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‫ﮨﻤﺎرے ﭘﺮﯾﺰﻧﭩﯿﺸﻦ ﻣﯿﮟ ﺧﻮش آﻣﺪﯾﺪ‬

‫زﺑﺎن رﮐﺎوﭨﯾں اﺻﻠﯽ ﮨﯾں‬

vikwazo vya lugha ni halisi.
语言障碍是真实的.
bariery językowe są prawdziwe.
Resources for
Immigrants
Emma, Shayan, and Michaela
Research
 4

WHY?
➔ Employment
➔ Access to services
➔ Raising children and helping them succeed
in school
➔ Knowing your rights
 At Needham Public Schools... 5

170 students
are new English Language Learners

544 students
do not speak English as a first language

NPS Census Data 2018

 In Needham... 6

4,044 individuals
are foreign born

4,796 individuals
do not speak English as a first language

Needham Census Data 2017

Languages being Tutored in the Needham Community Council’s ESL Program

Needham Community Council

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Interactions with English

Language Learners
★ Want to interact with fluent English speakers to
understand…
○ Dialect
○ Slang
○ Pacing
(Needham Community Council)

★ Town tours (supermarket, town hall, library, etc.)

★ Difficulty getting involved in the Needham community

Community
Contacts
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○ People do not know of the

Needham Needham Community Council (only
Community 167 participants)
Council
○ No centralized system of
attracting new members
○ Learners are either studying for a
language exam (TOEFL) or have
children in the school system
(Needham Community Council)
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○ Nothing set up to welcome

Kate Fitzpatrick immigrants to Needham and help
(Town Manager)
them find resources
◦ Renting so don’t need to register
through the town hall
◦ No pamphlets available to the
public, or aren’t in other
(needhamma.gov)
languages
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○ Little communication with

Linda Lannon parents of ESL students
(ESL Teacher at
NHS)
○ Majority of students speak
Russian

○ Hard for students to assimilate

(Needham Public Schools)
into Needham & HS community
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Original Options
1. 2.
Have a census question that asks
Create flyers/pamphlets in other
immigrant/language status
languages -- hang them around the
library and other places where
English language learners can find
3. them

Send out resources to ALL addresses

in Needham
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Proposed Option
 Our Proposal
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Create Pamphlets written in Russian, Chinese and Spanish and

distribute them around town
- Will reach people who are not accustomed to Needham town
hall/Needham Community Council, either because they are renting or are
moving in with family
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Translators

★ YingYu Chen (Mandarin teacher)

★ Sra. Jennifer Hopkin (Spanish teacher)

★ Mrs. Ektov (Parent to NHS student)

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Determine resources to include in

pamphlet and translate

Action Plan
(Accomplished)
Design pamphlet

Share draft with Town Hall

representative
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Ask local businesses/schools for space to

put pamphlets up

Action Plan
(To be done)
Print and place in approved
locations

Continue supplying and replenishing

pamphlets
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★ Is there an increase in ELL students

1 Year Later...
at NCC?
○ Survey members on why they
joined

★ Is there an increase of people asking

for help from Town Hall?
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Challenges
1. Meeting schedule
2. Motivation
3. Communication
4. Translation
5. Diverging Opinions
 Moving Forward

★ Collaborate with Police Department and Kate Fitzpatrick to

further develop the “Know Your Rights” section

★ REtranslate

★ Find a student or an organization (possibly NCC) to carry on

the project

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Value Added
to the Community
★ Provides resources readily available for those new to
Needham/U.S.

★ Allows for people to interact with other ELLs

★ Have Needham be a welcoming community for immigrants

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What We Learned
★ The limited amount of ELL’s at Needham Community Council
vs. the amount of ELL’s in Needham

★ How difficult it is to find resources

★ The importance of receiving feedback from community

contacts

★ Good communication is key

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Any questions?
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Works Cited

"ESL Tutoring." Needham Community Council,

needhamcommunitycouncil.org/services/esl-tutoring/.

Fitzpatrick, Kate, and Tiffany Zike. Interview. 11 Mar. 2019.

Lannon, Linda. Interview. 2 Apr. 2019.

Lyczmanenko, Olga, and Eilene Kleiman. Interview. 1 Feb. 2019.

"Needham, MA." Data USA, datausa.io/profile/geo/needham-ma/#category_heritage.

"Resources for Immigrant Families." BPS: We Dream Together, Boston Public Schools,

sites.google.com/bostonpublicschools.org/bpswedreamtogether/for-immigrant-families.
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Image URLs

http://needhamcommunitycouncil.org/services/esl-tutoring/.

http://www.needhamma.gov/index.aspx?NID=2577

http://www.needham.k12.ma.us/departments/student_support_services/english_language_lea

rner_program__ell