Newspaper Page Text
Page 2—Wednesday, August 12, 2020, The True Citizen
BCHS student, teacher
honored by Georgia DOE
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
A recent Burke County
High School graduate as
well as a BCHS teacher have
received prestigious honors
from the Georgia Depart
ment of Education.
Recently, the GaDOE
named Jesus Saenz, Class
of 2020 salutatorian, and
Tonya Torek, ESOL (Eng
lish to Speakers of Other
Languages) and French
teacher, as Exemplary EL
(English Learner) Stu
dent and ESOL Teacher.
Thirty-three EL students
out of 3,185 high school
seniors received the rec
ognition across the state
while 35 ESOL teacher
of 2,410 were honored.
Each student and teacher
must be nominated by
their districts and meet
the established criteria.
Torek says that the stan
dards and expectations
for students whose first
language is one other than
English is no different than
their monolingual peers.
"The Burke County system
collaborates with families,
administrators and teachers
to ensure that our English
Learners are meeting their
educational goals while
progressing toward English
proficiency,” she says. “As
with all programs and ser
vices in Burke County, our
work with English Learn
ers is as much heart as it is
legislation and pedagogy. It
is a blessing to know these
students and their families.
I feel privileged to be their
advocate." Saenz is described
as the epitome of the potential
an EL student possesses. Jared
Deloach, who taught him Hon
ors World History and Honors
American Government, says,
"In addition to being incredibly
intelligent, Jesus has a strong
work ethic. Jesus is someone
who very clearly has goals and
works hard to achieve those
goals." "It is not surprising
that the state of Georgia has af
forded Mrs. Torek this honor,”
says Cynthia Brogan, ESOL di
rector. “She embraces our core
business of preparing students
for their best future by devel
oping individualized plans for
high school ESOL students
based on their interests and
passions. Not only does she
serve her ESOL students dili
gently during the school day,
she spends countless hours in
the community providing Eng
lish classes and support to the
families of our ESOL students.
When I witnessed the joy of a
father of one of our students as
he shared with Mrs. Torek
that he had passed his citi
zenship test because of her
help, there was no doubt that
she should be nominated."
Winners of the award would
normally be invited to the
Georgia State Capitol for
a ceremony and photo op
portunity with State Super
intendent Richard Woods,
but due to COVID-19,
there will be a virtual
ceremony and recipients
were mailed certificates.
According to the Ga
DOE website, ESO is a
state-funded language in
struction educational pro
gram for eligible English
learners (ELs) in grades
K-12 in Georgia public
schools where instruction
is focused on developing
EL students’ academic
English proficiency in
each content area of the
Georgia Standards of
Excellence (GSE). “The
WIDA Consortium Eng
lish Language Devel
opment (ELD) Standards
aligned with the GSE guide
the work of ESOL teachers.
Differentiated instructional
practices, both in ESOL and
general education classes,
ensure that the language
development needs of Geor
gia’s EL students are met. In
ESOL language programs it
is appropriate, when prac
ticable, to use the student’s
home language as a means
of facilitating instruction and
providing limited English-
proficient (LEP) parents with
school-related information,”
the site explains.
Scrub-a-dog-dog
When Charys Prox and Emma Whinghter decided they wanted to do something to make a dif
ference, they approached Burke Feed and Farm Supply about doing a fundraiser for a local animal
rescue. They settled on a dog wash, with proceeds benefiting Old Fella Animal Rescue. According
to a spokesperson from Burke Feed and Farm, the pair raised $120, which will help purchase food,
bedding and other items. “We thank these two girls for including us in their mission to raise money
for Old Fella,” the spokesperson said. Charys and Emma are pictured with mom Sarah Prox and
one of their happy four-legged customers.
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