Over the past few months, the IRC has asked members of our community to nominate Illinois teachers working with multicultural, multilingual students who are going above and beyond, and now, we’re celebrating them and highlighting their work. Keep an eye out for these features in the coming months – and if you’d like to nominate someone, email leanet@cntrmail.org. Next up is Alma Ocampo-Nuñez, a bilingual lead teacher at Chicago Public Schools.

Says Alyssa Silva-Rafi, who nominated her: “Alma is passionate about working with English learners and helping staff better serve the community of students and parents. She is a strong advocate for English learners.”

In teaching English Learners at Chicago Public Schools for 20 years and serving as EL Coordinator for a decade, Alma Ocampo-Nuñez has seen a lot of big changes in how EL programs and services have evolved.

She’s noticed a shift in the conversation about the importance of students seeing themselves in reading materials and curriculum, and a focus on representation as more and more studies show that students thrive if that is part of their learning environment. Most notably, she says, is an increase in enthusiasm from staff, who want to learn more as more multilingual learners come through our schools. “There’s more of a pride fro, students as well, and I think it’s because they see that enthusiasm from educators.”

As the landscape for multilingual learners changes, there are core tenets of Ocampo-Nuñez’s approach that are essential for supporting multilingual learners and their families. For her, that means building trust and relationships, and taking time to listen to students’ stories. Often, that looks like giving students space to speak their heritage language with their peers, and being responsive with parents so they see it is a team effort.

Ocampo-Nuñez knows from experience that there are challenges that come with being an advocate for multilingual learners, but urges her peers not to give up and to continue speaking up for their students and parents. “I’m an English learner too, and I feel privileged to be a part of that effort to help others understand the importance and value the students we have in front of us, particularly English learners,” she says.

And that effort has paid off for Ocampo-Nuñez. Recently, a former student, now in his mid-twenties, found her on LinkedIn. She had taught him as a 4th grader, and now he was on his way to graduating with a Master’s degree in accounting from the College of William and Mary. “He said he never forgot how I took the time to look at his drawings and compliment him and listen to him,” she says. “That impacted him for the rest of his life.”

As the school year begins, Ocampo-Nuñez encourages her peers to go in with an open mind and an open heart, and to be flexible and teachable, including with your students. “We can learn a lot from students,” she says. “They teach us lessons too.”