Freedom Folks

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Welcome To 'Upper Mexico', Now Learn English!

Source: Chron.com
MONTERREY, MEXICO — At the onset, there’s a mad rush to be the first in line to talk to the school recruiters. Within seconds, the candidates, looking more like bankers in their suits than elementary educators, anxiously await their turn.

Tables with pencils and stress balls from school districts across Texas flank the walls of the hotel ballroom in Monterrey, and maps show where the districts are located.

Location doesn’t matter much to the 225 lawyers, doctors, engineers, architects and teachers who have been preparing online and in classrooms throughout Mexico to become bilingual teachers in Texas. Most say they’ll work for whichever district north of the Rio Grande hires them. *snip*

Cecilia Cerdan, the 2006 national Bilingual Teacher of the Year who was hired by Alief through the Region IV program in 1998, said having a common culture — and connection — with the students they’re teaching can have a major impact on student performance.

“As a bilingual teacher you welcome them to the new language and to the new country because you share the same culture, the same language and you need to address first their physical and emotional needs in order for them to be prepared for the academics,” said Cerdan, who is a reading interventionist at Youens Elementary in Alief.
So, to integrate these kids into America we have to make it more like Mexico?

Yeah, that makes sense!

H/T Polipundit

Technorati Tags: , , ,