OCTOBER 7, 2015 VOL. 20 ISSUE 43
volleyball teams host cancer awareness event
see Page 9
Featured Sports
PINK HEALS
NEWS road construction
Resurfacing on Route 52 and Route 53 to begin
see Page 4
COMMUNITY oktoberfest
Annual celebration set for Oct. 10 in Shorewood
see Page 7
SPORTS
Colton Sullivan won’t let congenital heart defects slow him down SEE THE FULL STORY ON PAGE 3
football
The future starts now for Joliet West
see Page 13
photo coUrtesy of andrea sULLiVan
colton crosses the finish line at the 2015 chicago heart Walk sept. 26.
eDucAtion
Troy district offers new programs to parents of its ELL students Initiative designed to bridge family, school gap for English Language Learners Students at Troy Community School District 30-C come from many different cultural backgrounds, and English is not always their first language. In fact, many of their parents speak only the language of their country of origin. This can present challenges when the parents cannot understand their children’s homework assignments, bus schedules, classroom activities and information presented in parent-teacher conferences.
To help parents of the district’s English Language Learners, or ELL students, better understand their children’s school experience, Troy teachers are beginning new initiatives designed to help bridge the gap between family and school. “The parents want to learn more about their children’s school,” said Troy Shorewood Elementary School ELL Specialist Arlene Roderick, “and we know that the more involved parents are with the school, the more the student
MORE INFO AT THE OCTOBER WORKSHOP, PARENTS MAY VOLUNTEER TO SERVE AS MENTORS TO NEW ELL FAMILIES AND WILL LEARN HOW TO BECOME INVOLVED IN THEIR CHILD’S SCHOOL. IN NOVEMBER, HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF PARENTTEACHER CONFERENCES WILL BE DISCUSSED.
will grow, and the better he or she will perform academically.” To better embrace parents of ELL students at all of Troy’s seven schools, Roderick is spearheading parent workshops that will be held throughout the year. The September workshop focused on how to choose
appropriate level books to read at home, what the students will be doing this year in school and how to sign up for family activities. At the October workshop, parents may volunteer to serve as mentors to new ELL families and will learn how to become involved in their child’s school. In November, how to get the most out of parent-teacher conferences will be discussed. Instructional workshops for ELL parents will begin in January. There will be an ongoing workshop for English for adults, a workshop to enhance understanding of math and another workshop on computers and technology, which will teach basic usage of computers,
how to establish and check email, how to use classroom-based web sites and how to prepare and save a document. “Another advantage of our ELL parental involvement program,” Roderick said, “is that it can give them adult peers – other parents who have similar backgrounds and heritages to grow within our community.” “Our ELL parent programs will continue to support our students with their acquisition of English,” said Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Anne Gmazel, “and will also ultimately increase their academic performance on the new Illinois learning standards.”