What's it like to bridge cultures in school?
The growing number of Somali students coming into St. Cloud’s school district has increased the chances for cultural misunderstandings and has broadened the language gap among students and staff.
A group of bilingual problem solvers has spent the last several years trying to close those gaps and help students new to the country integrate into the educational system and boost their academic achievement.
The job title for them is "bilingual communication support specialist," an offshoot of what previously was known as cultural navigators. They help students with translation, mentoring and tutoring and are a connection between school and home, providing a line of communication between teachers and parents. They also help educate students about cultures unfamiliar to them.
"In a nutshell, it's created to be a link between home and school and be a support for students and staff and families and community to bridge the gap we have around first, language, and second, culture," said Sebastian Witherspoon, director of equity services for the school district.
They had 18 cultural navigators before that program was folded down and the 13 BCSSs were hired. Kennedy Community School, Westwood Elementary School and Clearview Elementary School are the only schools that don't have at least one BCSS.
Ahmed Abdi is a BCSS at Tech High School, working primarily with the 250 East African students who attend school there. He grew up in Kenya, where he was a teacher, before coming to St. Cloud in 2008.
Abdi gets emails daily from teachers about students' progress in class, and he makes calls to families if issues arise around discipline, academics or conflict resolution. He also helps administrators, teachers and students understand Somali culture and helps Somali students understand American culture.
He translates at parent-teacher conferences when needed and translates some educational materials. Although he mainly works with Somali students, he also helps other non-English speaking students and works with special education students.
American culture can seem strange to some Somali students, and Abdi tries to explain.
"Like maybe the name of a teacher may mean something in Somali language and the kid is shying away to say that name," he said. "That is one of the things I can explain."
Another example is extending an index finger and motioning for someone to "come here." In Somali culture that is an insult that means the person making the motion is the boss over the person they are summoning.
And the Somali sign for asking someone to "come here" is to hold the hand up and open and close all four fingers, similar to waving goodbye.
It's those simple movements that can cause major problems if they are misunderstood.
"Learning those things from each can make for a more close connection," Abdi said. "In St. Cloud we need to learn from each other."
Abigail Fernstrom is the only Spanish BCSS in the district. She works at Discovery Community Elementary School in Waite Park.
Her days are similar to Abdi's, with many phone calls and emails about students' progress. She translates at conferences, when a student needs to see the nurse and when families need to access services such as free and reduced lunch.
She sees far less conflict and fights than Abdi does at Tech.
"It's a whole different ballgame because they are little. I'm not saying that there is not an issue about race here, because we have had issues," she said. "But it's easier and more manageable because they're little and you can teach them our core values of 'respect yourself and respect others.' "
An important goal of the BCSS program is to engage parents and get them involved in their children's education, Witherspoon said. That is increasingly crucial to academic achievement, he said, and the BCSS program heightens that connection.
"They're invaluable to our school system," he said.
And Abdi uses his own story to motivate students. Growing up in Kenya, he never had school lunch or a bus ride to school. He had to get up at 5 a.m. and walk 2-3 m