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¿Se habla español? Former teacher faces setbacks with bilingual books, helping to overcome cultural barriers

NOTE: Georgia is the beloved and admired major cartoonist for this website. Many people are in awe of her talents. Go to the url below, and you'll see her picture.

by Jessica Mosebach

Retired elementary school teacher Georgia Hedrick shows her book "Once Upon a Rainbow." She explains that it's an "easy way to teach colors" for bilingual students.
Hedrick is seeking answers as to why her supplemental books, such as "Viaje a la justicia," were rejected by the Washoe County School District.

Georgia Hedrick wants to help Spanish-speaking students trying to learn English -- as well as the teachers who work with them--through her books. She has sent out proposals. She has had her literature published. She has gone through great pains to make sure her work is translated with accuracy.

But the Washoe County School District (WCSD) isn't keen on using her materials. In fact, they called it "not appropriate for inclusion."

Hedrick, a retired school teacher who taught for 21 years with the WCSD, received a letter from Pati Falk, the K-6 director of Bullis Regional Center for Teaching and Learning (RTCL). She thanked Hedrick for giving a presentation to the RCTL's Vendor Product Review team, but rejected her literature for the district's list of approved supplemental materials. The letter stated she could approach individual schools, instead, to inquire about use in the libraries.

But Hedrick doesn't understand why her books are deemed "not appropriate."

That's a phrase teachers have used since dirt was young," Hedrick said. "It's like a knife in my heart."

Hedrick's books are formatted so that students or teachers can read sentences on one page in English and Spanish on the facing page. Her book, "Celebrating César Chávez talks" about the rights and freedoms Chavez stood for among Hispanics. She has also produced "Viaje a la justicia" (Journey to Justice) and "Sarah's Story," which focuses on Indian native Sarah Winnemucca, one of Hedrick's heroes.

Currently, she's working on "Once Upon a Rainbow," which tells a story incorporating the use of color.

Hedrick, 68, is responsible for the artwork and layout of her literature, which include choral readings, songs, activities such as how to write a poem and other educational tools for students.

The Golden Valley resident has e-mailed the district three times about why they would not accept her supplementals, but has never received a response.

Hedrick found her passion for teaching early in life. Although she was not involved in bilingual education during her career, she said teaching has made her appreciate how much children can teach adults.

"It's an interaction that's addictive," she said, sharing a favorite memory of three first-grade girls who pretended to be grapes and squeezing each other together "to make wine."

"It's a teachable moment, or learnable moment for me," she said.

When Hedrick was 18, originally aspiring to work in social services, she was told it would be wise to work with the "normal" before working with the "abnormal." So she got into teaching and became hooked.

Now in her retirement, she sees a need for elementary school students who have difficulty keeping up among their native English-speaking peers, and the problem isn't alleviated very much at home.

"A lot of (Spanish-speaking) parents can't help their kids," Hedrick said.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the state of Nevada in 2000, 299,947 people, or 16.2 percent of the population in Nevada, spoke only Spanish in their homes.

Hedrick said she appreciates local institutions, such as the Mariposa Academy of Language and Learning in Reno, where teachers offer dual language and Spanish enrichment programs to help language majority and minority students to foster language acquisition skills early in the child's life.

"We need bilingual kids everywhere," Hedrick said.

She said some teachers and administrators have voiced concern that encouraging kids to be bilingual may have an adverse affect on their education.

"My thought is the district thinks, 'Well, if we teach them Spanish, they'll never learn English,': she said. "But one study showed that if you're bilingual, you will think clever, you'll be a better problem-solver, and you'll be smarter."

An abstract from a paper presented by Stephen Krashen at the National Association of Bilingual Education conference in 2004 stated there was not enough evidence to suggest "xenophobic attitudes were to blame" for the passage of anti-bilingual education initiatives in three states.

Ideally, Hedrick said, English language learners would be taught in their first language 90 percent of the time and in English the remaining 10 percent. As they grow, learning would then be directed 50 percent of the time in the native language and 50 percent in English.

A study, conducted by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence in January 2003, that explored this concept and long-term academic achievement showed that these 90/10 and 50/50 Two-Way Bilingual Immersion and One-Way Developmental Bilingual Education programs were the most effective in helping bilingual children. Students scored in the 50th percentile, or above 50 percent of other test takers, in their native language and English across all the subjects and were less likely to drop out of the program.

Though she may not understand why the district has rejected her books for its list, she said it fosters a bigger problem: a lack of understanding of other cultures.

"From 1500 to 1700 (A.D.), the Mexicans and Spaniards were extremely active, but there's not one standard that deals with that," Hedrick said. "How did we get all these Spanish names (in) the United States?"

Even Nevada, which means "snowcapped," was derived from the Spanish language.

"I get so upset when we call ourselves Americans," Hedrick said. "Well, so are they. They're Central Americans, South Americans. It's not logical. We need to throw that out there for the kids to discuss."

She hopes to find answers soon so she can persuade the district to use her materials.

"We have to work together to achieve a goal," she said. "And I just love a sense of community. As soon as we wake up, we might think, 'By jove, bilingual education might be a way to teach these kids.'"

Hedrick has a Web site for people to visit and publish e-books. The address is http://www.cdebooksbyteme.org

— Jessica Mosebach<
Sparks Tribune
2008-04-06
http://tinyurl.com/5ss5ak

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