Mrs. Tem worked for years as a primary school teacher. She most enjoys teaching the youngest grades, but only speaking Lao, was unable to overcome the language gap between herself and minority group children entering school for the first time.
This year, things are already changing. Teacher training and the new pre-primary program enabled Mrs. Tem to better support multiple languages and levels of learning, so now, she can teach Grade 1, like she’s always wanted.
Mrs. Tem engages children during a lesson.
Proud to be a part of the program, Mrs. Tem feels she’s benefitted in more ways than one. Her own 5-year-old son enrolled in the program, impressing her with how much he was able to learn in just the first few weeks. Even now, he continues to come home brimming with new words and stories from the day. In many ways, they are learning together.
Already Mrs. Tem can see that children are becoming more fluent in the Lao language, and she feels more confident in her ability to effectively communicate with them. This quick improvement stems from not only the efforts of Mrs. Tem, but her diverse support team, including Mrs. Amkhai, a native Hmong speaker, and Mrs. Lee, a community intern.
Mrs. Amkhai introduces a lesson with the day’s two class helpers and support from Mrs. Lee (at right).
Mrs. Amkhai works closely with children who initially struggle with Lao instruction, while Mrs. Lee helps out with classroom materials, working with parents and preparing food for the class.
Like Mrs. Tem, Mrs. Lee’s own son is enrolled in the program. And – as someone who could only ever afford to reach Grade 5 – she is thrilled to give her son the opportunity she never had.