OEA Grow

Season 11: Culture of Care Host Introduction

The Oregon Education Association welcomes you to Season 11 of the OEA Grow podcast series in which we will discuss the growing problem of trauma in our schools. Our host this season is Dr. Amy Yillik from Culture of Care, a program in central Oregon that offers coaching and consultation for schools in trauma responses.
In this season’s episodes, Amy draws on her more than twenty years’ experience as a school counselor, psychologist, and counselor educator, as well as her position as professor in the School Counseling Master’s Program at the University of Southern California. Amy will speak with educators around the state this season who have developed trauma-sensitive, restorative, and equitable practices to take care of our students, ourselves, and each other. 

Supporting Newly Arrived Students in Community College

In this last episode of Season 10, our host Sakura Hamada expands the discussion of newly arrived students to include the community college level. Her guest is Kathryn Long from Clackamas Community College, who explains that adult newly arrived college students may not be actually newly arrived in this country because of registration timelines. They often differ from K-12 students, too, because of financial and work-related challenges. Educators should be aware of the students’ wide variety of backgrounds, some with previously earned degrees from other countries and others lacking any higher education experience.
Even though she is a teacher of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), Kathryn teaches much more than English language skills, also helping her students to navigate American conversation, including cultural norms surrounding questions, compliments, and requests. She suggests several ways to converse with adults from other cultures with respect and understanding. 
 
Resources
Immigrant Students in Oregon Higher Education 
ESOL at Clackamas Community College
Kathryn suggests OER (Open Educational Resources) texts to reduce financial hardships on students. Also see the Open Textbook Library.OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Supporting Newcomers Experiencing Trauma

Host Sakura Hamada focuses this week on trauma experienced by newly arrived students and how educators can create safe spaces for them. Her guest is Franky Collins, who is experienced in working with both elementary and middle-school newcomers. She explains that these students can often come from traumatic backgrounds and family situations, so educators must be prepared with individualized lessons, spaces to retreat for de-stressing, and a variety of modalities for learning.  She emphasizes the importance of collaborating with colleagues and reaching out to families to focus on what’s best for each student. 
As a bonus, Franky divulges her secret of using music and dancing, usually at the beginning of each day, to create an atmosphere of casual community building and socio-emotional learning. Of course, the students contribute to the class’s playlist, often from their homelands, and Franky shares with us the musicians from around the world who are currently popular with her students. She adds that she finds it useful to read migration literature to understand her students more thoroughly. Her goals are three-fold: that her students are unafraid to ask for help, that they have organizational skills for success, and that they get to know themselves and their friends. 
 
Resources - 
Trauma Informed Education
Franky Collins recommends this memoir for educators of newcomer students - Javier Zamora. Solito. Hogarth, 2022.  
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

The Challenges of Language Learning

In this episode host Sakura Hamada focuses on the challenges of language learning for newcomer students with her guest, Gaby Aguilar-Lopez, from Twality Middle School in the Tigard-Tualatin District, who teaches ELD (English Language Development) and AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination). The two educators discuss how crucial language is as a connector for students, and how difficult it can be for newcomers to master the academic and grammatical use of language, in addition to the more basic intercommunication skills (BICS). 
This episode offers practical suggestions about how to welcome our newly arrived students and encourage their language acquisition, and also their socio-emotional learning. These newly arrived students should be praised for their achievements and the knowledge they already possess, instead of being reminded of any limitations. 
 
Resources
Newcomer Students’ English Language Development
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)  
Newcomer Tool Kit OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

More Ways to Support Newly Arrived Students

This week’s episode offers additional suggestions for supporting newcomer students with Sakura’s guest, Beyoung Yu from the Portland Public Schools. As an English Language Development (ELD) educator, Beyoung builds a base for the English language with his students, but he sees his job in a broader context as well. He offers suggestions about how to connect with students’ cultural identities and first languages to make them feel seen and heard instead of being the “other.” Beyoung explains how he also reaches out to students’ families to form strong communication channels.
 
Beyoung’s suggestions include working to create a more inclusive curriculum for all students. He encourages educators to grow their own curriculum by using other teachers as resources, applying for grants, and building a relevant collection in the school library. This expanded curriculum counteracts the limitations of standardized testing and assessment that focuses on only one aspect of a student’s achievements. The goal is to be mindful of students’ identities and their backgrounds. 
 
Resources
ELD Department Main Page, Portland Public Schools
 
K-5 English Language Development, Portland Public Schools 
 
NEA Foundation Grants and Fellowships
 
Exploring Young Immigrant Stories  
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Portland Association of Teachers Strike (Bonus Episode)

In this very special bonus episode, we hear from a variety of educators from the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) on the conditions that led to the historic vote to authorize a strike. With nearly 99 percent of their members voting to authorize a strike, PAT educators explain why they are on the precipice of their first strike since the formation of PAT as a union in 1966.
Portland educators and students have been asked to do more with less and are impacted by large class sizes and caseloads, a lack of special education resources and support, buildings in need of repair and renovation, and historical defunding issues. Learn about Bargaining for the Common Good and how Portland educators demanding, “The time is now!” will increase expectations across the state of Oregon for safe, sustainable, and equitable schools for our students.
 
https://www.pdxteachers.org/
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Supporting New Comers in Middle School

Host Sakura Hamada turns our attention this week to ways in which educators can support newly arrived students in middle school. Her guest is Rena Jan, a seventh-grade counselor for  the Beaverton School District, who acknowledges that middle school is often a bewildering time of change and transition, even for students without language or cultural challenges.
Rena suggests that extra care be taken to ensure that the newly arrived students feel supported and gain a sense of belonging. To that end, she spends a great deal of time with new students, especially on their first day, to get to know them as individuals. She checks in with them throughout that first day to be sure that they can navigate the lunch line, the changing of classes, and even the school buses at the end of the day. 
Rena’s concern extends to the parents who might have difficulty communicating with the school through the various apps that can be confusing for anyone. Outreach to parents is crucial, she believes. Rena feels that her role as counselor is to help with any obstacle that stands in the way of students’ learning and becoming part of the school community. 
 
Resources
Oregon’s Migrant Education Program
Immigration and Racial Equity for Immigrant and International Students 
Multilingual and Migrant Education  
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Supporting Newly Arrived Elementary Students

Sakura’s guest this week is Jocelin Morales, a school counselor with the Beaverton School District, who shares ways in which she supports newly arrived students and their families in her school. Drawing on her own experience as the child of Mexican immigrants, Jocelin is sensitive to students’ needs as they find themselves in a new and different environment. She works to create a safe space for them in the school, collaborating with interpreters and classroom teachers and even doing her own research into each new student’s culture. 
She suggests that educators reach out also to families, in ways that are comfortable for them, and locate resources in the community that they might need. The overall goal, Jocelin explains, is to build trust with the students and their families and welcome them into the school community.  
Resources - 
Supporting Immigrant Families and Students
 
Educator Training for Supporting Newly Arrived Students
 
NEA Issue Explainer: Immigration   
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

AVID & High School (Supporting Newly Arrived Students)

Welcome back to Season 10 of the OEA Grow podcast, in which our host Sakura Hamada explores how we as educators can support newly arrived students. In this first episode of the season, Sakura speaks with Ethelyn Tumalad from Clackamas High School about her work with the AVID program (Advancement Via Individual Determination).
This program supports students throughout all four years of high school to prepare them for college as first-generation students. Ethelyn tells us that the goal is twofold - to help students discover their authentic selves and feel confident that they belong. Sakura and Ethelyn discuss from personal experience how terrifying the classroom can be for newly arrived students.
They explain how educators in any classroom can support students by really listening to each student and celebrating accomplishments rather than focusing on deficits. This week’s episode will suggest ways to incorporate student-centered learning to help students respect one another and see the strengths in each other’s differences. 
 
Resources - 
OEA Member Spotlight on Ethelyn Tumalad
Ethelyn Tumalad named Oregon Teacher of the Year, 2022
AVID program
 
Books recommended by Ethelyn -  
Tony DelaRosa. Teaching the Invisible Race: Embodying a Pro-Asian American Lens in Schools. Foreward by Liz Kleinrock. Jossey-Bass, 2023.
 
Lori Desautels. Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline. Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing, 2020. 
 
Christopher Emdin. Ratchetdemic: Reimagining Academic Success. Beacon Press, 2021.
 
Gholdy Muhammad. Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2020. 
Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez. For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts: A Love Letter to Women of Color. Seal Press, 2021. 
 
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
 

Season 10 Host Introduction- Sakura Hamada

Welcome to Season Ten of the OEA Grow Podcast, a member-led production of the Oregon Education Association. This season’s topic is “Supporting Newly Arrived Students,” with an in-depth look at how educators can address the needs of students who have recently come into the school system, a group that includes migrants, refugees, and children of migrant workers.
Our host is Sakura Hamada, school counselor for the Portland Public Schools District and a leader in local and state-wide initiatives for cultural awareness. In the coming weeks, Sakura will speak with educators who work with newly arrived students of all grade levels, from elementary school to community college. Tune in each week to learn how we can support these students and their families.