Title III expands services, assists families
By Jennifer Schultes
Our district impacts the community in many ways. One of these ways is through a new position recently opened through Title III, that of bilingual technician.
Lynne Donovan, who is fluent in Spanish, recently joined the Natrona County School District to assist those families who fall under Title III, namely, English Language Learners (ELL) and English as a Second Language (ESL).
“I am so excited about this opportunity to serve our students,” said Angela Hensley, Title III director. “We’ve never had anything like this in the district.”
Donovan, a “military brat,” spent her early childhood in Puerto Rico, which is where she learned Spanish. Her father retired in Wyoming, and Lynne graduated from Natrona County High School in 1985. She then went on to graduate from the University of Wyoming in 1989/1991, with a BA/MA, respectively, in Spanish language and literature. She taught Spanish for 15 years at the secondary and college levels in Texas.
“I’m really excited to work in the district I went to school in,” Donovan said. “It’s an opportunity to use my skills in a way I never have, and to reach out and help families.”
Being that 92 percent of our district’s English lanugage learners are Spanish-speaking, Donovan’s main duty will be assisting families in transitions into our schools and community. Other areas of her job include testing students, assisting with the registration process, creating community partnerships, facilitating family literacy activities, tutoring, maintaining documentation, record keeping, general clerical duties, translating and assisting with summer school.
Although the vast majority of our district’s English language learners speak Spanish, Title III isn’t just for Spanish speakers. Title III assists all English language learners. Donovan will translate Spanish, but will tutor Chinese, Russian, Korean, French and Portuguese, to name a few.
Title III is a federal program designed to meet the needs of English language learners. The process, Hensley explained, is that all parents complete a home language survey. One of the district’s two Title III instructional facilitators then determine the need for assessment, analyze assessment results and work with the teachers and tutors of each student to determine and implement any needed interventions. North Casper, Dean Morgan and Natrona County High School are the only schools in the district that house ESL programs.
“If a child’s needs are great,” said Hensley, “we’d recommend they receive ESL services.”
While Title III offers these important services, Hensley said parents have one right: to refuse them, in which case services would be provided through Title III IF’s coaching the student’s teachers and tutors. However, she said, families and students have shown a lot of appreciation of ESL services and other Title III interventions.
As far as providing these services, Donovan said it is important for the community and students to have the optimum chance of being successful. She said her goal is to be a solid community liaison, enabling smooth transitions for both families and students in our schools.
“My passion for kids and education,” said Donovan, “is born of the belief that if you treat others as though they are what they dream of becoming, then you can watch them become what they dream.”
For more information on obtaining Title III services, contact Lynne Donovan or Angela Hensley at 577-0302.
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