ELD Newsletter

Greetings from the English Language Department! Welcome back! We hope you all had a wonderful summer and are enjoying getting to know your new students! Our hope is to continue our ELD newsletter this year to provide you with some important information about the backgrounds and cultures of our families, as well as strategies to help support your English language learners.

With much respect,

Erica Sinclair (NES and District Coordinator) esinclair@northernyork.org

Rebecca Helm (NMS, NHS, NES) rhelm@northernyork.org

We shared information last year about Nepal but as it continues to be where are largest group of ELD families are from we thought it would be helpful to share again. Most of our Nepali families are actually Nepali Bhutanese (meaning they were citizens of Bhutan but their families had migrated to Bhutan from Nepal, some of them hundreds of years before). In the 1980s, the King of Bhutan wanted to “ethnically purify” the country by removing Nepali Bhutanese citizens living in the south. He worried about their influence on the country, being predominately Hindu. He wanted Bhutan to be a “Buddhist-only nation, religion, language, and culture”. In the 1990s after much violence and unrest, 20% of Bhutan’s country became refugees. By 2007, there were more than 108,000 Nepali Bhutanese refugees. The refugee camps had very few resources- poor sanitation, water supplies, food supplies, and healthcare. In 2006, the United States offered to resettle 60,000 Nepali Bhutanese refugees. By 2017, the United States has resettled over 92,000 Nepali Bhutanese refugees, 85% of the displaced refugees.

As far as we know, all of our Nepali-speaking students’ families are Nepali Bhutanese. Given all that many of these families have likely been through, we knew this information was incredibly important to share with teachers. Please read the attached article to learn more about the history of the Nepali Bhutanese people. We believe sharing information such as this will help Northern better support our families and students.

Please note: the attached article will not open on your school computer, we apologize! This information was obtained from the Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio.

https://www.bccoh.org/journey3.html

To learn more about Nepali culture and traditions click here:

https://northernyork-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/r/personal/sisolino_northernyork_org/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc=%7B18d8a61a-28aa-4ff1-bf5e-ab43b11af6f4%7D&action=edit&wdPreviousSession=6de4ca77-47e9-406c-8815-b27d1c19953e&CID=68de1e9a-c0bb-b249-94cb-c3bbb1197724

Hispanic Heritage month is September 15- October 15. National Hispanic Heritage month honors the cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latino Americans. Check out Read Works to celebrate by learning about Hispanic figures, history and culture with K-12 passages.

https://www.readworks.org/?campaignId=hispanicheritage090522&source=email&utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Honoring+Hispanic+Heritage&utm_campaign=Hispanic+Heritage+Month+Passages+9+14+23&vgo_ee=5y1jmblDqkz4YPVsbHtWO48h2Jb68ZjppVKLSap0eQiFH4F3ye46%2Fj3V%3A0q3pc5XNGJcBVqSY7UoSBK0eFf7mD94K