"Been there, done that" doesn't translate precisely into Spanish, but Isabel Meaker finds ways to get that message across while helping Latino parents in her groundbreaking role with Bellingham's public schools.
Meaker knows what it's like to learn English, and rear a child, after coming to the United States as a Spanish-speaking adult immigrant. She's now special assistant to Bellingham's school superintendent, specializing in family engagement, a new position.
Meaker, 41, and her husband, Mark, live in Blaine. Daughter Melissa, 18, is a senior at Blaine High.
Question: Isabel, what led you to your new role?
Answer: When I came to Washington state I was a graduate of the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. It's the oldest university in the Western Hemisphere, founded in 1538. I had my own business here for 12 years when I decided to earn a degree from Western and go into education. I wound up serving the previous two school years as a Spanish-speaking volunteer at Shuksan Middle School with AmeriCorps.
Q: And then?
A: Our superintendent, Dr. (Greg) Baker, is extremely interested in helping all the non-speaking students and their families in our district. I was hired to help ELL (English language learners) students, their parents, along with administrators, faculty and staff at all the schools in the district. I went from working with people at one school to those at 22 schools!
Q: How great is the need to help Spanish speakers?
A: The need has increased a lot. Shuksan is 25 percent Latino and Alderwood Elementary is higher than that. Throughout our entire district, about 12 percent of the students are Latino. This school year the district hired nine new ELL specialists.
Q: How are things working out?
A: I'm thrilled with our progress. One good example is Shuksan, where more than 90 percent of the families including Spanish speakers participated in our fall teacher-parent conferences. For some of them, I would act as an interpreter.
I work with students, parents, teachers and staff. In a typical week I answer more than 50 questions about their concerns. Some are easy, but some can be complex, such as trying to help parents and students realize why it's so important for students to stay in school instead of going to work.
Q: Culture also can be a barrier in education, right?
A: Yes. For example, some Spanish-speaking immigrants come from a culture where they feel it's a form of disrespect for parents to question teachers or principals. These parents don't realize that it's considered OK in American culture. One of my jobs is to enable parents to understand how important communication with schools is, in order to help their children.
Q: How important is it for immigrants to learn English?
A: People should learn English. Being bilingual opens so many doors. I'm a good example myself. I never could have gotten this job if I wasn't bilingual.
Q: How difficult is it to learn English?
A: English isn't an easy language to learn quickly. I began learning English when I got here, but for 12 years I lacked the confidence to pursue my education at Western. Part of that is that I'm very much a math- and science-type person.
Q: Is it mostly the parents who don't speak English?
A: For the most part, yes. By the time the kids get to middle school, if they've arrived earlier, they're speaking English. It's their families that I'm trying to help as much as possible, to help them understand how much we want their children to be successful and to stay in school.
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