An essay by a student from the Romeo Community Schools summer bilingual program is an example of a piece of work on display at the Graubner Library. The essay was part of a program put on the by the library¹s summer reading program where bilingual students got to write about what America is to them. Source photo by Matt December

For the last several years Romeo Community Schools has offered a bilingual summer program to students in the area. The district works in conjunction with the Romeo District Library to provide bilingual students with, in most cases, Spanish/English resources.

“Those are the students who come here without a good handle on the English language and so that tends to hinder their learning in the classroom,” said Shannon Griffin, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at RCS. “We would like to give them that opportunity to get a head start on the following school year.”

The program focuses on three things: English reading and writing as well as working on a foundation of Spanish for the students who use that as their native language.

“We find that most have not had a formal school setting before coming to the United States and they are not native to their own language.”

This summer the six-week program serviced 56 bilingual students.

“Our research shows that there is some loss during the summer, they do lose some of their education because they are out for close to three months,” said Celia Ciecko, a parent educator in RCS. “Some of their parents even go back to Mexico for the summer months, then return.

“When they leave and come back they are even further behind. That is why we have this program set up for them,” she added.

Ciecko said that this program has worked well for RCS over the last few years and teachers have seen improvement in these students.

“All children have that loss during the summer if they are not actively engaged in learning,” she said. “We have noticed that these children have made gains by attending our summer school programs from the feedback we get from teachers.”

“It does work; the children enjoy coming to school.”

Griffin said that the library has been integral in their bilingual programs over the last several years.

“They have been a great literacy partner for us,” she said. “Not only do they send some of their staff to serve as readers, they share their resources and they bring books over for students to check out.”

“They are wonderful working with the kids and helping getting them excited about reading,” she continued. “That is what it is all about. If you get them excited about reading they will read more.”

Griffin said that they have also had help from various student organizations who volunteer their time to work with the bilingual students.

This summer the library also offered students access to the “We the People” bookshelf, a set of classic books for readers from Kindergarten through high school.

The program is made available through the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The theme for this year’s bookshelf is “Created Equal.”

“It teaches kids that all different kinds of people are Americans,” said Michelle Yochim, the head of children’s services. “We thought we would have a program where kids can get to tell about their journey to America.”

The library also makes its books available to RCS bilingual students during the summer, as the district has to lock down the libraries at each building. Staff from the library is also made available to read to the students during the summer program.

Students from the bilingual program also join the library’s summer reading program.

Bilingual students in the summer reading program were encouraged to write an essay, color a picture or create a photo essay on “I am America” as a way to describe their journey to the United States.