More people move to Austin every day to take jobs at Quality Pork Processors Inc.

Wednesday, May 30, 2001

More people move to Austin every day to take jobs at Quality Pork Processors Inc.

The meatpacking plant needs good workers to meet the demands of three shifts of meat processing.

The majority of the people are Hispanic and the new immigrant families’ impact on the community is seen everywhere, but especially Austin Public Schools.

A burgeoning student population of English-as-a-second-language students has created a "school within the school."

There are more than 200 ESL students in Austin Public Schools and ESL programs at all four elementary schools, Banfield, Southgate, Neveln and Sumner, as well as Ellis Middle School and Austin High School.

The ESL teachers have had to scramble for curriculum materials. They have cannibalized what materials they have, made copies of others and generally created a curriculum to suit their specific needs.

Now, QPP, the main attraction to Hispanic families moving to Austin, is assisting Austin Public Schools in educating the children of the new immigrants.

QPP has donated $15,000 to Austin Public Schools to purchase ESL curriculum materials.

According to schools Superintendent Dr. James A. Hess, "Quality Pork Processors Inc. is making the $15,000 available through a two-year commitment to the school district."

"We greatly appreciate the gesture," Hess said. "The materials are badly needed and will be put to good use in our ESL classrooms."

ESL classes are taught at six different building sites in the Austin Independent School District.

At the start of the school year, ESL-eligible students are identified in the individual classrooms. A language test is given to determine at what level – beginner and intermediate – the students needs ESL attention.

Nancy Clark is an ESL teacher at Southgate Elementary School with help from bilingual paraprofessional Valentina Gallegos.

According to Hess, Southgate has the largest ESL program in the district with more than 65 students in grades K-5.

Clark and Gallegos teach their ESL classes to a particular skill level. Thirty-minute classes may be needed for those with some bilingual skills. However, those who don’t speak English will face 90- and 45-minute courses.

"I think all of the ESL teachers are so excited about the curriculum materials we were able to purchase with the Quality Pork Processors’ financial help," Southgate ESL teacher Clark said.

The district’s ESL teachers chose the new curriculum materials. Clark and Gallegos have an "Into English" series of materials, which is a book-based reading curriculum."

The students read about a wide variety of topics, including history, citizenship, conservation, agriculture, weather, folk customs and more.

Brenda Hackensmith at Banfield and Neveln and Donna Hoffman at Sumner, as well as the Ellis and AHS ESL teachers, are performing similar efforts with new curriculum in their classrooms.

Having the new ESL curriculum materials will make their important job of teaching English to the Spanish-speaking students easier and, hopefully, reap benefits for the students.

"The idea is to give them the skills that will allow them to function in the classroom with the other children and get a quality education," Clark said.

"Quality Pork Processors has been interested in helping the Austin School District in some way," Wicks said. "Kelly Wadding, our president and CEO, met with Dr. Hess and they discussed how we could help. We decided the new curriculum materials for ESL classes would have an immediate impact."

According to Wicks, teaching Hispanic students English also will have benefits for the students’ families, including adult members who work at QPP and otherwise interact in the community.

"It’s a good investment in the community," Clark said. "It helps everyone."

Call Lee Bonorden at 434-2232 or e-mail him at lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com.