Vol. 9, Issue 4, May 2009


Spotlight


 

2009 ESOL Teacher of the Year

Acceptance Speech Given by Tamara Kirson
March 18, 2009

I imagine that many of us here this evening recall the adventures of Dick and Jane, those two young characters who always seemed to be running!  We read about Dick and Jane and their antics in a small hard-bound book, now the quintessential icon of how we learned.

Today, the names in that book might well be different.  Alfredo.  Tomoko. Sonia.  Idrissa.  Certainly, these would be among the names of the students we welcome and work with in our ESOL programs.  These are, in fact, the names of my former students who contributed well-written and heartfelt pieces to my nomination for this honor.  I thank them with my heart.  I turn to Maggie Gilliam, my colleague and friend, who carved out time in her busy life to write an extraordinary nomination for me, an astounding surprise and a touching honor.  Thank you, my dear Maggie.  I am grateful to the City University of New York for supporting strong ESOL programs across the region and to the program where I hang my hat and coat, the City College of New York, and to my caring colleagues and staff, many of whom are here this evening with me.  I welcome with open arms all of my students who are here tonight.  Please raise your hands.

I, of course, would not be here were it not for The New York Times, our hometown newspaper, yet also an internationally recognized and respected newspaper, a powerful brand in the world of journalism, a communications vehicle which applauds and promotes the value of ESOL instruction.

Newspapers - be they delivered to our doors or to our Personal Digital Assistants - exert a vital role in our lives through the transmission of information.  That is why we teach, to convey information to our students and to help them express their knowledge in response to the world around them.  There is nothing more compelling than having a community of learners, readers and critical thinkers who care about each other and the world in which they live.  Newspapers, whether hard copy or online, are potent teaching tools for thinking, reading and writing.

The future of newspapers is vital to those of us who are readers and lovers of the word, those of us who wish to engender that same love in our students.  One powerful innovation has been the ease of access to newspapers on the Internet.  The Times has an imposing presence in that medium.  It is there that Mark Bittman taught my husband how to make broiled cod with sesame-miso sauce.  Yes, important and delicious!  But more seriously, it is in The New York Times that my students read Jane Brody’s column on health and nutrition during an entire semester.  It was through their reading of her column and other resources, their discussion of the issues, their writing of anecdotes and poetry, and their extraordinary collaboration that their own health literacy Web site came to life for others to read.  It is there that the student authors could introduce themselves to the Internet world with their bios and photos.  If you wish to see the Web site, please tell me your email address, and I’ll send you the URL with pleasure.

Our ESOL students merit these introductions and more.  They deserve to be named and become living breathing personas in front of all of us.  They display an astounding dedication and commitment to learning English despite the tentacles which reach out to hold them in one place, the demands of time and energy and money.  Our students finish the ESOL program and achieve promotions in their workplaces, seek higher education, and become professionals in their chosen fields.  Two of my former students are working in medical environments and hope to be certified soon as nurses.  Another student is studying for her master’s degree in social work and graduates this May.  Another is enrolled this fall in the engineering program at City College.  Yet another has been accepted into the Ph.D. program at CUNY’s Graduate Center.  Finally, one of my students is studying music, and she is the only one in the classes for whom English is not the first language.  These are just a sampling.  It is through receptions like this one tonight that we can shape a fuller awareness and appreciation of our ESOL adult learners, their needs, their desires and their successes.

It is through our ESOL programs that we contribute to the richness of our country.  Any permutation of the word “rich” may seem an odd word in this economy, yet it is through the richness of diversity that we can discover resources and solutions for the vexing questions we must answer to make our country whole and healthy again.  We must collaborate to create a growing realization of the need for constant and increased funding for ESOL programs in our region and across the country.  

I have one immediate suggestion.  For those of us who teach and cherish ESOL, think broadly about whom in your communities can be instrumental in promoting our programs.  Invite them to your classrooms.  We must turn names into people.  Just as you’ll hear New York Times readers inquiring, “Did you read that article in the Times?” we need to hear people discussing ESOL programs, “Do you know about the success of the ESOL program at Westchester Community College, at Hostos Community College, at Catholic Charities and HANAC, at the University Settlement Society of New York and at City College among many others?”  I would love to start the network today. I would be delighted and honored to invite everyone at this august occasion to visit my classroom and meet my adult learners.  In fact, if you’d like, come be a student for the day!