Local schools improved through implementation of dual language programs

This article was written for our sponsor, Participate Learning.

Through dual language programming, students are increasingly able to receive a high quality educational experience at public schools in their neighborhoods.

A number of public schools across North Carolina have partnered with Participate Learning, a global education company, in order to bring dual language curriculum to classrooms big and small, all the way from Alleghany County to Dare County.

At Lakewood Elementary in Durham, Principal James Hopkins is leading the school into its second year of dual language immersion.

"Lakewood Elementary School was not a magnet school, which means students cannot apply to come — this is a neighborhood school. What the dual language program has done, in my opinion, is create a higher level of interest in Lakewood, because we have this specialty program," said Hopkins. "This was something that many of our parents and our school improvement team had talked about for years. We had this opportunity to jump in with Participate Learning, and they've been fantastic with mentoring and shepherding the school and myself in becoming a proper dual language school in a place where we can start attracting families that live in the neighborhood to attend."

There are a number of benefits to dual language programming that help drive this high interest. Since Lakewood does 90-10 immersion — meaning 90 percent of lessons are taught in Spanish — instructors are able to capitalize on the ability of younger children to absorb the language more easily.

"Last year, I popped in and did a walkthrough of a first grade class and it's like magic to see kids understand a Spanish sentence. Spanish was something I was doing in high school, and I struggled because my learning capacity was shortening. But with these elementary kids, when you start hearing kids respond in two to four-word Spanish sentences, it's amazing," said Hopkins. "I'm always thinking about if this program was around when I was in school, how much better of a communicator would I be? How much more culturally diverse would I be? I guarantee you that when you speak to these kids 10 years from now, they are going to be so much better positioned to be a global thinker, more empathetic and culturally understanding."

At South Elementary School in Person County, Principal Patrick Holmes' experience with dual-language programming echoes that of Hopkins'. In its third year of implementation, the school has partnered with Participate Learning, allowing them to hire teachers from across the globe. Currently, they have one teacher from Colombia, one from Costa Rica and two from Honduras.

In each grade level, students focus on a different region through 90-10 Spanish instruction. For Holmes, dual language has elevated the academic environment of South Elementary in uniquely rewarding ways.

"The students in the dual language program are less likely to give up on an activity that gets hard. They are more consistently working through problems and trying to find solutions, and they don't come up and ask for help or give up. The level of engagement is amazing — they just stay on the edge of their seats hanging on every word the teacher says, because they can't miss anything," said Holmes. "As far as brain development, when they get to studying higher level courses as they get older, they're going to have a greater capacity for learning, and also it's going to open doors of opportunity."

Research also shows learning languages becomes progressively easier. Holmes sees students' ability to jump from learning Spanish to learning Mandarin as a competitive advantage for students once they begin to enter the professional world. Additionally, since South Elementary in particular is a lower income school, the program is also providing a unique opportunity to students who might not otherwise have access.

That knowledge can also be directly applied back in the Person County community.

"When it comes to occupations or even pursuing colleges, they may be more competitive because they're able to speak multiple languages. Right here in Person County, we're a small rural community, but we do have corporations here that have plants in Central and South America where being able to communicate in Spanish would help support their business and aid collaboration," said Holmes. "When it comes to the business world, dual language students have a leg up in competing in a more global economy."

Holmes is right. As technology continues to link different cultures and languages, being bilingual or multilingual is a highly sought-after skill. By implementing dual language programs early in a student's education, schools like South Elementary and Lakewood Elementary are preparing children for future success and growth.

While dual language programming is a major benefit to students, faculty members also reap rewards from the language exposure, further strengthening the schools overall.

"Learning and working with a peer and colleague from another country gives the rest of the staff a whole new perspective," said Hopkins. "It's inspiring to be able to work with the best educator of a country, and our teachers are pushed and challenged by that."

This article was written for our sponsor, Participate Learning.