April 10, 2000
Bilingual ed brought success
By Sarah Tully Tapia
Arizona Daily Star
Jorge Bojorquez moved to Tucson and started at Pueblo High Magnet School with a bad attitude, mainly because he didn't know English.
“I didn't think I would finish high school. Everything was like, dark,” said Bojorquez, of Nacozari, Sonora. "When I started learning English, I could comprehend more things. I started focusing on my future.”
Bojorquez, a 1996 Pueblo High Magnet School graduate, credits bilingual education with his success so far.
He's in his second year at Pima Community College and plans to transfer to the University of Arizona next year with a goal of becoming a museum curator or history teacher.
“Now, I look at the present and the future. I say, ‘Wow. I can't believe this,’ ” said Bojorquez,” 21.
Bojorquez, as a Pueblo ninth-grader, began with a mix of Spanish and English. He enrolled in biology and history in Spanish, while taking English as a second language.
“I don't think I would have learned in English,” Bojorquez said. “My English was really, really poor. After I completed my ESL classes, I felt like I was more sure about myself.”
He doesn't understand the criticism of bilingual education. “I believe, Hispanic people, we should learn Spanish and English at the same time. We should not forget about our culture.
Spanish made learning easier
For the first few days of elementary school in the United States, Tatiana Sevillano felt isolated because she didn't understand the language.
The 8-year-old had just moved to the country knowing only Spanish. She was raised in Peru by her Mexican-American mother and Peruvian father.
“I would just sit there. I felt disconnected, isolated, scared and shy, timid, intimidated,” said Sevillano, now 22.
But soon, she was placed in a bilingual education class at Roberts Elementary School in the Tucson Unified School District. And she wasn't so scared.
“I got to meet the other kids who only spoke Spanish. I got to make friends. It was easier to learn because I didn't feel as intimidated,” Sevillano said.
Sevillano already knew how to read in Spanish, but learning English and Spanish at the same time wasn't confusing. She was soon named student of the month and placed in gifted classes.
“I used my Spanish to learn English,” Sevillano said.
Now, Sevillano is about to graduate from the University of Arizona with a major in human resource management and a certificate in international business. She plans to work in international business or human resources before going to graduate school.
