Learning English and Churchill Downs . . . . these two do often get thought of together on Kentucky Derby weekend. In the world of the fastest horses around, mint juleps, and floppy hats, the language development needs of many of the jockeys and their families is often overlooked. As I watch the gorgeous athletic animals on TV this Saturday, a day before the famous Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, I recall a special tour I went on years ago.
As Principal of Starr King Elementary School, I was leading a a team to develop a Family Literacy program at our Long Beach, California school. The National Center for Family Literacy was (and still is) home-based in Louisville, Kentucky. So we started our journey in the South.
Touring Churchill Downs
We saw the paddocks, the museum and of course the track . . . all the things that we see in the media about the iconic race that brings in millions of viewer and probably as much in wagers. What struck me was the need for English language development for both the jockeys and their families. This issue is often unrecognized in the world of fast horses, owners, trainers, millionaires, betters, politicians, and celebrities.
A jockey is as finely tuned instrument of the race and for those racing moments on the track, their language fluency isn’t what they are there for. Many of the jockeys are from Spanish-speaking countries and some have only minimal English skills. Those jockeys who have families with them here, have the added complication of trying to support their children in schools that function entirely in English.
A Real Wager
Here’s the deal: the language and academic needs of Spanish-speaking jockeys and the challenges for their families, are indicative of silent race all of our school children who are English Learners and their families run. They are trying to learn the content and all that is involved in formal scholarship while learning English language and figuring out of the hidden rules of school culture.
A Race to Compete in Schools . . . in a second language
English Learners are tasked with learning like their peers when they don’t have the academic language fluency of those peers. Yet, we as a society expect them to sink or swim because “my grandparents didn’t get any help so why should they?” Today’s English Learners are faced with stringent content standards and a mirage of demands that immigrants from generations past didn’t have to encounter. And expectations of family involvement assume parents of English Learners understand the unspoken rules of public education. They may find it challenging to do the most basic of American family life, things like having a conversation with the teacher at a parent conference or understand the demands of content standards their children are expected to master at the same rate as a native English speaker.
A family literacy program was established years ago at Churchill Downs to help jockeys learn English as a Second Language, learn about the classroom expectations their children face and learn some of the silent rules about interaction with school staff.
Something to Toast
Wouldn’t it be noteworthy if one weekend, all the celebrities and dignitaries, all the news outlets, and the public’s attention were focused on English Learners? How awesome if we matched the same amount of attention and money, the same enthusiasm that goes into purchasing, tending, grooming, breeding, and training the beautiful horses, and poured that into the education of our English Learners. I’d raise a mint julep or a whiskey sour to toast that. Wait. I don’t drink either. Still, that attention to our students’ language needs, though Improbable, would be a Game Winner.
Ordinary Gente 