educator Archives - The Baytown Project https://thebaytownproject.com/tag/educator/ Real people. Real stories. Sun, 24 Jun 2018 21:14:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://thebaytownproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/cropped-BP-Logo-32x32.png educator Archives - The Baytown Project https://thebaytownproject.com/tag/educator/ 32 32 142953554 Bilingual student lived in two different worlds https://thebaytownproject.com/2018/02/27/bilingual-student/ https://thebaytownproject.com/2018/02/27/bilingual-student/#respond Tue, 27 Feb 2018 20:50:52 +0000 http://thebaytownproject.com/?p=456 “I attended elementary schools that had a bilingual program up until fourth grade. That’s when I transitioned to all English at San Jacinto Elementary. I remember it being a shock. I went from doing very well in class and being very verbal to going into … Continue readingBilingual student lived in two different worlds

The post Bilingual student lived in two different worlds appeared first on The Baytown Project.

]]> Ahime Ornelas stands in front of artwork at her school
Ahime Ornelas has been a leader in Goose Creek CISD as a teacher, peer facilitator, family involvement coordinator, bilingual education specialist, and now assistant principal at James Bowie Elementary.

“I attended elementary schools that had a bilingual program up until fourth grade. That’s when I transitioned to all English at San Jacinto Elementary. I remember it being a shock. I went from doing very well in class and being very verbal to going into a classroom where I felt intimidated. I felt that everybody was smarter than me because I didn’t speak as fluently as they did. So I just got quiet.

“I didn’t feel like I could compete academically. Even though I still felt I was smart, I had lost confidence. I stayed on par as far as my assessments. I would pass everything. I just didn’t blossom. I wasn’t a leader.

“Our family was very involved in church at that time. It was a great outlet for socialization and getting our family rooted to this community. And it turned out to be great for literacy because we read the Bible a lot. We sang a lot of songs. My literacy was just skyrocketing because I was doing it in Spanish. I started feeling that I was truly bilingual. At school I did English and at church I did Spanish. I was 14 years old, and I was leading groups of adults in worship and praise. I would lead services with 200 people.

“It wasn’t a language thing. It was a confidence thing. I wasn’t afraid of English anymore. I just wasn’t comfortable leading at school because I still felt different than most of the other students. I was in band and Honor Society. But I still felt like it was two different atmospheres, two different worlds. I just kept them compartmentalized. Honestly, it wasn’t until college that I truly felt my confidence at school begin to blossom.”

— Ahime Ornelas

Related:

The post Bilingual student lived in two different worlds appeared first on The Baytown Project.

]]> https://thebaytownproject.com/2018/02/27/bilingual-student/feed/ 0 456