You want to help every student succeed.
But do you have the resources in place to meet the complex needs of this population? Have you and your peers received the training and ongoing professional development needed to reach these students and their families?
The challenge is to tap into these students’ hidden superpowers—the assets they bring to the classroom and the school—to help them take advantage of the opportunities available to all of our students.
We’re here to help you with that.
We can help identify the key approaches and resources you need to feel supported, prepared, and equipped so you can, in turn, support your students and families.
Here are a few ways we can work together:
Speaking/Presenting
Keynote speaking opportunities for professional conferences or school/district/community-wide events. Motivational speaker for engaging staff, students, families.
Group Workshops
Variety of professional development workshops for ELL and general educators tailored to your school needs and the population you serve.
Sample workshops: Engaging Immigrant and Latino Families; School Wide Focus on Meeting the Needs of ELL Students; Tapping into the Hidden Superpowers that Multilingual Students Bring to our Schools.
1:1 Consultations
Customized work to identify issues, review current services and resources, and collaborate on solutions to challenges and obstacles faced by educators.
Book Study Groups
Review and discuss Let Our Children Soar! book and participate in a Reflect and Imagine activity.
Hundreds of book study participants have found this book to be inspirational, insightful and applicable to the difficult work of teachers and administrators. This book uniquely appeals to all educators, including counselors, librarians, administrators, general ed teachers and English Language Learner specialists.
Speaking & Presenting
Motivational presentation for school faculty and staff, departments, district-wide and school-wide
-
A Let Our Children Soar Consultant will attend your school meeting or event to deliver a 45- to 60-minute motivational presentation with Q&A.
-
Consultant has personal experience as an ELL and educator who can provide a unique perspective as both learner and educator.
-
Presentations can be customized to your school, district, or community and tailored to your specific needs.
Group Workshops
For ELL teachers, general educators, and school leaders to participate in discussions of how to respond to the challenges and opportunities of educating ELL students
-
A Let Our Children Soar Consultant will present a 60- to 90-minute group workshop for K-12 educators and/or administrators
-
An experienced ELL educator will moderate the discussion, allowing all teachers and administrators to discuss and identify together which practices will best serve their students.
-
Workshops can be customized to your school, district, or community and tailored to your specific needs.
The Hidden Superpowers of Our Multilingual Students: Workshop Feedback
“ This was very motivating. I am excited to share this with others. ”
“ Great reminder of what each learner could possibly be talented at and how we, as educators, should find ways to uplift their talents (hidden talents).”
“Wonderful to hear from someone who has actually gone through the process of being a ELL student.”
1:1 Consultations
For teachers and school leaders, bilingual or multilingual department head, board of education, or school superintendent
-
We’ll meet to discuss your individualized need (for example, family and community engagement). We’ll schedule follow up meetings to co-develop strategies to build your capacity to respond to the needs of your growing multilingual student population.
-
The 1:1 consultation allows for confidential, personalized strategies and support.
Book Study Groups
For K-12 ELL teachers, multilingual teachers, general teachers and administrators
-
Participants will read Let Our Children Soar! The Complexity and Possibilities of Educating the English Language Student and discuss the experiences, trauma, and hidden superpowers impacting ELL/MLL students.
This is an asynchronous book club with discussions happening over 5 weeks and concluding with an in-person or Zoom meeting with the author.
-
Participants will gain insight and strategies that educators and the school community can use to promote the success of the ELL population.
Book study groups can be school-based or district-based. Ideally, we recommend having a mix of ELL/MLL teachers and general educators.
“This book opens opportunities for reflection, discourse and application among K-12 educators.”
“Let Our Children Soar! is a powerful book. For teachers and administrators, it is a case study to open opportunities for reflection, discourse and application. This book will leave a lasting impact on all who read it.”
Ellen Tuohey, Former Elementary Teacher, Supervisor of Student Teachers
I’m Bolgen Vargas: Founder of Let Our Children Soar K-12 Consulting, author, and ELL.
As a teenager without any knowledge of the English language, I transitioned from a rural bohio in the Dominican Republic to the bewildering environment of New York City, graduated high school, went to college, and went on to earn my doctorate.
I’ve worked in adult education, served as a high school counselor, and as Superintendent of the Rochester, NY School District and the Manchester, NH School District. With my community behind me, I was propelled to leadership roles in civic and community-based organizations, including President of the Rochester City Schools Board of Education.
Now, I’m devoted to helping K-12 educators and administrators feel prepared and equipped to meet the needs of their ELL students, in and out of the classroom.
Let’s work together to identify the unique needs of your ELL students so you can feel equipped and ready to help them soar.
We believe that every K-12 educator is an ELL educator.
When you’re an English Language Learner, the whole school is your learning environment.
Let’s work together to make sure you have the support and resources you need to support and empower ELLs in your classroom.
We are solution innovators bringing ELL teachers together with general education teachers and administrators to build a highly collaborative environment that supports each and every student.
Has your school or district seen an increase in immigrant and ELL students and families?
As educators, we’re faced every day with the question of how to teach the increasing number of children who arrive in our schools from homes where English is not the primary language.
Some are immigrants and refugees from cultural backgrounds so different from the United States, often from impoverished households, and often where education as we know it was completely absent. Others were born here in the U.S.
According to EducationWeek:
“English language learners are one of the fastest growing student populations in the country, yet the number of specialized educators for them is lagging behind. . . .
While English learners typically work with specialized instructors for their language development, many spend most of their school days in classrooms with non-English learner peers.
It’s why researchers and educators alike call for broader training for all teachers and school leaders in best practices for supporting English learners—especially with national gaps in specialized English learner staffers.”
The number of ELL students has grown to more than 10% of K-12 enrollment.
Source: U.S. Department of Education
We’ve been there.
We’ve lived it, experienced it, taught it, and administered it.
One thing we definitely know is that no single approach can solve every challenge. And no single person can be the answer.
It takes a community.
