Learning comes in many forms and from many different experiences. It’s not often, though, that it comes in the form of gummy bears.
“Today I was eating some gummy bears and I offered them to [a classmate], but they can’t eat it because of their religion, so they taught me about that.” said Luz Carrasco Silva.
Carrasco Silva, from Chile, is enrolled in East’s English as a Second Language program, which currently includes about 90 students from various countries. This year, East has welcomed students from many new countries, including Chile and Afghanistan.
“Everyone’s from different countries, so everyone has different cultures. It’s fun to know about each other, and each other’s countries,” Carrasco Silva added.
Several flags hang high across the classroom walls to help encourage a culture of inclusion and respect. The room is covered with posters, colorful decorations and even candles hanging from the ceiling to imitate the Great Hall at Hogwarts.
“I’m trying to make sure that we always have a nurturing, welcoming environment for the students,” said the ESL teacher, Greg Cain.
Cain has been teaching ESL for 29 years and has been at East for 13 of them. Having gone to a French speaking school without speaking French, he has experienced first-hand the need for an ESL program for students.
“I distinctly remember how frustrating it was being in a completely immersive environment and the second language environment, and not being able to communicate and… express my thoughts, share in comedy, make jokes. It was very isolating and very exhausting,” Cain said. “So perhaps that’s one of the reasons I became an ESL teacher, so I can have empathy and understand what they’re going through.”
While teaching ESL, Cain realized that many students were especially struggling in math in a new language. After getting a degree in teaching math, he now combines his teaching strategies to best help students.
For Cain, though, the ESL program is about more than just supporting students academically.
“I want to make sure these kids are succeeding both academically and emotionally in our world,” Cain said. “For some of them, they’ve come from tremendous trauma and they’re still dealing with that. We’re going to make sure that things are as seamless as possible, which is not always going to happen, but we want to make sure that they feel as if they can be successful here.”
Many students appreciate the effort and agree it’s made a difference in their experience at East.
“I really like it,” Carrasco Silva said. “It makes me feel safe.”
Freshman Lewis Zaw, who moved from Burma in January, agrees.
“I love this class, and Mr. Cain is a great teacher,” said Zaw, joking with Cain that he should earn extra credit for his answer.
Freshman Cassandra Baldeo from the Philippines says that the class is “not really that much help in English,” because she could already speak English well when she moved to the U.S. However, she still enjoys the class because Cain is “just really thoughtful about the fact that [they] are from a different country.”
“[Teachers at East] are definitely way more interactive than the ones in the Philippines,” Baldeo said. “Unlike here, where you can casually have a conversation with almost anyone. In the Philippines it’s really more on the student-teacher [separation]. We’re quite far apart there.”
While styles of teaching are a common difference for students from other countries, changes in food, shopping and after-school activities can be harder to adjust to.
“In the Philippines, when you go outside, there’s many stores. There’re malls near you. So it’s easier to meet up there. It was easier to hang out,” said Hannah Marta Tolentino, who moved here three months ago.
A difference in the sports students play can be seen across countries as well.
“I’d like to play badminton,” said Zaw. “Here, nobody’s really played badminton because it’s an Asian sport. That’s kind of sad, though. Everyone plays basketball and soccer. I just want everyone to know about badminton.”
In addition to all the new students, a mural right outside the ESL classroom was completed by Jeffery Bowers’ art students at the end of last year. The mural is an illustration representing the countries students were from in the 2022-2023 school year.
The mural is a reminder that East will continue to be home to students of several different languages, cultures and stories who are connected through their experiences at East. As Cain said, “We’re all the same, we just have different backgrounds.”
