Exchange to Engage: The guide to engaging diverse communities through language exchange

Copyright © 2019 by Rachel Kimbrow

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN: 978-1-54398-273-2 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-54398-274-9 (eBook)

Table of Contents

Author’s Note

Who Is This Book For?

How to Use This Book

Part One: The Story of Intercambio

Chapter 1: Strength in Diversity

Chapter 2: Engagement Through Exchange

Chapter 3: Simple but Powerful

Chapter 4: The Program Grows

Chapter 5: Significant Community Change

Part Two: Step-by-Step Guide

Chapter 6: Start Your Own Program

Chapter 7: Create a Welcoming Space

Chapter 8: Facilitate a Bilingual Coffee Hour

Part Three: Parent Involvement in Public Schools

Chapter 9: Parent Involvement

Part Four: Language Resources

Chapter 10: Spanish - English Language Resources

References

About the Author

Author’s Note

Thank you to all the parents, teachers, and school staff members who made this project a reality. Starting with a simple idea, I had no idea how powerful it would be to step outside my comfort zone one hour a week and attempt to bring people together. I hope these narrative stories and learning more about the journey this project took me on will inspire you. With the simple how-to format in the second half of the book, you will have everything you need to start your own bilingual language exchange at your school or community organization. Names of schools and individuals have been changed.

– Rachel Kimbrow

Who Is This Book For?

This guide is for anyone interested in connecting their school or community through linguistic and cultural exchange. For public educators in the United States, the Exchange to Engage program model outlined in this book can be used to meet guidelines for parent-involvement programs in schools receiving federal or state funds. This book can be used as a starting point for building a strong, inclusive community at a school or other organization. Professionals or individuals who could implement this program may include:

School Leaders

Administrators

Family-involvement coordinators

Parent-teacher association (PTA) members

Title I / Title III program directors

Educators

English specialists

Dual-language specialists

Librarians

Classroom Teachers

Community Leaders

Church leaders

Community support specialists

Community organizers

Parents

How to Use This Book

With this guide, you will learn how to connect diverse groups of people, create community at your school or organization, foster authentic communication, and improve bilingual skills, all through facilitated language exchange. A language exchange is an event where people come together to share, practice, and learn from each other in two or more languages. Intercambio is the Spanish word for exchange, and used in this book to mean language exchange. The first half of the book is narrative and personal, you will read about the first school-based intercambio groups and the impact they had on the community. In the second half, you will read and learn how to start your own program with a step-by-step guide, including language resources in Spanish and English. If your school or organization commits to investing one hour a week in connecting through language exchange, you will reap great rewards that lead to unimaginable possibilities in parent involvement, community development, and cultural shifts within your school or organization.

I hope you are inspired by these stories and the simple recipe developed by the people involved with the project, Exchange to Engage. The mission of the Exchange to Engage project is to empower students, families, and educators to build strong communities that embrace linguistic and cultural diversity. Through very simple efforts, you will have the tools to integrate and connect your diverse community. With courage and commitment, we can create strong communities that celebrate cultural and linguistic diversity. Congratulations on taking the first step to make your community a better place.

Part One: The Story of Intercambio

No meaningful family engagement can be established until relationships of trust and respect are established between home and school. A focus on relationship building is especially important in circumstances where there has been a history of mistrust between families and school or district staff.

—Dual Capacity Building Framework

Chapter 1: Strength in Diversity

Schools around the world are becoming more diverse as our world becomes interconnected. Multicultural societies are the new normal. From public neighborhood schools to elite international schools, with diversity, comes challenge and opportunity. The opportunity to create engaged bilingual communities is a benefit to everyone involved. However, many schools and community organizations are experiencing a breakdown