By Roslyn Ryan
Editor

While music may be dubbed the universal language, food may be a close second. In fact, one of the first things teacher Suzan Moore does when she meets a new student for the first time is give them a tour of the lunchroom.

Moore, who serves as an English as a second language teacher for the Powhatan County school system, is tasked with helping students with limited English skills succeed in their new environment. Because the process can be so scary to some students, Moore has developed a number of techniques for easing the tension. This includes making sure they feel comfortable in their new environment.

“The scariest thing for students who speak no English is the cafeteria,” said Moore, a career ESL teacher who previously worked in Chesterfield. With the noise and the people everywhere, “it can be very daunting.”

Once the students are familiar with the cafeteria, the real work begins. ESL students must learn not only to understand English but to speak, read and write as well. Once they reach a certain level of proficiency, they are still observed to make sure they are progressing.

Moore travels from school to school during the course of her work day, addressing specific issues each student in the program might be having. It might be eighth grade science vocabulary words one day and elementary school phonics the next.

What she really is, Moore explained, is a trouble shooter. She develops individual plans for each student based on his or her needs. Students may come to her with some proficiency, but others speak no English at all.

“Right now the program is small enough that we can provide these services on an individual basis,” said Moore, but the numbers are on the rise. Since first coming to Powhatan in 2005, Moore has seen the ESL program grow by nearly seventy percent. With the growth comes more diversity, and on a given day Moore may work with children who speak languages ranging from Spanish — spoken by about half the students she works with — to Russian to Afrikaans.

Moore is not fluent in any other language, though she considers this more of an asset then an obstacle. When the goal is to help students attain fluency in English, she explained, it helps if the temptation is not there to simply slip into the language they already know. Instead, Moore uses techniques like pantomime to help clarify what she is saying, and pays close attention to her word choice when working with students who might not be able to grasp things like idioms or slang.

Moore said working in a county like Powhatan has definite advantages.

“It’s not a transient society,” she said. “That’s one thing we have going for us is that we can really develop those relationships with the families.”

To both Moore and Assistant Superintendant Sandy Lynch, who oversees the ESL program, one of an ESL teacher’s most important objectives is to serve as a “bridge” between students, teachers and families, ensuring that the student is being served to the greatest extent possible.

Lynch says it’s also important to realize that, though the schools are helping the ESL students, those students give back an immeasurable amount to the schools they attend.

“Being around these students helps our other students become more culturally aware on a daily basis,” said Lynch.

Students stay with the ESL program until they have met the state’s proficiency standards, though Moore says that often happens more quickly than even she expects.

“I’m amazed at how fast they learn,” she said. “We have had children go from speaking hardly any English at all to being fully conversational within months.”