hank you to the PTSA for Raising the Paddle this year for language and literacy in our schools. The circus-themed PTSA auction was filled to the brim with atmosphere, positive energy, countless friends and too many auction items to take in, and the organizers of the event deserve endless kudos for their efforts in creating a wonderful night in which education and kids were held up on a pedestal. 

But most of all I was struck by our generous community and our commitment to language and literacy in our public schools. 

Superintendent Michael Soltman spoke to the unilingual American and how we can work together to change this stereotype by promoting second-language learning in our schools. Bids began at $2,500 and then gradually decreased, allowing nearly everyone the opportunity to give at a comfortable level and show their support for the cause. The result: $21,050 was raised for language and literacy. 

As many of the night’s multilingual attendees can profess, understanding and speaking another language is so much more than words. Language is the core of a culture, not just how a people communicate, but how they feel, behave and live. Japanese and Spanish programs at Vashon High School admirably work to convey all of this, providing language learning opportunities as well as opportunities to travel abroad, and an introductory class at McMurray Middle School provides the first steps towards becoming Spanish speakers. 

These programs are invaluable to our students and their futures, but these middle and high school language classes should be providing our students with their third or even fourth languages. Why are we waiting so long to introduce a second language to our children? 

As a former high school French teacher turned French immersion preschool/kindergarten teacher and mother to two bilingual French/English children, I know that early second language acquisition and learning is a priority. It’s a passion of mine. But passion aside, consider the benefits of elementary-age language study. According to Therese Sullivan Caccavale, president of the National Network for Early Language Learning, they include increased cognitive skills via critical thinking and problem-solving, higher achievement in other academic areas, specifically math, and higher standardized test scores. All that plus the immense joy that comes with being able to communicate and understand another culture through language.

Often people stop me at the park or in town when they hear me speaking French to my children and inform me that speaking to my children in French is so good for them. For their brains. For their future. For the ease of learning a second language. Of course I know all of this; I am living it. But what it tells me is that the average person out there knows it, too. So why are we waiting? Funding? Scheduling? Staffing? Busing? I’m guessing that all of the usual answers apply. Ugh!

There is some movement on the Island towards early language acquisition that has arisen in the private sector. Families on Vashon do have the opportunity to expose their children to early language acquisition and learning on Vashon via private schools and lessons. For the past five years, my little school, La Petite Etoile French School, has been serving preschool and kindergarten-age children as well as offering some opportunities for school-aged students. Sarah Bunch, a former Islander who recently returned to Vashon, is starting a new Spanish immersion preschool, and Carpe Diem Primary School has daily Spanish in its curriculum. There are also programs offering once-a-week exposure and opportunities for private language lessons in French, Spanish, Chinese and possibly others. Families committed to having their children partake in these schools, particularly immersion type programs, are giving their children a gift that they will have forever. 

As an early language acquisition advocate, I give a huge thumbs up to teachers and families participating in these programs. The next step is making them available to all of our children.

— Aristy Gill is the owner of La Petite Etoile French School and a mother of two students at Chautauqua Elementary School.