La Semana

EISENHOWER, WHERE BILINGUAL IS THE NORM

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Among these schools is Eisenhower, an internatio­nal school specializi­ng in languages that seeks to form bilingual students. “It’s a pleasure to participat­e in this fair because we want to show the families the variety of our programs so that they can see each school is different”, said Connie Horner, principal at Eisenhower.

The main goal of the school is to offer bilingual education so that children incorporat­e new ways of thinking, uses and cultures and become men and women of the 21st century.

“Eisenhower is an immersion program where we teach our students Spanish or French and so then come in in kindergart­en choosing their target language and they learn it until third grade and then they transition into English and then also we have an exchange program in which in 5th grade our students will go to Spain, Costa Rica or France,” explained Sabina Gonzales, assistant principal.

At the event, school staff discussed with the families the importance of being bilingual and touted the advantages of learning a second language.

“It’s really important for our children to be bilingual,” Gonzales said. “I grew up in English only and was not allowed to speak Spanish, until college, even though my parents did not speak any English and my grandparen­ts were from Mexico. Children must keep their native language to avoid an existentia­l dilemma.”

For Horner, educating in a second language is a mission of life, and is committed to helping more Hispanic families get into Eisenhower.

“For me its personal because I love Hispanics and their language,” she said humbly. The principal loves Spanish so much that she decided to learn it on her own while she was a child. “I escaped to the library and found a Spanish encycloped­ia, and I started learning thanks to that book that was there waiting for me.”

At Eisenhower everything is ready for children to cherish their roots and acquire a new perspectiv­e of the world by the incorporat­ion and perfection of a second language. And best of all, its completely free. “School is free, part of the TPS system. The only thing one needs to do is enroll the child before February the 12th in the TPS site,” encouraged Horner.

Eisenhower is located at 3111 East, 56th Street in Tulsa. If you want your child to become a responsibl­e world citizen by learning to love a second language and being exposed to internatio­nal exchanges, this is the school for your family, the school for the community of the future. (La Semana)

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