Lehman High School teacher Jennifer Hernandez, left, provides support and help to students from other countries who utilize the New Arrival Center. (Photo by Kim Hilsenbeck)
by KIM HILSENBECK
High school can be rough. Imagine starting off the school year in a new country where you don’t speak the language very well, don’t have any friends yet, and your parents are back in your native country.
For Hays CISD students like Margaret Semu, the district’s New Arrival Centers aim to make the transition a little easier.
Semu, a soft-spoken, shy 18-year-old with a warm smile, grew up in Samoa, an island in the South Pacific not far from Australia. She hesitates a bit when speaking, though her English is clear.
“I only speak Samoan with my sister,” said Margaret. “I don’t hear it anywhere else.”
Margaret lives in Buda with her sister and brother-in-law. Her parents, who sent her abroad in August to get a good education and have better career opportunities, remain in Samoa; Margaret said she misses them a lot but wants to stay in the United States. She says regular phone calls back home help ease the separation.
Located at Lehman High School, the New Arrival Center is a place where students from other countries, regardless of their native language, can find support to help them succeed in high school and beyond.
Simon Middle School also has New Arrival Center. Both are funded with Title III money targeted for language instruction for limited English proficiency and immigrant students under the No Child Left Behind act of 2001.
“We had these students coming to Hays CISD from other countries,” said Irene Jimenez, director of bilingual and English as a second language programs for the district. “I knew we had to do something to help them.”
That was about eight years ago.
Most of the students were from Spanish-speaking countries. Since then, Lehman’s New Arrival Center has welcomed students from Vietnam, Samoa, Russia and China.
Andrea Ramos, 16, moved to Kyle from Mexico last August to learn English and get a better chance at a successful life. She lives with her two aunts.
“It’s hard to be away from my parents,” said Andrea, “but I want to be here.”
With an easy laugh, Andrea looks like any other teenager in Kyle or Buda. She has made friends, including Margaret, whom she is teaching to speak Spanish.
Like Margaret, Andrea didn’t speak much English before she came to live in the United States, though both young ladies said they took English in primary school. But since neither had much chance to practice with native English speakers, they were not fluent when they moved here. The students credit Jennifer Hernandez with their success.
Hernandez, the center’s teacher, said the New Arrival Center is helping these kids; most have good grades and many go on to college.
Now in her fifth year with the center, Hernandez says she tries to keep an eye on the kids’ grades. Sometimes, she attends class with students to provide additional help.
“The teacher relationship and support network for these students is so important,” said Hernandez.
Hernandez is quick to credit her colleagues and other staff, such as Jimenez and Ellen Andrews, a reading intervention teacher, along with a network of tutors and outside support specialists.
“This center is really a collaborative effort,” said Hernandez.
Juan Garduno, 16, lives with his family in Buda. For about 10 years, his father lived and worked as a truck driver in New Jersey while Juan, his younger sister and their mother stayed in Mexico City where she worked as a hair stylist. They saw his father about every two months or so.
Juan, whose English is slightly broken, says his parents wanted him to learn English and have better opportunities, which is why they moved to Texas last summer.
This tall, slender young man saw the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron fly in San Marcos; that’s when he decided to become a military pilot.
“I want to join the Navy,” Juan said.
The U.S. Navy.
Juan is already in the school’s junior ROTC program where he says he learns about discipline, rules, the American flag and uniforms. Next year, he wants to join the swim team.
He says he’s made friends at school – all speak Spanish.
All three students said they think it’s important for people who move to the United States to learn to speak English. They credit the New Arrival Center, and specifically Hernandez, with helping them bridge the gap and learn to speak English more proficiently.
Juan said his mom is taking English classes as night, though he said she misses Mexico and will probably move back once Juan and his sister finish high school.
Just like Andrea and Margaret, Juan wants to remain in the country after graduation. He knows he will have to go to college and become a naturalized citizen to be a naval pilot.
Margaret thinks she might enjoy working with older people, helping them. A nurse, perhaps?
“Maybe,” she said with a smile.
Andrea isn’t sure yet about her future career.
