Stacy

Stacy is a 17-year-old 12th-grader in a medium sized Midwest town.  Born in the Midwest, she and her family moved to Mexico when she was five years old to embark on a new life.   

Stacy and her family lived in different parts of Mexico for two years, such as Zapopan.  Missing some of their family and friends, they came back to the United States for a wedding, in which they stayed for six months.  This allowed them to develop their English speaking skills.  After their stay in the United States, they returned to Mexico and stayed for six years.  Not long after, Stacy and her family returned to the United States to settle in the Midwest.  Stacy really wanted to come back to the United States for high school so that she could attend college in the states.  

When Stacy is not studying, she enjoys spending time with her friends, making scrapbooks, and watching The Big Bang Theory.  With all the traveling to and from Mexico, her family is extremely close.  They plan many gatherings and celebrate each other’s accomplishments.

While in Mexico, although Stacy took English classes, she felt that those classes were entry-level English, which allowed her to maintain her English speaking skills, but did not challenge her proficiency. In addition, she and her family communicated in Spanish; however, Stacy was able to maintain her English proficiency by reading novels such as Shadow Hunters and Hush Hush written in English. Although these books were more expensive, it allowed her to strengthen her vocabulary. Compared to American schools, Stacy enjoyed her spacious public school in Mexico that had outside corridors and a patio commons area for the students. At her former school, the students are taught to become more independent in preparation for their transition to adulthood.

Because of Stacy’s experience relocating from the United States to Mexico, she is able to speak both English and Spanish. She enjoys continuing to learn both languages because it makes her more marketable as she plans on becoming a wildlife biologist.  She believes that this hard work will pay off and will make her a better student. 

Stacy suggests that teachers provide more resources that allow ELLs to view English and Spanish versions of text and compare them. She finds it helpful for teachers to explain concepts in a step-by-step format and even more helpful is having an educator with a little Spanish familiarity.  Stacy receives one period of ESL instruction a day, and all other courses are mainstream courses taught by teachers without any specialized training or certification in working with ELLs.  Her official English language proficiency level is 4.5 (WIDA).