Breaking down the language barrier - helping ESL students feel at home

WORCESTER - The student is sitting alone, not speaking to anyone. He’s new, having just moved here from Ecuador, and the few other students he knows are not in this class.

The scenario has been played out in schools across the country for decades. A new town. A new school. A new language.

Brenda Colon, an instructional assistant at Quinsigamond Elementary School, feels for these kids and has made it her job to help them adjust. After all, she has been in their shoes.

“They come here not knowing the language and I can relate to them,” said Colon, who came to the continental U.S. from Puerto Rico when she was 7. She was in the sixth grade when she arrived in Worcester.

Colon is one of five recipients for this year’s Thomas S. Green Public Service Awards, given to public employees in recognition of outstanding work by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau. Colon was nominated by her co-workers at Quinsigamond both for being an asset to her team and her work with ESL students.

More: Worcester Regional Research Bureau names recipients for 2023 public service awards

“She’s a very, very humble woman,” said her colleague Amber Barrows, a teacher at Quinsigamond, and one of those who nominated Colon for the award. “She would not take credit for anything; we didn’t make a big deal about it.”

As instructional assistants, Colon and her colleagues focus on the students who may need more support in the classroom, be it through individual education plans, disabilities or other special needs - such as language.

As a native Spanish speaker, Colon helps with translation, reading and overall ensuring an ESL student can keep up with the class, as well as occasionally translating for parents.

“That Brenda speaks Spanish is a great transition as (new students) develop their English skills,” said Quinsigamond Elementary School Principal Lauren Racca.

“It was challenging to learn English,” Colon said. “It took me two to three years to be fluent.

“I wish I knew more languages and be more supportive in that way,” she said.

Languages at Quinsigamond include Albanian, Ghanaian and Portuguese, as well as Spanish. Spanish and Portuguese share some similarities so Colon is still able to work with the school’s large Brazilian population.

Colon’s communication skills go beyond cracking the language barrier in the classroom.

“It’s really important for our teachers to be communicating,” said Racca. “The more that they are on the same page the more they can meet the needs of the students.”

“She’s there for us on a professional and personal level,” added Barrows. “The morale amongst our team is really high because we have people like Brenda on it.”

For her part, Colon said she was caught completely off guard by the nomination.

“I work with a great staff,” she said. “I’m blessed to work in such a nice school, from our principal to the secretaries to other instructional assistants to the teachers, it’s a great team effort.”

While she is honored and humbled by the award and nomination from her colleagues, one of her greatest accolades comes from a student. A fifth-grade student from Ecuador who struggled with the language barrier, wrote a thank-you card to Colon saying that when he arrived at school, “I thought I wouldn’t make the year until I met you.”

Colon keeps it in her purse.

“I carry it with me because if I can help at least one kid then that means a lot,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Breaking down the language barrier - helping ESL students feel at home