The growing Harrisburg School District offers many unique classes that students have the opportunity to take; however, one of the less known classes they provide is the English Learning classes. Students whose native language is not English will typically take these classes. Ruth Wells, an EL teacher at HHS, said, “There are 14 different languages in our school from Africa, Vietnam, Ukraine, Bosnia, Thailand, and Guatemala.” All of these students have their own special cultures with some speaking many different languages and others just a couple. Rita Morgan, a senior in the EL program, said she speaks “Liberian English, Khrna, Tree, and regular English.”
However, the great reward of being multilingual also comes with many challenges, and every student overcomes different difficulties. Ibrahim Mohamad, another EL student, explains how it isn’t always the actual task that is difficult: “I believe that if I understood the assessment, I would be able to complete it, but the understanding portion is the difficult part for me.” Another student, Falis Abdi, said she found the EL program, at first, very difficult because she had to relearn everything in a different language.
Although teachers embrace their students’ diversity, some initial challenges can arise in the classroom because many of the students are at different stages in their English learning. Rita, for example, started learning English in 6th grade while Falis began learning around 11 years old, and Ibrahim at 12 or 13. This means that each student is at a different proficiency level. Ruth Wells said, “...it takes a lot of time to work with each student based on their abilities... A lot of EL’s have a hard time using academic vocabulary since it’s not the type of language their parents use at home with them.” It is important for both teachers and fellow students to remember that the ELs are normal students trying to get good grades and get ahead in classes.
Meanwhile, there is a noticeable number of new students in the school district every year, and the EL program is also growing at a substantial amount. Ruth Wells stated, “Last year we had 16 EL students, this year we have 28!” With the increasing number of these students, some may wonder how they can help students; however, most are willing to ask for help when they need it. As the students and staff at HHS interact with EL students, hopefully, we can continue to make the school a positive and accepting environment for everyone.