Bilingual liaisons working to bridge gaps for Pickerington Schools students, families

A fledgling program established for the 2021-22 school year is using parents and other members of the community to help bridge language and cultural gaps between Pickerington Schools and its students and families.

According to Pickerington Schools officials, the district has an enrollment of approximately 10,600 students, which makes it the 15th-largest in the state. Of that number, 723 students represent 70 countries besides the U.S. In addition, the district reports English is not the first language for 1,035 students.

With that diversity comes a variety of challenges, including language barriers and confusion related to American culture.

While those issues aren't new, the district this year launched a bilingual family liaisons program. Parents and others in the community who speak Akan, Arabic, French, Ga, Nepali, Tigrinya and Wolof have been hired to work part-time as interpreters and liaisons between the district and families.

"The liaisons help our families with various things," said Elizabeth Curtis, English learner coordinator for the district. "Enrollment and class registrations are a couple of things on their list.

"The district is doing this to have the family liaisons work with staff and parents of EL (English learner) students on behalf of and within the Pickerington Local School District to address language barriers, digital literacy and other concerns that impact student performance and parent engagement. They will also be helpful in guiding parents in communicating with school staff to resolve concerns and to understand the American school system."

According to Curtis, the district has contracted with Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services to hire bilingual family liaisons.

The district will spend $40,000 this school year for full-time Nepali liaison Deepak Dhakal, who will work out of the district office and assist Nepali-speaking students and families.

Curtis said the district pays part-time liaisons $800 a month to provide services to other English-learner students and families.

"Family bilingual liaisons can help build the home/school relationship, and liaisons can also be used without the family to assist staff with items related to a specific language or culture," the district website states.

Other ways they help include: enrollment assistance, advocacy, helping foster good study skills, home visits, encouraging parental involvement in school events and academics, clarifying misunderstandings between cultures and more.

Pickerington Schools has six bilingual family liaisons who cover the Nepali, Spanish, French, Akan, Wolof, Ga, Arabic and Tigrinya languages.

Among them is Wafa Hinnawi, whose son, Abdallah, is a junior at Pickerington High School North and a daughter, Heba, who is an eighth-grader at Lakeview Junior High School.

Hinnawi, who was born in Palestine and speaks Arabic, has lived in Pickerington since 1994. She works with about 15 families in the district and said many have multiple children.

"One of my families has five children," Hinnawi said. "When I first got hired, I got a list of all of my families in the EL program, and I contacted all of them. Since then, they often contact me if they have questions or issues."

Hinnawi said she often takes part in video conferences between teachers and parents to help bridge language barriers and communicate questions and needs. She also helps explain and walk parents through district apps and student portals that help them keep up with their children's schoolwork.

In March, Hinnawi plans to attend parent-teacher conferences to help parents and teachers communicate.

"If I get an email regarding any (district) event, like school being canceled or vaccine clinics, I translate it and shoot an email to all my families to let them know what's going on," she said. "Some families, with this pandemic, don't know the procedures.

"If they are COVID-positive, they will call me and I can call the school nurse. I'm very happy for the families that they have more connections to the schools."

Dhakal, who was born in Bhutan, came to Pickerington in 2020.

He became versed in Nepali after living as a refugee in Nepal for more than 20 years; he noted the Nepali population in Pickerington has been growing in recent years because of the district's reputation for educating students and providing opportunities after graduation.

"A lot of families have a lot of issues with the language or don't understand English, but they think (Pickerington's) schools are great," Dhakal said. "I decided I have to help.

"The teachers need help to communicate with the students and family members. There's a communication gap, a cultural gap, and whatever comes up, I help."

Dhakal said his aim “is to help the schools and students achieve their goals and to help the students be successful in the future."

For now, Curtis said, the bilingual family liaisons program is a one-year project that will be assessed at the end of this school year.

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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Bilingual liaisons working to bridge gaps for Pickerington Schools students, families