Learning link (PW article)

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Learning link

Local nonprofit supplements educational needs for struggling students

By Justin Chapman, Pasadena Weekly, 2/16/2012

When the nonprofit organization Neighbors Acting Together to Help All (NATHA) was first created in 1991, it was a small neighborhood watch group tucked away in a residential section of Northwest Pasadena, near the Altadena border.

Over the years, it has transformed into a critical support network for students and families from all over Greater Pasadena, from San Gabriel to La Canada Flintridge.

Now the grassroots agency is partnering with other local community organizations, as well as most charter, private and public schools, to serve an area of about 1,900 homes with afterschool and summer programs for kindergarteners to high school students, offering programs Monday through Friday with occasional activities on the weekends.

"NATHA was created specifically to give an opportunity to all children, but especially children who may not be exposed to different opportunities, to travel or go on field trips, or be exposed to different things they may not have if they weren't participating in a program," said program coordinator Jalila Walker.

NATHA's programs, designed to supplement what they're learning in school, include: the Lemonade Brigade, an entrepreneurial business created by the Youth Leadership Group that sells lemonade at community events and reinvests the profits back into the organization; the Wagon Tails program, in which kids read to dogs to help build their reading confidence; tennis instruction with the company iTennis; and fitness activities with a personal trainer.

This year, students in the organization's anti-drug and alcohol coalition are planning to expand the Web series they created, which so far is composed of three episodes that the coalition wrote, filmed, acted in and edited with financial support and resources donated by OnWeb Television.

For all the organization's strong ties to the community and partnerships with various schools, however, NATHA remains somewhat under the radar, and that is no accident.

"We're really in the trenches," said Celestine Walker, NATHA's executive director. "We're at the grassroots level, and we really want to make sure that we're providing the services that are needed, so our focus is there as opposed to advertising our accomplishments all over town."

She added that they spend more time trying to interface with young people and their families to make their community better and level the playing field.

"We can't look outward as much, because we don't want to miss a beat here by being more external," she said. "It's also really complicated out there and highly political. We don't want to be derailed from what our passion and purpose truly is and why we're here, and that's the families and people in our community. We're very invested here."

For those involved with NATHA, that sentiment is exactly what makes the organization so special.

"What struck me most about the organization was that the people involved seemed to be genuinely interested in waht they were doing," said Colin Burton, a former Weekly contributor who tutored at NATHA in summer 2001. "When I took the job, I assumed that everyone was somewhat interested in the field of work but mostly in it for a paycheck, as I was at first. But by the end of the summer, it was obvious that the staff genuinely cared about supporting and enriching their community, and the sentiment was infectious. By the end, I found myself doing things above and beyond what I was paid for, simply for the satisfaction of knowing that I had helped in some way."

NATHA is funded by private donations, LA County's Community Development Commission (CDC) and grants, such as the federal Department of Health and Human Services' Drug Free Communities Grant. Jalila Walker said she's not worried about the end of redevelopment funding.

"I don't think it will affect NATHA in a negative way," she said. "We've been able to survive here for a long period of time. A lot of our resources come from our parents and community partners who support what we do, and so that's how we really survive. It's about the commitment of our community partners and the parents and people who work here still willing to make it work."

In the future, Walker would like to see NATHA expand its services to include resources for young adults who have graduated from high school and are either looking for a job or applying to colleges.

"I think young people who are fresh out of high school, until they are about 24 years old, need a place to go where they can learn skills, such as writing resumes and cover letters," she said, " as well as find out what other options they have, like internships or externships or volunteering somewhere. Because even if they can't get a job, there are still opportunities where they can get the skills they need to succeed."

NATHA's staff is actively working toward realizing that goal of expanding the organization to include those kinds of programs.

"We appreciate those who remember that we're here and come by to offer their services," said Walker. "That's what it's about, taking care of each other and making sure that people are successful in society."

To learn more about NATHA, call (626) 794-5889 or visit natha.org.

Words to live by/Life learners/Fast learners (PW article)

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Print version:

Words to live by

Chineses students visit with Pasadena counterparts studying Mandarin

By Justin Chapman, Pasadena Weekly, 2/2/2012

A delegation from China recently provided area students enrolled in a popular dual-language immersion program with a rare opportunity to test their fluency in Mandarin by interacting with their counterparts from Beijing.

The 70-teacher and 62-student delegation from Huangchenggen Elementary School in the Xicheng District of Beijing, Pasadena's sister city, last week visited Eugene Field Elementary, which has more than 100 students taking part in the school's growing English-Mandarin dual-language immersion program. The program--one of two offered by the Pasadena Unified School District, the other conducted in Spanish at San Rafael Elementary--has nearly quadrupled in size since it began more than two years ago.

Over two days, guests visited classrooms and observed the future bi-literate students in action--from kindergarteners taking turns counting in Mandarin to first-graders learning about and tasting food with a nutritionist, and from second-graders working on a video newscast in English to third-graders learning multiplication in Chinese.

The total number of students in the Mandarin program has grown from 28 when it first started at Altadena's Burbank Elementary School in 2009 to its current level of 110. The grant-funded program moved to Field Elementary last year after the PUSD shuttered Burbank due to declining enrollments and budget cuts.

The program is expected to continue growing next year if future grant applications with the US Department of Education's Foreign Language Assistance Program are approved. There appears to be no shortage of interest in the program, based on applications submitted during Pasadena Unified School District's open enrollment process, which ended last week. According to district Communications Director Adam Wolfson, students from Arcadia and other nearby school districts are applying to get in the program.

"We're happy to have them, but students within PUSD come first," Wolfson said.

"At this time, we have two programs which are thriving," said Kathy Onoye, PUSD's executive director of elementary schools, referring to both the Mandarin program at Field and the English-Spanish immersion program at San Rafael.

"Due to budget constraints, we really haven't been talking about moving beyond that," Onoye said. "Programs like this are fantastic. We'd love to do more, but because of the budget situation, it's just not feasible."


Longer web version:

Life learners

Field Elementary’s dual-language immersion program allows more students to become bi-literate at a young age

By Justin Chapman, Pasadena Weekly, 2/2/2012

Last Friday and Tuesday, right in the middle of the Chinese New Year celebration, dozens of representatives from Pasadena’s sister city in China, the Xicheng District of Beijing, visited Pasadena Unified School District’s Eugene Field Elementary. The group of Chinese teachers’ and students’ two-day tours of the school’s growing English-Mandarin dual language immersion program (DLIP) gave Field students a rare and unparalleled opportunity to test their fluency by speaking and interacting with their counterparts from China.

The program has become very popular since it began in 2009 at Burbank Elementary in Altadena. The total number of students has grown from 28 when it first started to its current level of 110 and is expected to continue to grow next year now that PUSD’s open enrollment process is underway. According to Adam Wolfson, the district’s communications director, students from Arcadia and other nearby school districts are applying to the program.

“We’re happy to have them, but students within PUSD come first,” said Wolfson.

The Chinese guests visited each classroom and witnessed the future bi-literate students in action, from kindergarteners taking turns counting in Mandarin to first-graders learning about and tasting food with a Chinese nutritionist, and second-graders working on a video newscast in English to third-graders learning multiplication in Mandarin.

Students who participate in the program learn core academic content, such as language arts, math and science, in both languages, spending 10 percent of the day learning in English and 90 percent in Mandarin their first year. The next year is split 80/20 and so on until it is 50/50. This allows them to become proficient and fluent in both languages at an early age.

“By that time, the students are pretty literate in the target language,” said Wolfson. “Students who are bi-literate when they graduate high school will have a seal on their diplomas and receive PUSD’s Certificate of Bi-Literacy.”

As the students get older the program will continue to expand to the next grade. As for expanding it to other schools, however, the focus right now remains fixed on the existing dual language immersion programs.

“At this time we have two programs which are thriving,” said Kathy Onoye, PUSD’s executive director of elementary schools, referring to both the Mandarin program at Field and the very similar English-Spanish dual language immersion program at San Rafael Elementary School. “Due to budget constraints we really haven’t been talking about moving beyond that. Programs like this are fantastic. We’d love to do more, but because of the budget situation it’s just not feasible.”

Each class is taught by certified bilingual teachers. In the classroom students are only allowed to speak whichever language that part of the day is set aside for.

“This year we have put a new rule in place that the Mandarin program classroom teacher only addresses the children in Mandarin so the kids cannot see them speaking English,” said Field principal Ana Maria Apodaca.

An English teacher from Beijing explained during the tour that they have the same rule at Field’s sister school in China.

“The teachers have said that it is encouraging the kids and prompting them to use more Mandarin,” said Apodaca. “It’s a different approach than the English-Spanish dual language immersion program at San Rafael Elementary. Most students here are not using Mandarin in a comfortable, natural way. We don’t see the language being used student to student, so we try our best to encourage them to use it in an informal way outside the classroom.”

Those efforts include classroom programs such as “Harvest of the Month,” where the students learn about a different vegetable or fruit in Mandarin and get to taste it. During the visit by Chinese representatives the citrusy smell of grapefruit wafted out of the science room. There are two nutritionists on staff who help teach the kids to use the language in such creative ways as the monthly harvest program.

“I don’t speak Mandarin so I can’t communicate with the teacher in front of the children, so I’ll write notes and communicate in other ways,” said Apodaca. “It’s been a challenge for me and some parents to communicate with the teachers and students in Mandarin, so sometimes we use physical gestures.”

When the Board of Education voted to shutter Burbank last year, the Mandarin dual language immersion program, which is funded in part by a federal Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant, moved to Field Elementary in Pasadena for the 2011-12 school year, where it is managed by the Mandarin Parent Advisory Committee. The grant lasts for three years, and the committee is currently in the process of applying for another grant to continue the program next year.

Although the grant has helped provide personnel and support curriculum development, the program itself is funded by the district, according to Onoye.

“Every year we expand to the next grade level, so it’s a growing program,” she said. “It would survive without the grant, however. As long as we have students, the program will be able to expand.”

This year, the school has a total of five Mandarin dual language immersion classes: two for kindergarten and one each for first- through third-grades. Although there are a few more Asian students than other ethnicities, Onoye said, there is a very diverse cross section of Pasadena represented in the program. About 50 percent of the students are Asian and the other 50 percent is a mix of African-American, Caucasian and Latino children.

The Mandarin Parent Advisory Committee consists of two parent representatives at each grade level, a project coordinator, one dual language immersion program teacher, principal Apodaca, and Mandarin community assistant Dr. Cathy Wei, who teaches at Pasadena City College and heads that school’s Chinese language program. Wei helped organize the tours for the Beijing sister city teachers and students. The committee meets monthly to address concerns and ensure the program’s smooth implementation.

The next meeting will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 15 at Field Elementary, located at 3600 Sierra Madre Blvd., Pasadena. Call (626) 396-5860 or visit field.pasadenausd.org for more information.


Original brief version:

Fast learners

Field Elementary’s dual language immersion program allows more students to become bi-literate at a young age

By Justin Chapman

With the Pasadena Unified School District’s Open Enrollment process now underway, more students are expected to participate in the district’s English-Mandarin dual language immersion program held at Eugene Field Elementary School.

The program, which has been growing in popularity across LA County, began in 2009 at Burbank Elementary in Altadena when the district received a federal Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant. After the school board voted to shutter Burbank last year, the program moved to Field Elementary in Pasadena for the 2011-12 school year, where it is managed by the Mandarin Parent Advisory Committee. The grant lasts for three years and the committee is currently in the process of applying for another grant to continue the program next year.

Although the grant has helped provide personnel and support curriculum development, the program is funded by the district, according to Kathy Onoye, PUSD’s Executive Director of Elementary Schools.

“Every year we expand to the next grade level, so it’s a growing program,” she said. “It would survive without the grant, however. As long as we have students the program will be able to expand.”

This year the school has two Mandarin dual language classes for kindergarten and one each for first through third grades. The number of students has grown from 28 to 110 since it started nearly two and a half years ago and is expected to continue that trend. Although there are a few more Asian students than other ethnicities, Onoye said there is a very diverse cross section of Pasadena represented in the program.

Students who participate in the program learn core academic content, such as language arts, math and science, in both languages, spending 10 percent of the day learning in English and 90 percent in Mandarin their first year. The next year is split 80/20 and so on until it is 50/50. This allows them to become proficient and fluent in both languages at an early age.

“By that time the students are pretty literate in the target language,” said Adam Wolfson, Director of Communications at PUSD.

On Jan. 31, just a week after Chinese New Year, representatives from Pasadena’s sister city in China, the Xicheng District of Beijing, will be visiting Crown City. They will be making a stop at Field Elementary, giving the dual language immersion program students an unparalleled opportunity to test their fluency.

The Mandarin Parent Advisory Committee consists of two parent representatives at each grade level, a Mandarin community assistant, Field’s principal Ana Maria Apodaca, a project coordinator, and one dual language program teacher. It meets monthly to address concerns and ensure the program’s smooth implementation.