Posted: Tuesday, June 5, 2012 2:31 pm

By KEVIN HEIMBIGNER kheimbigner@chinookobserver.com | 0 comments

The ability to speak more than one language is an asset to the individual, the community in which that person lives, and the world at large. Many adults who know only one language often lament the fact that they never had an opportunity to learn another language. But monolingualism can be cured! In fact, all over Utah, Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs are doing just that.

Sponsored and promoted by the Utah State Office of Education (USOE), these DLI programs begin in 1st grade and are offered in Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. DLI programs are predominantly in public schools; they teach the Utah Core. The beauty is that children in a DLI program learn academic content in two languages. They spend half the day learning part of their content in English, and half the day learning other content in the target language. A DLI program does not require the hiring of more teachers. Two classes share two teachers: one class spends the morning with the English-speaking teacher and the afternoon with the target-language-speaking teacher, while the other class follows the reverse order. USOE offers financial support in the form of curriculum and materials ($10,000 per program per year) as well as training for teachers.

Schools in Utah have been offering DLI programs since 2006; by the beginning of next school year, there will be 80 such programs. The governor and USOE have a goal of 100 DLI programs in operation by the year 2015. DLI programs are always a choice within a school; no one is forcing parents to send their children to a DLI program. But many parents are eager to have this unique opportunity for their children. In fact, most DLI programs have a waiting list.

Why are there no DLI programs in Cache Valley, even though many schools in Utah have them, including both a Spanish and a Mandarin program in Brigham City? Because parents have not made their wishes known to the school boards persistently enough. Please watch the “Utah Dual Immersion” video on YouTube or on the USOE website. See if this is something you would want for your child. If you wish to join the efforts to convince the Logan and/or Cache County School Districts to begin offering a DLI program, please talk to the principal at your neighborhood school and the school board members of your district. Also, please join the Facebook page “Cache Valley Parents for Dual Language Immersion.” I have no doubt that DLI programs will eventually come to Cache Valley, but it is up to the stakeholders — namely, parents of preschoolers — to make it happen.

Karin deJonge-Kannan

Logan

From:

http://news.hjnews.com/opinion/article_caffa888-9ecd-11e1-857a-001a4bcf887a.html

Lakes International earns top state education award

‘Promising practices’ award

Lakes International Language Academy, a K-6 language immersion charter school and International Baccalaureate World School in Forest Lake, was honored on Thursday, May 17 with a Minnesota Promising Practices in Character Education Award at the State Capitol in St. Paul.

During the ceremony for the eight state-level winners, LILA learned that its Promising Practice with the Minnesota Twins Emerging Markets Department was also selected for a national character award.

LILA received the 2012 Promising Practices Award for outstanding work in character education last week. Pictured left to right front are: LILA Twins Partnership Liaison Tracy Nelson Maurer, Twins Emerging Markets Department member Lydia Rivera, LILA CFO Julie Lundgren and LILA Foundation Chair Melissa Martyr-Wagner. Left to right in back: Sen. Ray Vandeveer, Twins Emerging Markets Director Miguel Ramos, LILA Director Cam Hedlund, Rep. Robert Dettmer, LILA School Board Director Jeff Moore, Ramsey County Sheriff and Citizens for an Ethical Minnesota Steering Committee member Matt Bostrom, and Wanda Summers Wall, director of the Synergy and Leadership Exchange. (Photo submitted)

The Minnesota Department of Education and Synergy and Leadership Exchange, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the development of ethical citizens in Minnesota, recognize schools and districts that excel in exemplifying one or more of the 11 principles of character education as defined by the Character Education Partnership, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. Successful nominees also demonstrate outstanding character education initiatives that yield positive results in student behavior, school climate and academic performance.

Please read more here.

Alhambra’s All Souls School to offer dual language immersion

All Souls School principal Anne Bouvet meets with parents and expains the school’s curriculum, during an open house at All Souls School in Alhambra, Sunday, May 20, 2012. (Correspondent Photo by James Carbone)

Read more:http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_20704413/alhambras-all-souls-school-offer-dual-language-immersion#ixzz1wywU5uBR

SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.

This view of bilingualism is remarkably different from the understanding of bilingualism through much of the 20th century. Researchers, educators and policy makers long considered a second language to be an interference, cognitively speaking, that hindered a child’s academic and intellectual development.

Please read more here.

By Eleanor Yang Su

At Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School, students are taught lessons every week in a combination of Spanish, English and Mandarin. The public school, which has more than 400 students on its wait list, is hoping to eventually add a fourth language, the principal says, to better prepare pupils for the global economy.

“I think as we become more and more globally aware, we’re realizing that kids need to be prepared to be competitive in world markets,” said Principal Jorge Ramirez. “Kids need to be multilingual and multiliterate.”

From Chula Vista to Laguna Niguel and Sacramento, public schools are creating dual-language immersion programs at a fast pace. The California Department of Education estimates there are 318 bilingual immersion programs in the state, up from 201 in 2006.

Please read more here.