My Bilingual Heart

Today I want to tell you about a group of people that inspires me…

This last fall I had the great pleasure of teaching a 6-week foundational Spanish class specifically for office professionals of the Ritenour School District, serving the area of Overland, MO, northwest of the city of St. Louis.

The first time I pulled up to a Ritenour elementary school, it was in the midst of dismissal, and my heart immediately jumped with joy for all the diversity I saw in their student body. I saw students of all backgrounds pouring of the building and funneling into cars, onto buses and sidewalks. 

Having spent the last eight years in a charter school where students are primarily bussed from various parts of the city, and two years prior to that in a rural area where bussing was the only option for the vast majority of students, I couldn’t help but smile to see the stream of students flowing down the street in both directions, happily chatting along the way.

This deluge of sweet young faces, again, included black, brown, and white signaling to me that not only was this school diverse, but the surrounding neighborhood is, too. 

Having grown up in the most diverse county in the nation by most measures, where my closest friend group hailed from six countries, nothing quite makes me feel more at home and more at peace than a mix of faces and languages. 

I was excited to discover this bit of the St. Louis area and get to work with their staff.

It felt like an adventure in this Midwestern place I now call home.

In the midst of my excitement, I must admit that I was quite nervous going into my first Spanish class with this cohort of office professionals. I had only ever previously given Spanish classes to my own colleagues. These had been friends and trusted co-workers. 

This class would be the first time that I would teach Spanish to strangers, and I simply didn’t know what to expect. 

What if they stared at me with skeptical faces? What if they thought my class was lame? What if I had forgotten to bring something with me and they thought I was completely unprofessional? What if I pace my lesson poorly and we run out of time before they feel successful?

I pushed all these thoughts deep down, wayyyyy down where I would forget about them.

I swallowed, breathed, and met them one by one as they entered the adorable elementary library where we were set up for class. 

Let me just say right now, that it would have done me good to have kissed my nerves goodbye from the moment those negative thoughts appeared. There was absolutely no need.

The six weeks I spent teaching Spanish to eleven dedicated women in Ritenour schools were some of the most fun weeks I’ve had in a while.

The biggest reason for this was the women themselves. These eleven school staff were motivated to learn Spanish, each one eager to connect with the parents at their campus.

Let me just take a moment to clarify that this is a group of professionals, and a district, who honors the use of interpreters when they are needed.

But an interpreter cannot substitute for a direct connection between two humans. And that is what this group of women was after.

The participants in this group wanted to be able to say in Spanish:

• “Welcome to Kratz Elementary! How can I help you?” 
• “I hope to see you next week!” 
• “Would you like an interpreter?” 
• “Jorge is absent today. Is he okay?”

… and that is just what they did.

I remember working on reading and pronunciation in the first classes, watching them approach reading with good humor, helping each other with tricky vowels. They jumped enthusiastically into partner practice, speaking to each other what they wanted to say to parents. They were not afraid to put themselves out there and read our class objectives in Spanish in front of others. They identified their strengths and the skills they wanted to practice more, and they directed their practice accordingly. Some even made their own flashcards with their own phrases they wanted to learn.

Each woman practiced Spanish throughout the week. Seeing them study and practice on their own already impressed me. But even more, they used throughout the week with parents and students what they had learned in class so far! Immediate application of a foreign language takes courage, y’all!

Many of them began to learn new words and expressions from those students and parents once those relationships began to open up and they were able to say, “Estoy aprendiendo español”. I am learning Spanish.

What really stood out to me at the end of the six weeks was 1) how far they had come in their language as well as their courage to speak it on the job, and 2) how determined they all were to continue learning Spanish beyond the end of the class series.

This experience with these professionals of Ritenour made me proud to be an educator. It was a reminder that every single person in our schools is an educator and a care-taker. This group takes that responsibility to heart. 

I am so grateful when I think of these women as the face of their campuses, creating a welcoming environment for ever more families.

I had the privilege of seeing the hard work they put into doing so. 

This spring the Ritenour School District will be hosting a second Spanish course for more office professionals, and this time they are inviting bus drivers as well! Absolutely brilliant! I never would have thought of doing so, though it makes beautiful and complete sense.

It truly shows their commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment in every single part of a student’s day. 

That is our job.

That is the kind of environment where students learn, not only academics, but that there is enormous value in who they are and where they come from.

That is what our students’ parents hope for when they entrust us with their children.

Thank you, Ritenour, and thank you Tory, Audris, Donna, Evelyn, Erica, Kristie, Meriel, Rolanda, Reauna, Shanique, and Wendy for living up to our parents’ hopes.