NC has students from different countries and cultures. Certain programs, specifically the English as a New Language program (ENL), help these students adjust and learn the English language.
Laura Mail teaches 9th-grade shelter English and has been teaching ENL for 6 years.
“English as a new language and its program to help students who aren’t learning in an English speaking school for the first time,” Mail said.
She was drawn to teaching ENL after teaching ENL in Jakarta, Indonesia.
She has started teaching a sheltered English class this year.
“I’m also teaching one of the sheltered English classes, which is fun,” Mail said. “I think our program is much better than it used to be.”
Khalid Amadou, who is in the ENL program, believes the program is beneficial and fun.
“The class was cool because it was very diverse, and the teacher made the class super fun,” Amadou said.
To Amadou, the difficult part about learning English was the pronunciation and spelling of words.
Anna Kaplan also taught ENL classes, which she thought was a great and exciting program.
“I love working with students that maybe come from different cultures and backgrounds,” Kaplan said.
Some ENL students need help connecting to the school through extracurriculars and outside events. They have had students who want to do sports but don’t know how to sign up.
“I noticed sometimes that being connected to the school through extracurriculars is more challenging for students,” Mail said.
However difficult it may be to integrate into the school, ENL students don’t shy away from the challenge.
“I think that some of our ENL students are the hardest working students in our building,” Mail said.
The ENL program helps students from other countries and cultures connect with our school. The program has improved the school’s inclusivity and made it a more inclusive school.
