Thursday, January 6, 2011

Help English Language Learners

How can one help immigrant students succeed in America’s competitive school system? With a growing number of English Language Learners (ELL) in American schools, teachers have struggled to help immigrant students achieve to  their full potential.
  
In fact, according to the U.S. Education Department Office of Civil Rights, only three percent of English Language Learners in the L.A  public school system achieves a “proficient” score in English or Math.
  
To find out what it takes for immigrant students to succeed in competitive schools, come join educators at the upcoming free seminar “Immigration and Student Success,” to be held this Sunday, Jan. 9  at 4:30 p.m., at Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood.
  
This informational and engaging event will begin with a poetry reading by poet and teacher Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, who will read from her debut collection, Paper Pavilion, (White Pine Press, 2007).
  
Dobbs was born in Won Ju Si, South Korea, and is currently a professor of creative writing at St. Olaf College in Minneapolis. Dobbs is also the founder of a community outreach program for low income students in Los Angeles–which continues to make a difference in the lives of many students today. Due to her tremendous work and success for students, her work has appeared widely in anthologies, film, journals and radio.
  
Dobbs will lead a panel discussion starting at 6 p.m., discussing  how one can help immigrant students succeed in school. She will be joined on the panel by Pacific Hills Head of School, Peter Temes, and Pacific Hills faculty member, Ivan Barahona.

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