Hawthorne Elementary Educator Supports English Language Learners

Ms. Kim Theodore is an English Learner (EL) educator at Hawthorne Elementary in District 200. She envisioned two programs that would support her EL students and reached out to her local union, the Wheaton Warrenville Education Association, to apply for 2 SCORE grants from the Illinois Education Association. Kim used one of the grants she earned to continue an extracurricular activity called Children Learning English Fluency (CLEF) Club, which she started in the 2013/2014 school year with the help of a SCORE grant. This activity meets once a week supporting 45 K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade EL students as they build their English proficiency and increase literacy skills through singing. This year’s $500 grant money will be used to fund outfits for their performances, musical instruments, and a family dinner.

The support doesn’t stop there. Kim earned another SCORE grant worth $1000 to help support the Wheaton Square Apartments Homework Club. This is an after school program that is housed at Hawthorne every Thursday and provides individual and small group tutoring for 50 EL students who live in the Wheaton Square Apartments. Students work on homework, read with volunteers, play board games to develop English conversational skills, and use Hawthorne’s computer lab to play educational games. This club is run in conjunction with World Relief and 20 tutor volunteers from the community and Wheaton College. This grant money will be used to purchase informational texts and educational and classic board games.

Thank you, Ms. Kim Theodore, for collaborating with the community and searching for supplemental funding for extra support for our English Learners. We wish you the best of luck with CLEF and the Homework Club.