Volume 81 No. 3
Grimsley High School
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC 27408
Monday, November 22,2004
ESL students bring new challenges, rewards
Helping students for
whom English is not a first
language proves a worthy
challenge for many
teachers.
By Chris Izzard
Reporter
With the rising number of
students in the English Second
Language (ESL) program, the
North Carolina School system
has passed more legislation to
help these students perform
better in school.
Teachers now have resource
guides to help them educate
ESL students using the same
curriculum they use with other
classes. ESL teachers must also
test their students often and to
categorize them based on the
results. Guilford County
Schools have implemented
these regulations in hopes of
reducing the need for
interpreters.
Rankin Elementary School
used an interpreter for a
number of students from
April 26 to June 2, which cost
the school system $3,850. By
hiring new ESL teachers, the
school system hopes to help
students who speak Spanish,
Vietnamese,
Arabic, Da
nish, Korean,
and Japanese.
"The way
that we have
set up hereat
Grimsley is
with four dif
ferent levels
of learning
for our stud
ents," said
ESL teacher
Ms. Patty
Tiska.
By being
divided into
basic, low
and high in
termediate,
and advan
ced ESL, the
students
learn English
through a gradual yet rigorous
process. The Idea Proficiency
Test, also known as the IPT,
examines whether or not a
student is ready to advance to
the next level. The test itself
consists of three parts: reading,
writing, and oral. The latter is
conducted in "interview"
format.
Even though the legislation
Forgay Photo
ESL teacher Patty Tiska works with ESL students in her class
room in the Vocational building one period each school day.
requires curriculum instr
uction to be more ESL-friendly,
the teachers do have fun while
doing their jobs.
"Getting into the job gave
me the chance to travel, and
eventually I learned to love
language. After college I saw
the need for people to
understand each other
internationally," said ESL
teacher Mr.
Paul Egan.
Two Grim
sley students
lend a helping
hand to the
ESL students.
Seniors Mor
gan Radford
and Rachael
Kreigsman
assist the
students in
various levels
of instruction.
"[Radford
and Krieg-
sman] are
really helpful
because they
know what
it's like to
learn another
language, so
they connect
with the students a little,"
said Tiska.
The teachers' resource
guides offers ways to help
improve English reading
comprehension by adding
video and audio resources to
the reading and requiring
bilingual dictionaries to be
available in the classroom.
The guide also presents
different teaching strategies
for other academic subjects as
well, such as chemistry and
world history.
Internet sources have also
become a tool for ESL students
and teachers alike. Keypals,
penpals who communicate via
the Internet, also help ESL
students advance their English
knowledge with students
from different countries.
Dave's ESL Cafe, another online
resource, provides a wide
range of quizzes, forums,
idioms, and chat rooms
for teachers.
"It is a challenging class for
students. Helping them learn
academic English after
conversational English is
hard," said Egan.
ESL students speaking
different languages all attend
class together and find ways
to interact with each in English
or in their own languages.
"Teaching ESL is a job that I
love. I love the fact that I get to
interact with international
students," said Tiska.
With the legislation,
teachers now have more
support for instructing their
students, regardless of what
language they speak.
Increased enrollment sparks improvement plans
With a growing student
body, GTCC prepares to
expand its campuses and
facilities.
By Shimere Etheridge
Reporter
As the population of
Guilford County grows, a fifty-
year-old landmark aims
to expand within the
local community. Guilford
Technical Community College
has experienced a tremendous
rise in enrollment over the past
few years due to the school's
increasing appeal.
In 2000, GTCC received
Higher Education bonds from
both the state and the county,
thus experiencing significant
capital growth on the Guilford
Tech campuses. This money
funded the Entertainment
Technology building that
opened in January 2004 on the
, High Point campus. The 66,000
square-foot building houses
the Larry Gatlin School of
Entertainment Technology as
well as several other major
programs. The physical
features include six
soundproof recording studios,
a 250-seat auditorium, a 500-
seat amphitheatre, a library,
TV and performance stages,
ensemble rehearsal spaces,
and several computer labs.
Greensboro's campus of
Guilford Tech likewise expects
great change. The new campus,
located on E. Wendover Ave.,
recently held a large
groundbreaking ceremony.
This site will allow the college
to reach residents of Guilford
County who have been
underserved in previous
years. Replacing the current
Washington Street and J.C.
Price locations, the 44-acre
campus will house a Technical
Education Center, an Adult
Education Center, a
Continuing Education Center,
and an energy plant for
the campus. Industrial,
Construction, and Engineering
Technology Programs, Basic
Skills Programs, and
Continuing Education
Programs for the Greensboro
area will also be located
on this campus.
Lastly, the Mary Perry
Ragsdale Family YMCA has an
agreement with the
Jamestown campus of GTCC
to house the Wellness Center
faculty and staff and to provide
students with a location to take
many of the physical education
a 65,000 square-foot facility
that includes an indoor pool, a
complete fitness room, an
aerobics studio, two
basketball courts, and a soccer/
baseball field.
Counselors are strongly
encouraging students to take
advantage of these new
opportunities. Counselor
Suzanne Weaver believes
these improvements offer
many occasions for students to
excel, especially "students
interested in pursuing
technical careers or skilled
trades, those who cannot
financially afford to attend a
four year school, and those
who need time to bring up
their GPA before moving on to
a college or university."
Students appear to be
responding well to this advice.
changes taking place at GTCC
because I know that I will be
able to benefit from them," said
senior Sarah Oakley.
"Guilford Tech is the right
place for me because I need to
get more qualifications in
preparation to move on to a
more prestigious school in the
future. Hopefully, the
advancements taking place at
Guilford Tech will enable the
school to become more
popular and more competitive
by improving its reputation."
North Carolina provides
most of the funding for
GTCC; however, building
construction and maintenance
are a county obligation, and
drastic changes are still
needed.
"Training for tomorrow's
Continued on Page 2
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