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Students bond via language program

Amigos: Friday Friends Bridging Language and Culture is a new collaborative program that is helping elementary and high school students with their secondary language skills.

Each Friday morning about 10 students from Fayette County High’s Spanish IV class, known by their younger counterparts as the Amigos, arrive at Cleveland Elementary at 8 a.m. to spend 30 minutes giving one-on-one tutoring to students who speak little or no English.

Guided by Cleveland’s ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher Adrine Green, the Amigos receive assignments and instructions for the specific student they have been assigned to help. The assignments are varied but might include helping with spelling words, practicing reading skills, accompanying students to take reading comprehension tests in the media center or teaching how to tell time or count money.

There are a total of 20 Amigos and 11 elementary students participating in the program. The Amigos have been divided into two groups, with each group going to Cleveland on alternating Fridays to voluntarily work with the students before their classes begin at the high school.

Educators at Cleveland say the program has made great strides in helping the Spanish-speaking students adjust to their new language and school.

“Our students have blossomed. They are more willing to engage in conversation, volunteer to answer questions in class and are reading books and taking Accelerated Reader tests with success,” said counselor Phyllis Bennett, who initiated the program. “The students are more animated, appear interested and happy and are much more willing to take part in all school activities. I think they now feel that this is also their school and that they are valued.”

Cleveland’s ESOL teacher said she has seen dramatic improvement in the language skills of her students. She said the most important benefit of the program is that the high school students are able to communicate specific information when her students have difficulties with directions, concepts and the English vocabulary.

“This program has helped me provide extra help and motivation to my students. My ESOL students are very excited about the attention they receive. Several tutors are native speakers [of Spanish] and have connected with the students culturally,” Green said.

The ESOL students are not the only ones benefiting from the program. Lorabeth Stroup, a counselor at Fayette County High who worked with Bennett and Green to start the Amigos program, said the high school students are learning the importance of knowing two languages and have a better appreciation for their second language abilities.

“The students realize that their ability to speak in Spanish in reference to ordinary, daily vocabulary has been a great help to the younger students. The program has also given them a way to practice their conversational Spanish,” said Stroup.

The high school students participating in the program are doing so on a voluntary basis without receiving extra credit or compensation. Being in the program requires the students to get up early on alternating Friday mornings so that they can work at the elementary school and then get to Fayette County High before classes start at 8:40 a.m.

“I’m really proud of the way the Spanish IV kids have taken to this task. They do it without any reward, other than that wonderful feeling of being able to help someone else. It is absolutely amazing to see how these students bond with the younger ones,” said Stroup.

The Amigos program was implemented November 2004. It came about after Bennett noticed an increasing number of Spanish-speaking students at Cleveland and realized that more support was needed. After discussing the need with Green, and getting approval from Cleveland principal Jeanie Miller, the two contacted Stroup to enlist her help in starting a volunteer student program with Fayette County High. Stroup presented the idea to the Spanish teachers and students who were enthusiastic about starting the program.

Green and Bennett provided training to the student volunteers prior to the program’s implementation. Program goals were outlined and the students were provided with materials to help them meet the objectives. Green, Bennett and Stroup supervise the group and step in to give assistance when needed or to substitute for a tutor who cannot make a session.

“Our students look forward to the weekly visits with their high school buddies and are disappointed if we have to change the schedule or if their partner is not able to be here,” said Bennett. “As a counselor, it is often difficult to measure the impact of what we do empirically, but it is obvious that we have made a difference for these students. We can see their self-confidence and excitement when they understand a concept or read aloud in English. Just by watching their eyes brighten and their smiles widen as they greet their Amigo each Friday morning, I know that we are making a difference in their lives.”

Bennett said that the two schools plan to continue the program next year. In fact, the group is looking at the possibility of offering after school help, but that is still in the early planning stages.