\u201c\u00a1Hola, chicos! Today we\u2019re going to be learning numbers and colors\u2026again.\u201d In most public schools, learning a second language is optional, if it is even offered at all. Compared to other parts of the world where learning multiple languages is a standard necessity, here in the United States it is considered a luxury. However because of the demand for bilingualism, some public schools in Hartford have bilingual curricula. Mar\u00eda Col\u00f3n S\u00e1nchez Elementary School, named in honor of a strong activist of bilingual education, offers bilingual education to children in Hartford. Located right next to one of Hartford\u2019s public libraries, the students have an environment in which their ability to speak both Spanish and English is fostered. The Hispanic community drastically changed the education system in Hartford.<\/p>\n
Hartford was very different in the middle to late XX century, compared to the story it tells today. Mar\u00eda S\u00e1nchez came from Puerto Rico to Hartford in 1953, and served as a member of the Hartford Board of Education for sixteen years. She was an enthusiastic supporter of bilingual education and dedicated her life to advocating for a quality education for Hartford\u2019s children (CICD flyer). Her successful activism resulted in an elementary school that retains its bilingual program to this day. \u201cBetween 1960 and 1965, the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare\u2026created the country\u2019s first federally funded bilingual schools\u201d in response to the increased demand for them and the unwavering political activists that fought for bilingual education (Guerra). The Mar\u00eda Col\u00f3n S\u00e1nchez Elementary School had to fight to remain bilingual, according to Carol Correa de Best, Associate Director of Multicultural Affairs at Trinity College, when giving a walking tour of Park Street. The city of Hartford wanted to convert the school to a monolingual program, but parents gathered enough support and sufficiently protested that the school kept its bilingual curriculum. The community\u2019s ability and willingness to work together served as their strength in creating change.<\/p>\n
The Hartford education system is perceived as low quality. I had grown up with classmates who lived in Hartford, but attended school in West Hartford, because of the case Sheff v. O\u2019Neill<\/em> that fought for equal education opportunities. From this knowledge, I garnered that the schools in West Hartford had to be better than those of Hartford and by extension the Hartford education system was lacking. One classmate who interned at one of the elementary schools in Hartford spoke about the school closing and the children being relocated to the basement of another school because there was simply nowhere else for them to go. We were informed by Carol Correa de Best that the magnet schools in Hartford were creating divides, causing children to be sent across the city to school because they couldn\u2019t attend the one down the street from their house. We were advised to only volunteer at the public schools because they needed extra support. Even at the Hartford Public Library, the librarian explained that children were placed into all English classes and required to complete coursework in this language they had never been taught before. This negative message regarding the school system in Hartford has been repeated so strongly that complements made by the community about education were shocking.<\/p>\n The Hispanic community in Hartford has a more positive look on the education system. We interviewed members of the Hispanic community about their experience in Hartford. The first interviewees, Columba and Oscar, were a couple enjoying lunch with their family at El Mercado. They had lived in Hartford for fifteen years; their family was from Mexico. They were bilingual, but they preferred to speak Spanish over English. This component definitely hindered our ability to conduct a successful and in depth interview because Spanish is not our first language, in the same way conducting the interview in English would have received even more limited results because the couple did not speak English as their primary language. When asked, they affirmed that they believed a bilingual education was important and beneficial for their children: \u201cour children speak at least two languages, English they learned in school and Spanish we speak at home\u201d (Columba\u2014translated from Spanish to English). They even named the schools as one of the greatest things to experience in Hartford. The second interviewee, George, had lived in Hartford from birth to age twelve, although his family was from Peru. After his time in Hartford, he left for a nearby town approximately ten years ago. He apparently attended a bilingual school in Hartford, however he learned both Spanish and English in his childhood: \u201cSpanish is actually my first language\u2026and I learned English from watching TV\u201d (George). While he could not necessarily attest to the quality of the bilingual aspect education because of his extensive learning outside of the classroom, he still had the opportunity to attend a bilingual school noting that his, \u201cschool had a lot of extracurricular activities that I could involve myself in\u201d (George). This school clearly focused on language as an important component of education. Whereas before the interview it had seemed that there was only one bilingual school in Hartford and it was struggling to maintain that bilingual curriculum, after interviewing members of the community it is clear that bilingualism is thriving in schools.<\/p>\n In spite of the city\u2019s rocky history with its school system, the Hispanic community sees a potential that will continue to thrive, improving education and allowing them to reap the benefits. Individuals like Mar\u00eda S\u00e1nchez dedicate their lives to better educational opportunities because they believe in the immense positive impacts of education. Improved language education acknowledges and fosters an individual\u2019s strength in one language and encourages them to grow in another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201c\u00a1Hola, chicos! Today we\u2019re going to be learning numbers and colors\u2026again.\u201d In most public schools, learning a second language is optional, if it is even offered at all. Compared to other parts of the world where learning multiple languages is a standard necessity, here in the United States it is considered a luxury. However because … <\/p>\n