Bilingual in America

BIA hosts Suzanne Lasser and Yarina Sencion had the privilege of speaking with native-born New Yorker Luana Graves Sellars who lives on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, one of the most culturally rich and historic areas of the South. A passion for her Gullah Geechee roots has led her to become a preservationist and cultural influencer through her writing that is focused on educating others, as well as documenting Gullah culture, its history, and its people.  In 2021, Luana started her own company, Sankofa Communications, which expanded into visual media where she also writes, directs, and produces cultural videos and documentaries. The founder of the nonprofits, Lowcountry Gullah, and the Lowcountry Gullah Foundation, Luana is also a keynote speaker and community activist who is doing her part to sustain and preserve Gullah Geechee culture for our future generations.

Dual Language programs are enrichment programs; they are richly instructional settings for students and, as we learn today, for teaching partners as well. They are learning spaces where students and teachers share, inspire, and feel creative.  Johaira Buxo was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The oldest of six children, she immigrated to the United States when she was only 8 years old.  Growing up her dad would always say that education was everything because it is the one thing no one can take from you. She grew up with the understanding that no matter where you come from or your familial status, you can achieve greatness.  Dr. Vilma Luz Cabán is a Dual Language educator, humanitarian researcher, and advocate for women and children. Vilma's main passion has been serving 29 years as a public school educator. This work has ignited personal inquiries related to writing and educational research on topics that directly impact the lives of women and young people. Together they work to ensure their children are bilingual, bi-literate, and bicultural. Their work is centered around putting students first and making sure they can always show their personal best. Please listen in...

Our regular listeners know that BiLingual in America the podcast is a space where we celebrate the strength, beauty, and joy of being bilingual in America, however, there is also the flip side to that that many times comes up during conversations with our guests.  Guests have shared about raw and real struggles and instances where they have come face to face with bigotry. America is the land of opportunity but it can't be denied that it has, throughout history, mistreated various groups such as Native Americans, African-Americans, and Asian Americans. Some people arrive in the US and feel the pressure to become more American while in the recent past, others have been forced to do so through the Indian Assimilation Act.  On today's episode of Bilingual in America, Yarina and I speak with Haley Laughter of Gallup, New Mexico. Haley is a member of the Navajo Nation and through her yoga practices works to heal generational trauma within the Indigenous community. Let's listen in to hear about why she views herself as an initiator of bringing balance into one's life. 

Career development opportunities should be a natural part of an educator's professional life. Professional learning is most effective when educators have the option to personalize the experience and communicate meaningfully with other educators who share their focus.  Excel Leadership Academy is pioneering the way in creating unique opportunities for educators working with young language learners, to do just that through their Micro-credentials program. At its core, professional learning is the key component to improving educator practice and providing new perspectives on an ever-changing profession. Co-host Suzanne Lasser digs into the matter. Let's listen in...

If you have listened to any of our podcast episodes then you already know that Yarina and I recognize and promote bilingualism and multilingualism as an asset. Our passion is not only something that we feel; the value of bilingualism and multilingualism has been proven by so many revered academics.  In today’s episode, we speak with New York State Associate Commissioner for the Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages, Elisa Alvarez, and Alicia Baez Barinas, Associate in Bilingual Education. Elisa and Alicia are two of the women leading the charge with NYSED with regard to Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education (CR-S) and why New York State must provide an education that honors our English Language Learners and Multilingual Language Learners. 

The landscape of schools today is increasingly multilingual. To achieve equity in culturally and linguistically diverse schools we need not just new strategies but new roles for both teachers and students. We need to recognize what meaningful engagement with rigorous content learning, actually involves and we need to understand that effective language interactions are at the heart of that engagement and learning. How then, can we create opportunities for students to use all the tools in their toolbox, including home languages, to engage meaningfully with content and each other? Our guests today, Yolanda Rodriguez and Andrea Honigsfeld, are leaders with wide visions for creating powerful equitable platforms.  And, we close this segment with a very special treat! Internationally acclaimed musician Jimmy Bosch offers a wonderful musical rendering of our program hashtag. You won't want to miss it!

As we welcome 2022, Yarina and I decided to focus on NYSs Blueprint for the ELL/MLL Success.  If you aren't familiar with the document and you are in the field of education be sure to visit NYSEDs webpage to check it out!  Yarina and I collaborated on today's interview with Hulda Yau, a 6th-grade Integrated classroom teacher in the Rochester City School District. In 2014, Hulda became a core member of the CUNY NYS initiative on Emergent Bilinguals (NYSIEB) and has worked as a lead teacher in a research study that examines the impact of translanguaging strategies on a variety of student outcomes.  Translanguaging is not new to our listeners and has been featured on BIA. Today's episode is geared more towards those in the field of education but really what Hulda shares is applicable to those who are bilingual or who are allies of the bilingual and multilingual community.  Listen with an open heart and mind as Hulda shares about the intention, purpose, structure, and liberation associated with translanguaging.

As we near the end of the year 2021 we take a moment to celebrate the multicultural influences of language and family in music and art. We speak with two arts educators about their roles as teachers and their impact and desire to create a legacy of love and identity. Listen in...

Hi ... I'm Suzanne Lasser... If you're considering adoption an important issue you'll face is whether you're interested in adopting a child whose race, ethnic background or culture is different than yours. Many prospective adoptive parents are open to creating a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural family. Heather Stangallini shares her testimony with Yarina Sencion, about family, commitment, trauma, and love on the cross-cultural adoption path. Listen in...

Today's episode takes us beyond our US borders and overseas to Europe where we hear from Natalia Simons, of Spanish and British ancestry, and her experiences growing up speaking Spanish in England.  We also talk with Juan Jose Almagro of Madrid Spain who has been an English as a Foreign Language teacher for 25 years. He talks about language teaching and learning, and his own creative journey as a poet and author in English and Spanish. They speak of the challenges and successes they have both faced within the publishing world. English and Spanish are the bridges that connect our two geographically-dispersed guests - who have never met!