage we have some of the most diverse public schools in the nation. Families from places like Honduras, Somalia, India, Vietnam, and Samoa are proud to call Anchorage their home. For my Social Work practicum this year I’ve been placed at the English Language Learners (ELL) Program for the Anchorage School District (ASD). The goal of the ELL program is to provide ELL students and their families access to a wide range of educational programs and services and to ensure that they’re able to successfully engage and acquire academic language in a school setting.This year, I’ve been working with the family and refugee liaison at Wendler Middle School on assisting ELL students and their families. I’ve had the privilege of assisting parents from all over the district in our weekly Parent English Class and also supporting students in the Newcomer’s Center. One of the most important things we strive to do is to help ELL parents build the confidence to have a voice in their child’s learning.

Parent English classes are open to any parent in the school district and are one way parents are able to develop their voice . My hours are spent assisting the family liaison who facilitates the parent English classes. We offer a beginning and intermediate class twice a week. Class duration is an hour and a half and in that time we provide information about school-based topics. Many of the families we work with are limited English speakers, and by providing them information about school topics, we help them gain the tools they need to be able to navigate the school system. One particularly helpful lesson we do in every 6-week session of classes is help parents learn how to access and use the ASD’s Zangle system. Zangle is an online parent connection tool where parents can check their student’s grades and connect with school staff. So, naturally, we call the lesson “How to Access and Use Zangle.” We have iPads that parents can use to login to their individual Zangle accounts as we go through the lesson. During this lesson we also assist parents in learning how to draft an email that can be sent to their student’s teacher if they have concerns or questions. This lesson helps parents develop written skills but also encourages parents to get involved in their child’s learning. Due to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, schools are required to provide interpretation and translation services for individuals with limited English proficiency. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires anyone who receives federal funding to provide language assistance services to individuals whose English is limited and prohibits from discriminating based on national origin. In our parent classes we encourage parents to practice this right by requesting interpreting services when needed. Many families and even school staff are unaware that the school district is required to provide these services. Interpretation and translation services are a very important part of family engagement for limited English proficient families. If parents are unaware of services or don’t feel comfortable asking for an interpreter, it inhibits their ability to engage in important school activities like conferences. Because of this, one of our most important goals in our parent class is to get them feeling comfortable with asking for an interpreter.

Another project that we have also worked on in parent class is called Immigrant Stories, a digital storytelling project. Using an online program and curriculum from the University of Minnesota, we’ve helped parents write, record, and develop a video that tells their story. They might tell a story about their journey to the United States, a treasured object, the struggles they have faced since migrating, or another topic of their choice. This project gives parents an opportunity to share a piece of their unique life story. Some parents had only ever written less than a paragraph in English before this, so they were overjoyed when they finished writing their stories. It was inspiring to be a part of that process.

I’ve had a great experience working with the ELL program. It has been eye-opening to learn about the struggles that many newly-arrived immigrants experience. Learning about these struggles has made me more aware of issues involved in refugee resettlement and immigration and has also helped my understanding of how we can assist families who have newly-arrived to the U.S. This experience has taught me that I will forever look through a lens aimed at finding ways to successfully engage ELL students and families.

Why I'm Involved with UAA's Center for Community Engagement and Learning: A Reflection by UAA Student, Lauren Criss Carboy

Student meeting with activist & philanthropist, Marika Anthony-Shaw in February.
Lauren stands beside Marika on the right.

My involvement with the Center for Community Engagement (CCEL) came about due to happenstance. After moving to Anchorage and starting school at UAA in fall 2017, I was looking for any opportunities to work more closely with members of the Anchorage community. I walked into Judy Owens-Manley’s office hoping to find an internship, and what I gained was much more valuable: A relationship with the Center and a new sense of connection with the community around me.

Coming from Fairbanks, the transition to life in Anchorage was startling. By living and working on campus, it’s very easy to view ourselves as separate from the rest of the city. CCEL and civically engaged courses offer a solution. My first year college experience would be much different if not for the opportunities that community-engaged courses and the Center have provided me. 

I now have a position working as a student assistant in the Center for Community Engagement and Learning and I serve as a Public Service Scholar for CCEL. In the office, my first project was to help plan the annual Urban in Alaska Conference, which showcases faculty work in connection with community partners. I’ve loved the opportunity to interact with so many unique people and to learn from faculty from all different departments who are making meaningful change in Alaskan communities. Projects like these have taught me that community engaged work is present and necessary in every discipline, which has deepened my desire to find connections between my major, International Studies and issues present in the local community.

From my experience, civically-engaged courses are different from typical classes in the unique environment they provide. They allow me to explore the intersections between my studies and how I relate with the world around me in a way that I feel is immensely valuable.

Civically engaged courses often include a service-learning project which allows students to tailor their academic experience and focus on specific aspects of a local issue. These projects allow students and faculty to bring their expertise and community leaders to bring their local insight in order to cultivate a capacity for wider community change.

In my first year at UAA, I have had the opportunity to take multiple civically engaged courses, including Model United Nations, Intro to Civic Engagement, and Intro to Oral Communication.

In my first semester I took an Intro to Civic Engagement course that required me to complete a service learning project. I completed mine at East High School working with their Newcomer’s Program. I helped teachers by working one-on-one with English Languages Learner (ELL) students and assisted with classroom activities. One of the things that surprised me the most through this experience was the sheer diversity of the student body and the Anchorage community as a whole. I met students from fifteen different countries during my time at East High, all with varying levels of English proficiency. This experience exposed me to different cultural perspectives, many of which I would not have had any knowledge of otherwise.

In my Model United Nations class, I chose to represent a non-governmental organization called Green Cross International in the annual Model United Nations of Alaska Conference. Through this course I greatly improved my understanding of the role of NGOs and international organizations like the UN in promoting global collaboration. I also had the chance to explore the complexities of international policy-making. Through this experience, I will have the opportunity to help tutor students and prepare them for their own conference at Romig middle school in April.

This semester I’ve also been involved in the Campus Votes Project, a community-engaged component of professor Marsha Olson's COMM A111 class. I really enjoy the format of the class because we have a lot of freedom in how we want to accomplish the goals of our project, which is to increase voter turnout at UAA. We set up voter engagement booths to get people registered to vote and collect survey data on the voter attitudes of UAA students.

Looking back on my experiences over the course of these two semesters, I’ve realized how crucial my civic-engagement courses have been in making me feel like an invested member of the Anchorage community. These classes allow students to examine critical issues in both local and international communities, while we research and learn what we can do to respond to these issues. They instill students with a sense of responsibility for their communities and make opportunities to engage in community action more accessible.

I feel that a lot of UAA students remain unaware of the opportunities that community-engaged courses can offer and how applicable they can be, regardless of your major. If you have the opportunity, I’d urge you to take a course in civic engagement because it might just bring a whole new perspective to your educational experience.