Jordan-Matthews High School Graduates First Dual; Language/Immersion (DL/I) Cohort
Chatham County, NC is located in rural NC, not the most likely place to start a cutting edge Dual Language/Immersion (DL/I) program, but, with visionary leadership and community support, that is exactly what they did! Siler City Elementary School opened the doors for their first DL/I kindergarten class in 2004-2005. In June of 2018, 13 years later, they proudly graduated 16 bilingual, bicultural and biliterate global citizens! All 16 received the Global Languages Endorsement, NC’s Seal of Biliteracy, and two of the DL/I graduates, Jonathan Aguilar and Olivia Gregson, served as co-valedictorians of the Class of 2018, which had 180 students total.
Cynthia Bredenberg, Spanish Teacher and DL/I Coordinator at Jordan-Matthews High School, shared the following details:
Jonathan and Olivia have both been in DL/I since kindergarten. They are exceptional students who were tied to the decimal point for #1 in their class. Their backgrounds could not be more different. Jonathan is from a Spanish-speaking home and was born in Mexico. Olivia is from an English-speaking home and was born in the USA, yet they both had mothers who put them in the DL/I program. Being from our first cohort, they are close friends and have grown up together. Jonathan is talented musically and had a role in our musicals the past few years. He is a DACA student who has received a full scholarship from Duke University and he wants to study medicine. Olivia is a great runner and participated in cross country all four years. Olivia will be continuing her education this fall with a full scholarship to UNC-Charlotte.
The students decided to speak at graduation together instead of separately and their joint graduation speech (available by clicking the hyperlink) was offered in Spanish and English. They spoke of their journey in the DL/I program and encouraged others to step outside their comfort zone and embrace diversity. Both students transition between English and Spanish with ease, and the audience was able to understand the valedictorian address, regardless of the language that they speak at home. These two students are truly an example of the relationships that are formed between students, teachers and the community within the Dual Language Program at Jordan-Matthews.
Jordan-Matthews continues to grow as a Dual Language school and they currently have over 100 students enrolled in the DL program at the high school. The school and DL program offer multiple content classes in Spanish, partner with UNC Chapel Hill, sponsor community activities to highlight our Hispanic culture, students volunteer in the community while using their Spanish, and the school as a community works to promote the cultural understanding of and use of both Spanish and English in our town, state, country and world.
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LEA Highlight: Chatham County, NC