SESEC and OneAmerica are proud to announce the Home Language Campaign Mini-grant projects! We are so excited to watch these innovative proposals unfold and engage various communities over the coming months. Here are short summaries of the four organizations and the projects that they are undertaking:
Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC)
Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC) will promote parents/caregivers’ awareness in multiculturalism and bilingualism through a parent workshop of “Knowledge of More Than One Language Helps Build the Child’s Brain” and a parent-teen conversation of “How Multilingualism Shapes a Child’s Identity into Adulthood and Serves to Fix or Change their Social Relations and Education Paths”. In addition, CISC disseminates informational materials through the existing relationships CISC has with this community as well as its own programs; all staff members working in various CISC programs such as Family Support Information & Assistance, Parent-Child Home Program, Bilingual Kaleidoscope Play & Learn Groups, and others to disseminate information to immigrant families regarding Home Language Campaign.
G.O.O.D Girls (Girls Out here Opening Doors)
GOOD Girls (Girls out here Opening Doors), a group of 7-13 year old girls from refugee & immigrant households in the Rainier Vista community, will be hosting a celebratory feast accompanied by the age old tradition of storytelling. The event will provide a space for families, educators & children to celebrate their ancestry together while understanding the value of staying connected to their home language. We wish to honor the traditional act of passing knowledge from one generation to the next. The GOOD Girls and their mentors also hope participants will not only walk away with a deep appreciation for their own traditions, but also an appreciation for the rich cultures present within our community.
Maple Elementary School
Maple Elementary School, in partnership with their PTSA, will be hosting an evening parent education event, as well as establishing a Multi Lingual Lending Library. By providing childcare and dinner while engaging with parents on the issue of sustaining and promoting home language use with their children in order to increase bilingualism and biliteracy for our population, Maple hopes to increase parent participation in their evening events. They are also hoping to establish their school as a resource by providing books and information to parents so they can continue to support their students in learning and growing to become proficient with two or more languages. They will purchase and provide dual language and foreign language picture books for parents to read to their children at home.
Seattle World School
Students will engage parents by creating a multilingual cultural cookbook that embraces traditions and stories in their home language. Through this project, students will have the opportunity for intergenerational exchange that highlights the benefit of multiple language mastery. A one-time celebration event will take place at the end of December for students and their families to gather with staff and community members. This will provide the opportunity to talk about their experience with the project and the importance of home language promotion, multilingualism benefits, and storytelling.
For more information, please contact:
Mindy Huang | [email protected] | Chelsea Whealdon| [email protected]
