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3 HSD Teachers Selected For Project ELL-MO
Project ELL-MO, a federally funded grant through the College of Education at the University of Missouri-Columbia, selected three teachers from the Hazelwood School District to participate in its 2011-2012 cohort.
Anna Koester, Spanish teacher, Hazelwood Central High School; Tiffany Nixon, physical education teacher, Arrowpoint Elementary School; and Jean Robinson, reading specialist, Jana Elementary School, are among 20 teachers in the state who received tuition scholarships for Project ELL-MO. The grant supports certified teachers in their completion of 21 credit hours of graduate level courses for ESOL – English Speakers of Other Languages – certification.
Classes are held every Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Columbia campus in the fall and spring, including six hours of outside coursework each week. Next summer and fall, the coursework will be completed online. The Project ELL-MO application notes that participants can pursue a master’s degree in education in TESOL – Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages – in addition to ESOL certification.
Through the Project ELL-MO program, Koester, Nixon and Robinson are exemplifying HSD values of creating an inclusive learning climate that meets the needs of a diverse community.
Their reasons for pursuing the opportunity to become certified ESOL teachers are similar.
“In college, I was an English major, and I minored in Spanish. I’ve taught both at Hazelwood Central High School. I’m interested in ELL because I began wondering about best practices in second language teaching,” said Koester. “I’m also interested in pursuing a career as an ESOL teacher if a position opens up in the District. This opportunity for free certification in ESOL was too good to pass up.”
“All Hazelwood teachers were emailed about this wonderful opportunity in December last year. I had already been researching ELL programs because I have such an interest in TESOL. I was so excited to hear that I’d been selected out of more than 70 applicants,” said Nixon. She also hopes to become an ELL teacher in the District.
“As a reading specialist, I sometimes work with English Language Learners. Project ELL-MO, and the opportunity to become certified in TESOL, seemed a perfect fit to gain a deeper understanding and proficiency for teaching English Language Learners,” said Robinson.
Each says that time management is key to teaching full-time and attending classes out-of-town.
“Becoming better with time management is something I am working on,” said Robinson. “Prioritizing and thinking through my to-do list has become my drive-time mental activity. Something has to give, so my housework ends up at the bottom of the list.”
“It has been very stressful trying to manage my time effectively. I’m very thankful for my principal, who doesn’t mind that I have my nose in a reading assignment nearly every day during lunch duty,” said Nixon. She has to balance her studies while taking care of her family, getting her children to their sports activities, making meals and doing laundry. She is also “very thankful” that her husband has been a “huge help.”
Koester pointed out the stress factor, too.
“I’m waking up at 4:00 a.m. to complete assignments, getting myself and the kids ready, and planning before and after school for my school day. Life is going to be a little stressful for the next year and a half,” she said.
The ESOL skills they acquire will be used in the classroom in different ways.
“I will use it all the time in my Spanish classroom. The basis of all the classes is how to teach a second language after a first language has been acquired. In my students’ case, it’s English. What’s really cool is that I’m teaching some former ESOL students their third or fourth language. What an opportunity!” said Koester.
“I have always enjoyed building meaningful relationships with my students. This is a wonderful opportunity for that to continue,” said Nixon.
“Since my responsibilities include literacy intervention, I expect the knowledge, perspectives and skills gained through the program to result in better oral language and literacy instruction for all students that I teach,” said Robinson.
“It’s my understanding that there continues to be a growing need for teachers with TESOL certification around the country. If the trend is true, then the need is certain to impact large districts such as ours,” Robinson continued, speaking on the importance of ESOL in the District.
“HSD already has a wonderful ELL program. The services to our ESOL students are a critical bridge toward their English proficiency,” she said.
“Each year, our small part of the St. Louis area becomes more and more diverse,” said Koester. “It is important to create a safe and comfortable transition for those students as they learn English.”
“I’m a Hazelwood graduate,” said Nixon. “Ever since I graduated, the demographics have changed immensely. ESOL is very important because it helps language immersion students learn how to be successful in their target language and academics. They shouldn’t have to figure it all out on their own.
