 | | | Gervais School District Superintendent Rick Hensel (left) traveled to Mexico last month, along with Gervais teacher Lindy Albert and other United States educators to experience the culture of students immigrating to the states. Hensel’s group spent eight days traveling to different schools in the Mexican state of Morelos, to teach English classes, talk with administrators and try to grasp what schools are like in Mexico. |
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By Charissa Bernard
Over 25 percent of the students in the Gervais School District were not born in the United States. The majority of these migrant students came from Mexico, and Superintendent Rick Hensel recently traveled to their home country to learn how schools are managed there.
"I went down there because unless I know what these students and parents are going through, I'm not going to have a complete understanding of what it's like for them to try and adapt to our school," Hensel said, after returning from his trip.
From Feb. 23 through March 1, Hensel and a group of other teachers and administrators from around the U.S. went to visit multiple schools in the Woodburn-sized city of Cuautla, located in the heart of Morelos, Mexico. Gervais language arts English language development teacher Lindy Albert also took the trip, but traveled with another group to a different city.
Both Hensel and Albert took this trip as a part of a bi-national educational exchange, which involves several states, including Oregon, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
"The purpose is for the United States to send administrators and teachers down to various arts of Mexico, and for those parts of Mexico to send their teachers up here," said Hensel. "Mainly, this was to learn the culture of our migrant students."
Hensel said that he flew in on Feb. 23, and met up with the English language learner coordinator from the Omaha Public School District, Susan Mayberger.
The group stayed with a principal, who managed a small, remote school in the area.
"On a typical day, we would visit two to three schools and then at 4 p.m., we would show up and teach an English class until 8 p.m.," said Hensel. "Then we would go back, have tea with our host and then at 9 p.m., we would check our emails."
In Mexico, students currently begin school at the age of four and are required to attend until the completion of the ninth grade. Hensel said that next year, the city of Morelos plans on accepting three-year-olds into the kindergarten class. Once the students finish ninth grade, they have a choice whether or not they want to continue their education.
"When they are finished with their ninth grade year, they're done, unless they pass the test and go on to high school," Hensel said. "About a third of the students pass the test and go on to what they call 'preparatory school.'"
Hensel said he noticed some similarities Mexican schools and Gervais schools.
"There is no loss of technology down there," he said. "They've seen smart boards before, and that's important for us to know because we don't have to waste time teaching them more than any other student."
Along with similarities come differences, and Hensel learned many new things about how schools can be run.
"Things are a lot more crowded, they have few discipline problems, and they are all in uniforms," he said.
"I also thought they started learning English at a younger age.
"I remember seeing a fifth-grade class learning English, and that was the youngest I saw. Most of the English classes I saw were seventh and eighth grade."
Hensel also said that parents are much more involved in the schools in Cuautla, compared to in Gervais.
"If mothers had questions about how to raise children, they had parenting classes," he said. "The parents also helped by sweeping, taking care of the grounds and planting flowers. There's no lunch or transportation program there, so parents would fix the lunches and bring them to sell to the students. Parents were always there waiting for the kids after school and then walking them home."
Parental involvement has always been a tough issue in Gervais, and Hensel said that his trip opened his eyes to the potential for Hispanic parents in his district.
"I think we need to do a better job with the non-English speaking parents, making them feel welcome," he said. "They are intimidated and uncomfortable coming here (to the U.S.), and down there (Mexico), parents are all over the place. It's not their culture to be away from the schools.
"Now, when we have our parent meetings, I can be a little bit more aware of what they have seen in Mexico, and I can understand exactly what they are referring to and also, I can help explain that there are some differences here, and the reasons why."
Hensel hopes his trip will benefit the students.
"It was a very positive experience for me, but, overall, I think it was for the students," he said.
"We will send more teachers down there, and we will continue to take advantage of this program."
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