Kids prove resilience

Linda Mudd had a daunting task this school year.

Midyear, the kindergarten teacher at East Memorial Elementary School had to change her bilingual classroom into an English immersion class.

She wasn't sure it would work.

A lack of English skills is just one problem that may get in the way of students' academic success at East Memorial. Mudd's students are also predominately poor and often start school behind in their reading skills. To teach them successfully, Mudd has to make up for lost time while trying to overcome problems associated with poverty -- such as students coming to school hungry because they didn't eat breakfast.

Now, in the middle of the school year, Mudd's bosses expected her to teach English at the same time she is teaching everything else.

To do it, she had to change her methods.

"I've had to rethink the way I teach," Mudd said. "I had to pull out my box of resources."

Still, she was worried. She had students already behind academically, and she didn't want them to fall back even further when she spoke to them only in English.

But to her surprise, her biggest fears were never realized. In fact, her kindergartners are quite resilient.

On Thursday, they sang songs in English, they understood the sounds of letters and asked Mudd questions in English. Spanish occasionally is spoken, both from the students and from Mudd as she attempts to explain things. But for the most part, the class is taught in English.

Some of the students stumble with their grammar, and at times, their strong accents make it hard for Mudd to understand what they are saying. But they are learning.

"What I learned from these kiddos is that they can do it," Mudd said.

She is proud of her students' progress. Some who came to her class speaking only Spanish are now writing in English. One of them called out to her on Thursday to show her how he spelled his name in clay.

"Mira!" he said. "Look what I can do."