This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
An article titled, "Why It's Smart to Be Bilingual" in the August 7, 2011 issue of Newsweek, stopped me in my tracks. The tagline said it all, " The brain's real "super food" may be learning new languages." My students are hungry for new knowledge, and with your help, we can serve it up!
I have served nearly 900 Title-1 elementary students in our nation's 4th largest city since arriving with the Teach for America program in 2006.
After completing my 2 year commitment, I was not prepared to leave my campus because I felt, above all, that my mission was not complete.
Our campus is a mix of African-American, African, Latino, and Pacific and Southeast Asian students. Over 80% of our students receive free lunch, and in our district, over 60 languages are spoken at home. Our students are normal kids on the surface, who often face tremendous challenges during non-school hours. As teachers, we often have to fight the realities of our students' low-socioeconomic status in tandem with giving them the education they need. We focus all of our effort towards plugging the gaps in their academic knowledge, and sometimes programs to foster development and creativity lag behind, especially with recent funding cuts.
My Project
The article explained that students who are truly bilingual have greater, "ability to focus in the face of distraction, decide between competing alternatives, and disregard irrelevant information." So learning a language can be a ticket to better, more focused little brains in our classrooms, with the added benefit of future multilingual college students and job applicants.
Also, recently on campus we have seen an increase in "bullying" that centers around cultural misconceptions and lack of mutual understanding. The use of this program will help our students better understand each other verbally and socially, working to stem the tides of intolerance.
We have an older computer lab on campus where I have recently been able to upgrade the memory on many machines. They are not the fastest, newest machines but they will run the program. Classes can check out the lab for use, and teachers can also use the program to learn to better communicate with our students and families.
Our students are little sponges, hungry to learn.
The Rosetta Stone program teaches students one of the most spoken languages on the planet, and helps develop their brains to focus and think critically. The icing on the cake is that this program will also help students better understand a different culture, and bridge language divides in our community. One little program can do all of these things, and you can help. Please give if you can! Thank you for reading and supporting Donorschoose!
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Milianta-Laffin and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
