Starting during the 2016-2017 school year, Madison created a new partnership between ESOL students and Spanish Honor Society students which focuses on helping ESOL students with their English skills in the classroom. They typically meet once or twice a week during Warhawk Time, which is a class comprised of students from both groups, and work together on whatever the ESOL students need help with. There are currently three Warhawk Time rooms that facilitate this program.

“For example, the Spanish Honor Society has been reviewing Algebra with them so they can pass the SOL and have a chance at getting a diploma,” said Spanish teacher Maria Sanchez, one of the teachers involved in the program. In the past, ESOL students have had trouble passing their math SOL’s since the word problems are presented in English. If they fail the SOL, they have to wait until the following January to take it again, and by that time a majority of the content they have learned is forgotten. The Honor Society students have learned certain math terms in Spanish to help those in ESOL.

“Right now we’re helping them with math, because a lot of them struggle with it. It’s hard for them to understand math when it’s taught in English so we try to explain it in Spanish,” said Aaron Friedman (’18), a member of Spanish Honor Society.

Madison is the only school in the Fairfax County to try a project like this. Currently there are between 75 and 100 students involved, and that number will continue to grow. At the moment, Spanish Honor Society students do not get service hours for this program.

“We need these two groups (ESOL and students taking Spanish as a foreign language), which are often very segregated, to integrate,” Sanchez said. “Things like Homecoming Week are completely confusing to them – they come in and suddenly everybody is wearing pajamas and they are like, ‘What’s that about?’ So we partner with them and explain to them what things are coming up, encourage them to come to the football games. We try to alleviate the anxiety of being in a new school in a new country where your English may not be up to par.”  

Working together is beneficial to both groups; the ESOL students are getting help with their English and the Spanish students are improving their fluency and vocabulary through communication.