Bridgewater-Raritan High School held a Thanksgiving lunch for ESL (English as a Second Language) students on November 21 to help them learn about American traditions.
As part of the event, ESL students ate a traditional Thanksgiving feast during unit lunch, with foods such as turkey, mac and cheese and pie. It was a diverse event with native speakers of Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Telugu, Tagalog and Mandarin Chinese.
This event is an essential part of integrating those who grew up speaking another language with the Bridgewater-Raritan community.
Many students and organizations joined together to make this celebration possible, including the various language honors societies and their student volunteers, as well as Señora Guzman, a Spanish teacher, and Mrs. Palazzi, an ESL teacher.
According to Madame Kostis, the events’ organizer and BRHS teacher of French and ESL, the event has been in the planning for “the past few years.”
Language teachers weighed in to share the importance of this event for ESL students.
The event was “important for multiculturalism” and “helps the language departments, high school and community,” Señora Russos, a Spanish teacher at the high school and first-generation immigrant from Argentina, said. “It’s important to bring other cultures together.”
Other teachers shared their opinions of the celebration.
“It was a wonderful event that brings everybody together, including teachers from all departments,” Signora Bologna, an Italian teacher who comes from Italy, said. “It is representative of the American Thanksgiving spirit and tradition.”
Señora Noble, a Spanish teacher who was born in Peru, explained that ESL people are often not properly acknowledged in their communities.
“Anytime a teacher takes into consideration the need of students to integrate and interact with the community they are doing a great service. It benefits everyone,” Señora Noble said.
ESL students appreciated being invited to the feast. According to Vincent and Dylan, two Chinese sophomores, the event was “great for communicating with others and making friends.”
Srihithi Sreeramoju, an Indian freshman who grew up speaking both Telugu and Hindi, described it as “awesome.”
Everyone who was involved with the event was very satisfied with how it turned out.
Pranita and Anika, two sophomore volunteers from the French Honor Society, expressed that they were, “excited to help others with the event.”
The ESL Thanksgiving Celebration helped to create visibility for ESL students and made them feel a part of the Bridgewater-Raritan community. Similar events have been planned for the future, and will surely continue the trend of multiculturalism and awareness in school and the community.
