Features

Never did Vera Yeremeyeva imagine she’d go from cooking in her kitchen to speaking at a national conference.  But she did.

Ten years ago, Yeremeyeva was just an immigrant from Ukraine.  Just an expecting mother of six.  Just a housewife.

“I was helping my children to grow up by cooking for them and hugging them and encouraging them,” she said.  “That’s all I could do.”

But then she was recruited for the Edmonds School District’s Natural Leaders program at College Place Elementary, and realized what more she could do to help not only her family but also other multicultural families.

Natural Leaders, sponsored by the Washington Alliance for Better Schools, is a Readiness to Learn program that helps connect non-English speaking families with their schools to boost their students’ success.

The RTL program aims to diminish barriers to learning through school, family and community partnerships.

Natural leaders are multicultural recruits who work within their communities to increase family involvement in education.

“If we get a family new to our school that only speaks a certain language, we can refer that family to our natural leaders, and they will call them or meet with them and let them know what is available,” said Gail Young, family resource advocate for College Place.

“They’re kind of a bridge for us at our school; doing outreach to our non-English speaking families.”

The district’s NL program got its start at College Place in 2003. Its 12 leaders help Spanish, Chinese, Ukrainian, Russian and Bosnian families connect with the school.

Other Edmonds schools with NL programs include Chase Lake and Cedar Valley elementaries.

Many schools in the district have difficulty communicating with non-English speaking families, so the leaders serve as a much-needed link, Young said.

“Natural leaders have been instrumental in starting dialog with parents in their communities about what education in the United States looks like, how it compares to their country, and the importance of their engagement in student success,” said Maria Garcia, a natural leader for College Place.

Studies show that students thrive when schools, families and communities partner to support their success, Young said. 

And Natural Leaders helps strengthen those partnerships through training and networking, she said.

The leaders team up with family advocates, family support centers and school staff to build relationships with non-English speaking families, and listen to and implement families’ ideas on how to help their children be successful in school, according to the district’s Web site.

Natural leaders are able to speak their language, understand their culture and past experiences, and welcome them to their school communities.

“One of the [leaders] was saying that in her country, when their child would go to school, the parents weren’t supposed to go to school, they were never to talk to the teacher, they weren’t supposed to have anything to do with the school,” Young said.  “There was a whole cultural thing to not be involved in their child’s education.”

The leaders work to close cultural and achievement gaps, Yeremeyeva said.

“So many families come to this country not knowing English as a first language and not knowing the culture or the education system in America, so they don’t have many opportunities to be involved in their children’s lives,” she said.  “The program gives parents a crucial opportunity to be involved.”

Last year, Natural Leaders held two Latino Nights at College Place to help open up lines of communication between the school and Spanish-speaking families.

“We wanted to bring them into school, make them feel comfortable, and say [to them] ‘We want you here, we really want your children to be successful, and there are some things you can do to [help] make that happen,’” Young said.

The school’s Natural Leaders are hosting an all-school Math and Reading Night on March 5 to give families ideas on how to help their children in math and reading at home.  Natural leaders and Spanish interpreters were hired for the night.

Other program plans at College Place include increasing leaders’ involvement in the school PTA, starting a coffee klatch for non-English speaking families, and translating the school Web site into several different languages.

Two leaders at the school are currently training in the Family Support Studies program at Edmonds Community College to earn a certificate in family advocacy.  With their certificate, they can help train others to be natural leaders.

Yeremeyeva, with other leaders from College Place, has given numerous presentations on Natural Leaders locally, and at state and national conferences.

To learn about becoming a natural leader for Edmonds schools, contact Becky Tilbury at 425-431-7350 or tilburyb@edmonds.wednet.edu.