Mission Consolidated Independent School District has introduced for the first time this summer the ¡Si Se Puede Newcomer Camp! There are 15 middle school students currently enrolled, and it is being hosted at Rafael Cantu Jr. High. To qualify for this camp students must be within their first three years of living in the United States and identified as English Learners.
“We knew that our English Language Learners needed help in transitioning from a life they knew to one at Mission CISD,” states Dr. Carol G. Perez, Superintendent. “We want to reassure them that we care about the values and traditions they carry with them, and this camp helps us relay that message. We also want our students to have academic success and that we would provide them with all the tools necessary to achieve that goal.”
At the camp, students engage in the retelling of their story to value their cultural traditions in a variety of social and emotional routines to become enthusiastic engaged learners. The camp is focused on student assets, momentum, language and culture, goal setting, empowerment, social emotional learning, and educational technology components that will support our newcomer students.
“This is a great opportunity for the students to be introduced to our district but more importantly for us to learn about each of them,” states Angie Martinez, Director of Bilingual, ESL, and Foreign Language. “It allows us to understand what they value the most such as their language, culture, goals, and more. We let them know that they can have the best of both worlds by keeping all their traditions alive and just adding to them, especially with all that our district has to offer.”
The camp was kicked off by their first guest speaker and professional educational consultant, Dr. Edith Treviño, but she is mostly known as “Dr. ET.” She is a dynamic storyteller, collector of stories, author, advocate of language, wife, mother, and passionate educator who lives and teaches in La Frontera. Dr. ET has been working with the students in a variety of activities and recently students were to paint something that has significant meaning in their lives.
For more information on the Newcomer Camp contact Angie Martinez, Bilingual, ESL, and Foreign Languages Director at (956) 323-5554.