- According to Buttonwillow Union School District Superintendent Hiedi Witcher, approximately 50% of the teachers in her employ are bilingual. In conversation with 23 ABC, Witcher, Fatima Mendez and Alejandra Cota said having bilingual teachers in classrooms not only helps students, but Spanish speaking families as well.
- 23ABC spoke with bilingual Buttonwillow elementary school teachers Fatima Mendez and Alejandra Cota about their experiences as bilingual teachers. Both agreed that being bilingual helps them develop relationships with students as well as help communicate with parents and guardians of students in an effort to help them be engaged with their child's learning.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The student body here at Buttonwillow school is primarily Latino, which can pose challenges when it comes to communication whether it be with bilingual or Spanish speaking only households. But teachers here?
"Here at Buttonwillow, about half of our teachers are bilingual," said Hiedi Witcher.
That's Hiedi Witcher, superintendent for Buttonwillow Union School District, who said having a solid corps of bilingual teachers is important for the Buttonwillow community
"In our community, it's very important. It gives the teachers the ability to communicate immediately with the parents. They don't have to try and find a translator or use some sort of tool to help them translate. And so it is very valuable"
According to Witcher, over 90% of students in Buttonwillow are Hispanic, over 60% are English learners and 2% solely speak Spanish.
For 2nd Grade Teacher Fatima Mendez, she noted that by being bilingual it not only helps when it comes to educating, but also building relationships with her students…
"The culture, the religion, and being able to connect with them and talk to them and ask them like, oh, how was church? Or oh, how was your Cinco de Mayo parade? Or getting to relate to them," said Mendez.
For fourth-grade teacher Alejandra Cota, while being bilingual is important in the classroom, it's especially important with parents and guardians in the area who solely speak Spanish..
"Parents will directly contact me if they have any questions or if they need anything. They feel a little bit more — more comfortable. Then I feel like there's a stronger connection," said Cota.
And by being able to bridge that gap, they hope to build a stronger community..
"I notice a lot of parents, you know, are coming directly to drop their kids off in the classroom and I feel like that is that is like it's something that's so small maybe in some schools, but I feel like in like a school like this, it's like a really big — it's a really big thing, at least to me."
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