The Socorro Independent School District's Bilingual/ESL Education Department hosted community events this spring to showcase its vibrant bilingual programs, emphasizing the importance of reading, language skills, and community involvement.
The department recognized about 300 families who participated in the Latino Family Literacy Program during its annual Latino Family Literacy Night celebration at Eastlake Middle School in May. The program encouraged parents to read with their children at home, allowing students to develop their English and Spanish language skills. Participants received bilingual books, practiced English and Spanish vocabulary and developed a shared love for reading.
Stephanie Soto, whose children attended Dr. Sue Shook Elementary School, said that she learned strategies for asking her children questions about their reading to support their learning. She appreciated that the books they received were bilingual because her children could read them at home with their Spanish-speaking grandparents and father, who do not read English.
"Reading is important because they get to express themselves. They get to transport themselves to another world, and they get to have different feelings when they're reading," Soto said. "There are some books that are very exciting, some books that are very sentimental and some books that make us express different emotions that we didn't know we had, and for them as little kids to see them get so excited about a book, I think it's so important."
Joanne Anguiano, SISD Director of Bilingual Education, said that parents in the program learn best practices to help their children improve their reading skills and open their minds to a different world.
“Being bilingual is very, very important,” Anguiano said. “It opens up so many windows of opportunity having both our parents and our children involved (in the program). They can learn from each other because we know that a lot of our parents are more dominant in their first language, which is Spanish, and then their children a little bit more dominant in their first language, which is English, so we bring them together and they support each other.”
During the celebration, three schools were recognized for successfully completing the Latino Family Literacy Project. Myrtle Cooper Elementary School earned first place, Dr. Sue Shook Elementary School received second place, and Mission Ridge Elementary School was awarded third place.
In addition to Latino Family Literacy Night, the bilingual department organized the Bilingual Community Literacy Night at Mission Ridge Elementary School in April, to further promote language development and reading skills through parent engagement.
During the event, children and their parents read the “The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend” in Spanish.
Afterward, the children drew pictures based on a part of the book that resonated with them, creating a memorable keepsake for their families.
Anguiano said activities like these help parents instill the importance of reading in their children.
Esmirna Flores had one child in first grade and another in fourth grade at Mission Ridge. The family attended all the school’s literacy nights, but Flores was particularly excited about this event, which focused on both English and Spanish literature, especially since her children are bilingual.
“We do have a lot of family nights, so I'm just expecting them to learn a little more about literacy and have that connection with (being) bilingual,” Flores said.