Toni on working with Emilio

Toni writes about learning language with one student:

One of the many reasons I love working with Project Bridging Cultures is because we have the opportunity to assist students to learn and grow in many ways. I’ve had the privilege of working with a student named Emilio (name has been changed). I was asked to start working with him a few months into school because he was at a beginning level in a class of more advanced writers. I’ve been able to give Emilio extra attention and help related to writing, grammar, and spelling. We’ve also been able to use the Spanish language as a bridge to learning English. Over the last few months, Emilio has slowly become more comfortable in both writing and speaking English. We’ve had some great Spanish/English conversations about life in his country and life here and he has begun to join us in 217B during advisory and lunchtimes. The other week we were in the midst of typing and editing his most recent writing assignment and talking in our usual Spanish-English mix. Emilio turned to me and remarked that my Spanish Rs (my weak spot in a relatively solid pronunciation) were improving. I had my doubts, but I thanked him and told him that his speaking had been improving, too. Then Emilio grinned at me and said, “See? You are my English teacher, and I am your Spanish teacher. We teach each other.” For me, that moment was a confirmation of the relationship that has developed not just between mentor and student, but between a non-native speaker and the English language. English is no longer just an annoying set of rules, and not just strange words that are as tricky to spell as they are to say. The reason for learning and using it has become much more personal.

More recently, Emilio remarked to me and his peers during class that he should really be trying to speak more English during the day, and then (half-jokingly?) scolded one student for mostly speaking in Spanish to him (albeit at Emilio’s own request!). We also have a little running joke within our small group that relates to a story I told about a recent visit to my grandmother. As I was preparing to leave, she saw me to the door and said “See you mañana!” I really got a kick out of it in the moment, and so did the students I told. Recently, at the end of the day, we’ve been saying goodbye by using other “hybrid” Spanglish phrases. We all love these silly moments, but I have seen Emilio thinking seriously about these phrases and using them a little more frequently. All of these occurrences are definitely “baby steps” toward a comfortable working relationship with the English language. Emilio has stood up on wobbly legs, gained his balance, and is now daring to step forward on his own. I admire his conscious decision to move into new and unfamiliar territory. The other mentors of Project Bridging Cultures and I are glad to support him in the beginnings of what will hopefully be a lifelong educational journey.

Stephen on connecting the dots with students

Stephen writes about talking to students about the bigger picture:

One of the opportunities that I love about our program is the chance to work with students and talk with students about school-wide problems and how to address them. For one thing we always have informal conversations with our students about things that concern them, which is often the school. We always try to push them to develop their thoughts and also try to keep them informed about anything we hear from our work in the school and around Philadelphia. Dr. Ackerman’s Imagine 2014 strategic plan for the district could have enormous impact on the lives of the students but many of them didn’t know anything about it. They were all interested though. I even got some students interested in looking at that who rarely look at anything except celebrity gossip websites.

Another way that we get to connect students to a wider perspective has been through the Peer Leadership program from the Anti-Defamation League, and the Peer Mediator program from the school district’s office of climate and safety. We have been able to leverage some of our influence with students to get them involved in these programs. Peer Leadership was designed to bring ESOL and American students together to address bias and discrimination, and then to go on to lead activities for students in the rest of the school. It was an extremely fulfilling training for the Peer Leaders, who all appreciated the time they spent getting to know students in a different way from almost anything else that they had experienced in the school. We have had some successes and a lot of frustration trying to keep the group together and using what they learned, but the school continues to be supportive of the program and we’re trying to figure out exactly what issues need to be addressed to have a successful program.

Oumar on helping students with math

Oumar writes about his experiences with one group of students

I am going to write about the 3 students who improved their math skills by coming to 217B.

Since the beginning of the school year three African students have come to Project Bridging Cultures regularly to work on their math homework. They are all in the same class and were having difficulty with both the math concepts and in understanding the language that it was explain in – English. I was able to work with them as a small group and explain the lessons to them in both French and English to help them understand the material and improve their English skills. They told their teacher that they had been working with me after school and one day the teacher came to visit our study session. After that she requested that they study with me more often.

Mary on Relationship Month

Mary shares her take on Relationship Month:

Every month the Project Bridging Cultures program has a different theme. For the month of February this theme was relationships. Our idea was to focus on relationships of all types including love, friendship, the work place, and school community. Because our room is open to everyone in the school, it is common to have many different groups of students utilizing the same space. Even though they are all working and socializing in our room at the same time, it is not uncommon for students to remain with those they are friends with, and not interact outside of their comfort zone. This separation between groups of students often instigates misunderstandings and cultural bias. As a program we have been attempting to introduce activities that will promote building new relationships between students.

We began with a Valentine’s Day card making workshop on February 12^th. The workshop took place on a Thursday after school. We had quite a few students attend. Everyone sat at the same table and socialized as they put together Valentines for friends and family. Another event that took place in February, and will continue into March, is a chess tournament. Mentors have worked to pair students with each other in a way that would allow them to play someone new. It has been exciting to see two students, who previously had never interacted; engaged in the same game together. Hopefully, by continuing to introduce new activities that promote socializing, we will be able to maintain a calm and positive atmosphere in our room.

The "Making Our Home Here" stories

We've now posted the student stories from our event "Making Our Home Here: Young Philadelphians Tell Their Stories." You can read them here.

These past several weeks have been full of activity. Continuing with our February theme of relationships, we worked with students in presenting a Multicultural New Year assembly to the entire school. We also held a lunchtime workshop on Vietnamese culture that generated many enthusiastic questions, and have just started our first chess tournament. This week, we took students on a trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where we learned about the relationship between the artist and society.

I have also enjoyed talking to other people about our work. Lately, I've had the opportunity to tell a variety of people about what we do, ranging from fellow out-of-school time practitioners to students at Central High School to the board members of our organization to members of Philadelphia's city council. It is gratifying to know that others take an interest in what we do at Project Bridging Cultures.