PARENTS AND KIDS HAVE A BALL AT ENL NIGHT

The two teachers at Millbrook Central School District’s English as a New Language program are very new to the district and had to think on their feet when coming up for a fun event for students and their parents. It turned out soccer was the answer. 

During ENL Night on May 11 at Millbrook Middle School, students participated in a friendly game of soccer with their parents, followed by a brief overview of the program and its requirements.

Every student got a trophy for playing and a pizza dinner afterwards. ENL teachers Ana Nyarady, Jennifer Mohammed and Heather Smith Douglass went over everything from the Summer Scholars program to the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test, evaluating a student’s ability to speak, listen, read and write in English. Nyarady, a native of Spain, translated everything into Spanish for families.  

When Nyarady suggested holding a soccer game to students, they were eager to participate, as many in the Latino community are soccer fans. The program currently has 26 students enrolled from all grades. 

“They were like, ‘Of course, we’re going to beat our parents, it’s going to be great,’” Nyarady said. “It’s amazing the community these parents form among themselves and then us.”

Information about any curriculum is typically presented in September and a fun community event is held in May, but due to ENL being a new program, Mohammed and Nyarady decided to combine the two into one event. 

“We kind of meshed it all together,” Nyarady explained. “The plan next year is to have two ENL nights.”

Both Mohammed and Nyarady agree that students learning English at a young age is more beneficial as it gets harder the older a student gets. Nyarady knows from experience – she learned English when she moved to America in seventh grade. 

“The combination of academics and language makes the acquisition of language a lot harder,” Nyarady said. “A lot of students come to us early on, so it’s nice to have them at that age to try to get them to progress faster.”

Mohammed and Nyarady are advocates for ENL families if they need something from the district and are available for questions.

“We are there for them and we would love to be part of their family,” Mohammed said. “We wanted to introduce the community to create that sense of a family.” 

First grader Christopher Vivar Santos had a blast and was thrilled to receive his trophy.

"That was so much fun,” Vivar Santos said. “I am going to put my trophy in my room.” 

Parent Yesenia Santos-Vasquez thanked the teachers for making the night possible. 

“The kids had a blast and I know the parents enjoyed it as well,” Santos-Vasquez said.