OKC school workers flock to Spanish classes
After greeting her new students in Spanish, Giovana Portugal got down to the basics.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” said Portugal, who teaches English language learners at Fillmore Elementary School. “Necesito ir al bano.”
The adults in the room at Northeast Academy, all of them Oklahoma City Public Schools employees, recite the words in unison.
Tayler Dallam is among them.
Dallam, 28, an English development teacher at Webster Middle School, spends her days working with bilingual students who need extra help with reading and writing.
She jumped at the opportunity to learn Spanish, which is being offered to district workers free of charge.
“In my position now, it would be beneficial to speak Spanish, mostly as a way to communicate with parents,” Dallam said. “Usually, when I call home or during parent teacher conferences, I have to use a translator, so it would be beneficial to have those skills.”
Thursday marked the first day of class for 35 employees — 12 of them teachers — who signed up. Another 130 people who expressed an interest in learning Spanish were put on a waiting list.
“You never know what you’re going to get with a new program like this,” said Mary Melon, president and chief executive officer of The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools. “We knew there was interest. We didn’t know there was this level of interest. “It’s a great problem to have.”
The foundation is paying for the teacher and materials. Portugal, an 18-year-district employee from Peru, has agreed to teach a second section, which starts Monday. The classes will meet twice a week after school for 90 minutes through May.
Helping students and parents
“I think that most of our teachers and educators want to be able to communicate more effectively with students and parents, facilitate participation with the parents,” said Christopher Berry, the district’s director of language and cultural services.
Emerson High School Principal Jack Reed was among those lucky enough to make the cut.
Emerson, in downtown Oklahoma City, is an alternative school with a large Hispanic population.
“I thought if I can become better in my fluency of Spanish, then I would be able to communicate with the parents better,” he said.
Angie Tate teaches kindergarten to mostly Hispanic children at Fillmore Elementary School. Tate said she’s taking the class so she can learn to communicate better with parents and make the transition easier for her students, most of which are English language learners.
“Right now, many of our students are translating for the teachers, and oftentimes if they are still learning the language, they can’t convey all of the information I need for parents to know.
“Parents who don’t have access to translation away from school have a difficult time assisting their child at home with additional learning that needs to take place. I’d like to be able to communicate with parents one-onone, and know that they understand the expectation for their child’s assignment.”