Just before 11 a.m. on Jan. 18, a man wearing a heavy coat and hat walked into the front office of Bollman Bridge Elementary School, speaking quiet fragments of sentences in English.
Laurel Conran, a teacher at the school, watched. She had seen this interaction between parents and secretaries before.
The man is one of dozens of refugees from the Chin State in Burma who relocated to the Savage area for work at a nearby produce plant.
The conversation took a minute longer than it normally would without the communication gap, but the fact that the man could speak any English is at least partly Conran's doing.
Conran is a teacher for English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and, with the help from a partner at Coastal Sunbelt Produce, she created a six-week program to help the Chin-speaking employees, who have many children at Bollman Bridge, learn basic English skills.
"They're learning work vocabulary and some of the school vocabulary that the children are learning, so they can have that link between home and school," Conran told Patch.
Laurel Conran, a teacher at the school, watched. She had seen this interaction between parents and secretaries before.
The man is one of dozens of refugees from the Chin State in Burma who relocated to the Savage area for work at a nearby produce plant.
The conversation took a minute longer than it normally would without the communication gap, but the fact that the man could speak any English is at least partly Conran's doing.
Conran is a teacher for English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and, with the help from a partner at Coastal Sunbelt Produce, she created a six-week program to help the Chin-speaking employees, who have many children at Bollman Bridge, learn basic English skills.
"They're learning work vocabulary and some of the school vocabulary that the children are learning, so they can have that link between home and school," Conran told Patch.
Lisa Chertok, a Bollman Bridge parent and Coastal Sunbelt employee, teamed up with Conran to implement the program in the fall of 2010. In November, their work earned them the Community Builder Award from Howard County as well as highlights in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun and Voice of America.
Henry Thang, 10, a fifth-grader at Bollman Bridge, said he is not the only one in his family making an effort to learn the local language.
"My mom has a teacher who comes to our house and now she knows a little English," said Thang. "She has a binder and we learn English together."
Thang's classmates all agreed that life is very different in America, at least some of it for the better.
"In Malaysia, there was no space to play outside. Around here, there is space to exercise and play sports," Thang said.
"My mom has a teacher who comes to our house and now she knows a little English," said Thang. "She has a binder and we learn English together."
Thang's classmates all agreed that life is very different in America, at least some of it for the better.
"In Malaysia, there was no space to play outside. Around here, there is space to exercise and play sports," Thang said.
Tin Iang, a Bollman Bridge parent and line worker at Coastal Sunbelt, can now read some English. Iang said, via an employee translator, that she has learned more about American culture, as well as the business that pays her.
"How to take care of children–that was a big improvement," said Iang.
"How to take care of children–that was a big improvement," said Iang.
"Research shows that students do better in school when their parents are involved," said Howard County schools spokesperson Patti Caplan. "It is more difficult for this to happen when language and cultural barriers exist."
According to Caplan, the ESOL program for the county has expanded from 1,253 students five years ago to 2,250 this school year–an 80 percent increase.
Bollman Bridge principal Jonathan Davis sees the adult program as a unifying force for the Savage community.
"In my first year as principal, many of the adult [Chin] men wanted to meet with me. They wanted to know who the new leader of the school was," said Davis. "We don't have to do that meeting anymore because they trust us and know we're going to do this outreach.
"I personally can call or email my child's teacher and speak the educational lingo, but this program begins to break down some of those barriers for the Chin parents," Davis said.
"In my first year as principal, many of the adult [Chin] men wanted to meet with me. They wanted to know who the new leader of the school was," said Davis. "We don't have to do that meeting anymore because they trust us and know we're going to do this outreach.
"I personally can call or email my child's teacher and speak the educational lingo, but this program begins to break down some of those barriers for the Chin parents," Davis said.
School issues have only been one struggle. Parents come to Conran with a range of concerns, from break-ins to beeping smoke detectors. She says the program is designed to help them with many things that Americans take for granted as common knowledge.
Before the refugees came to the area, Conran was teaching roughly 20 kids at the school. Within the past four years, her group has grown to almost 90. With a growing immigrant student population, Conran said the school needed to lend a helping hand to their new neighbors.
"It takes a community to teach families that are coming from abroad," said Conran. "The English-speaking families want to welcome them, but they don't know how to start."
Conran spoke to parents about the ESOL program at a PTA meeting in 2010 and Chertok approached her about the recent influx of Burmese families.
After getting permission from Coastal Sunbelt management, Conran and Chertok put together a program pairing 25 English-speaking employees with 25 non-English speakers one hour a week for six weeks during a lunch break.
"It takes a community to teach families that are coming from abroad," said Conran. "The English-speaking families want to welcome them, but they don't know how to start."
Conran spoke to parents about the ESOL program at a PTA meeting in 2010 and Chertok approached her about the recent influx of Burmese families.
After getting permission from Coastal Sunbelt management, Conran and Chertok put together a program pairing 25 English-speaking employees with 25 non-English speakers one hour a week for six weeks during a lunch break.
Chertok got involved with the Bollman Bridge PTA in 2005, when her son was in the school. She said she noticed the influx of Chin families from coat drives and shoe drives that parents organized for the students.
"The kids had never experienced a winter before," said Chertok.
Chertok and Conran spent 10 months organizing the curriculum and coordinating speakers from Howard Community College, the local fire department and other community centers to show all of the resources offered by the county.
"Sometimes we would have students out three or four days and we don't know what happened," says Conran, "Now they can call and leave a message."
According to school officials, Bollman Bridge was especially affected by the influx of the refugees, since many of the workers live near the produce plant.
Zo Tum Hmung, a human rights activist from Elkridge, is a volunteer for the local Chin community who helped bring the Chin families to Howard County. He was one of the first refugees from Burma to relocate in Howard County almost 10 years ago.
Since then, Hmung and other volunteers have secured jobs, apartments and schools for the families as they come from temporary homes in Malaysia. He estimates close to 1,000 Chin people have moved to the county since 2007, most of whom live near Savage.
"I have been telling them that Maryland, and especially Howard County, is one of the best counties in the United States," Hmung told Patch. He said reports from Newsweek ranking the county as the third richest in the nation, and Education Week ranking Maryland public schools best in the nation really convinced families of refugees to come.
"I spread out the news about Howard County, so they came here," Hmung said. "Back in my village, there is no road transportation, there is no electricity, there is no water supply–there is no bank at all…So here, everything is new."
Hmung also works for the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia–a country housing more than 80,000 Burmese refugees, according to the UNHCR website–and this is where he finds the families.
Hmung said many of these refugees–parents and grandparents mostly–would eventually like to be welcomed back into Burma, which has been ruled by military regimes since 1962, but he knows the children are making strong connections to Savage and America as a whole.
For reasons similar to those of the pilgrims seeking religious refuge in America, Hmung says Chin people in Burma are persecuted by the Buddhist military regimes and become refugees for practicing Christianity.
"America is a great country–this is a land of opportunity, this is a land of freedom," Hmung said.
Despite their being able to embrace plumbing, electricity and cell phones, Hmung says the families are still in need of assistance to completely adjust to American culture, and learning English is a crucial part of that.
"We try to pair them up by their interests and the ages of their children. Parents always love to talk about their children," says Conran.
In three six-week sessions, they have instructed nearly 100 people who learned how to call 9-1-1, change batteries in their smoke detectors, use basic appliances like ovens and register children for school.
"[Laurel and Lisa's] work to better integrate these Burmese families into the Savage community is worthy of great praise and helps demonstrate how critical schools and businesses can be in strengthening our families and our communities," said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.
"The kids had never experienced a winter before," said Chertok.
Chertok and Conran spent 10 months organizing the curriculum and coordinating speakers from Howard Community College, the local fire department and other community centers to show all of the resources offered by the county.
"Sometimes we would have students out three or four days and we don't know what happened," says Conran, "Now they can call and leave a message."
According to school officials, Bollman Bridge was especially affected by the influx of the refugees, since many of the workers live near the produce plant.
Zo Tum Hmung, a human rights activist from Elkridge, is a volunteer for the local Chin community who helped bring the Chin families to Howard County. He was one of the first refugees from Burma to relocate in Howard County almost 10 years ago.
Since then, Hmung and other volunteers have secured jobs, apartments and schools for the families as they come from temporary homes in Malaysia. He estimates close to 1,000 Chin people have moved to the county since 2007, most of whom live near Savage.
"I have been telling them that Maryland, and especially Howard County, is one of the best counties in the United States," Hmung told Patch. He said reports from Newsweek ranking the county as the third richest in the nation, and Education Week ranking Maryland public schools best in the nation really convinced families of refugees to come.
"I spread out the news about Howard County, so they came here," Hmung said. "Back in my village, there is no road transportation, there is no electricity, there is no water supply–there is no bank at all…So here, everything is new."
Hmung also works for the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia–a country housing more than 80,000 Burmese refugees, according to the UNHCR website–and this is where he finds the families.
Hmung said many of these refugees–parents and grandparents mostly–would eventually like to be welcomed back into Burma, which has been ruled by military regimes since 1962, but he knows the children are making strong connections to Savage and America as a whole.
For reasons similar to those of the pilgrims seeking religious refuge in America, Hmung says Chin people in Burma are persecuted by the Buddhist military regimes and become refugees for practicing Christianity.
"America is a great country–this is a land of opportunity, this is a land of freedom," Hmung said.
Despite their being able to embrace plumbing, electricity and cell phones, Hmung says the families are still in need of assistance to completely adjust to American culture, and learning English is a crucial part of that.
"We try to pair them up by their interests and the ages of their children. Parents always love to talk about their children," says Conran.
In three six-week sessions, they have instructed nearly 100 people who learned how to call 9-1-1, change batteries in their smoke detectors, use basic appliances like ovens and register children for school.
"[Laurel and Lisa's] work to better integrate these Burmese families into the Savage community is worthy of great praise and helps demonstrate how critical schools and businesses can be in strengthening our families and our communities," said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.
Teacher Bios:
Laurel Conran has taught English Speakers of Other Languages for 10 years at Bollman Bridge Elementary School in Jesup. Conran earned her Masters of Arts in Instructional Systems Development/English as a Second Language from the University of Maryland, and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Towson University.
Lisa Chertok lives in Columbia, MD. Chertok was born in Scotland and grew up in Uniontown, PA. Her mother is from Louisville, KY, and her father is from Bombay, India. She graduated from Penn State University and studied International Marketing and French.
Source : http://savage-guilford.patch.com
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