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ByJulieSly CatholicHeraldMagazine Evenbeforeshehadchil- dren, Karissa Morehouse knew that during their growing up years she would want them to learn a sec- ond language in addition to English. From her college stud- ies at Cal Poly State Uni- versity in San Luis Obispo for a bachelor's degree in human development, "I learned that kids needed to start developing neurologi- cal pathways before the age of seven. That always stuck with me," says Karissa, who works for the Tehama County Department of Ed- ucation. So having her children, Brielle, in transitional kin- dergarten, and Tate, in first grade, learning English and Spanish together in the dual immersion program at Sacred Heart School in Red Bluff is a source of pride for her and her husband Tim. "At the dinner table each night, we talk about what they learned at school that day," she says. "They are excited about learning an- other language and it's not a lot of effort for them. Tim speaks Spanish but I don't, so it causes me to stretch a little and they are teaching me Spanish. It's a family in- vestment for all of us." The dual immersion pro- gram is integrated into the fabric of the school, Ka- rissa notes. "It speaks vol- umes that the school un- derstand the importance of language development in our children for the sake of impacting their educa- tion, as it helps them to be more successful in other ar- eas besides language. We're blessed to be part of this school community." Richard Cherveny, princi- pal of Sacred Heart School, speaks passionately about the dual immersion pro- gram, where students from transitional kindergar- ten through second grade spend half the day learn- ing in Spanish and half the day learning in English. It is the only such program among all schools in Te- hama County. "This program equips our students for life, language and culture," he notes. "The benefits are huge for both parents and children and our enrollment has in- creased, plus we are meet- ing the needs of students in our community." His personal investment in the program with 35 students comes from his own life experience. His wife, Paula, is a volunteer instructor at the school in fifth through seventh grades in Spanish as an elective course. She has taught English as a Second Language to children of migrant work- ers, and is an immigrant to the United States from Mexico who became natu- ralized four years ago. "We speak Spanish at home and education in Spanish is a large part of our thinking and philosophy inside and outside of our home," Rich- ard says. Richard taught theology and fine arts and served in campus ministry at nearby Mercy High School for 13 years before coming to Sa- cred Heart as vice princi- pal and then principal. He collaborates on the dual immersion program with Paul Weber, principal of Mercy High School. They both foresee the dual im- mersion program assisting Sacred Heart students into becoming successful stu- dents at Mercy High. Although beginning in January, Richard will take on a new role in the Diocese of Sacramento as North- ern Regional Coordinator for Youth and Young Adult Ministry, his passion and dedication to the dual im- mersion program at Sacred Heart will remain. This is the second year that Sacred Heart is offer- ing dual immersion for stu- dents in transitional kin- dergarten through second grade. An elective option is available for students in fifth through eighth grades. Some students in the pro- gram utilize the bus offered by Mercy High School and travel to Sacred Heart from Corning, Anderson, Orland and Chico. In dual language immer- sion, students spend half the day learning in English and half the day learning in Spanish. By being taught not just language funda- mentals but academic sub- jects, students learn both languages, while not losing a step in their studies, Rich- ard says. In addition, "by speaking English and Span- ish at an early age, our stu- dents are more likely to re- member both languages for- ever and to develop greater understanding of both cul- tures. Students do not just learn a language but learn to think in that language." Benefits of dual language immersion also include im- proved communication ability, enhanced listening skills, students exceeding performance standards of solo language learners, in- creased problem-solving skills, greater cultural ap- preciation and students more prepared for the global culture and market, Richard notes. Dual immersion serves students of all backgrounds and levels of academic abil- ity, as academic challenges do not preclude students from success in immersion and "they achieve higher levels of proficiency in their second language," Richard says. Richard notes that ev- ery child learns different, whether they are learning in English or Spanish. The amount of time it takes for a student to be fully fluent will depend on the student's learning pat- terns, behavior and envi- ronment. "Our teachers work with every student to ensure that they learning at their unique optimum level," he says. Although the second lan- guage will be spoken ex- tensively in school, Rich- ard says it is necessary for immersion students to in- teract with native speakers outside of the classroom. The reaction from par- ents and students has been positive and enthusiastic, Richard notes. "We have had an influx of families where parents are profes- sionals and they see the value of a bilingual educa- tion and children being flu- ent (written and verbal) in a second language by fifth grade. Students basically assimilate Spanish like they do English." "Kids love it. They are sponges in learning lan- guages. They learn by play- ing, music and singing and we use a variety of difficult curricula." Some families with chil- dren in dual immersion at Sacred Heart are from the surrounding community of ESL students and migrant worker families, Richard says, noting that Sacred Heart Parish is assisting with some tuition expenses for those families. "For us, it's an oppor- tunity for those ESL stu- dents to be seen as sup- porting their own culture and as 'stars' because they already have fluency in the second language. They are now students who are on the cutting edge and that changes their mentality to- ward learning and the cur- riculum, which is a great dialogue and dynamic to have." Students in dual immer- sion easily express and live their cultural experience of Catholicism. "This is our universal church in ac- tion," he says. "That's one of the reasons we wanted this program, as it shines on our cultural sensitivity in the Catholic Church and helps to reinforce Catholic identity." Weekly student Masses are bilingual and more di- verse because of the dual immersion program. "The cultural and religious ben- efits are huge, because it's something parents person- ally connect to, which is their faith," Richard says. "The families feel wel- come, it's something they take ownership in, and they are happy to share the cultural experience of our school celebrations." Stu- dents and parents partici- pated in a recent "cultural days" event at the school hosted by the parent club, which highlighted the cul- tures of students from Mex- ico, Vietnam, India and other countries. To learn more, visit http://sacredheartredbluff- school.org. Reprinted with permission from the January- February 2017 issue of Catholic Herald, magazine of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. SACRED HEART Dual immersion readies students for life, language and culture Corning resident Sarah Williams, a Liberal Studies w/Speical Education Con- centration major at Azusa Pacific University, served through the Center for Stu- dent Action during the fall semester in Local Minis- tries. Throughout the year, students have numerous opportunities to build re- lationships in the city of Azusa, greater Los Ange- les area, and Mexico. From assisting in food banks to providing after school tu- toring and mentoring, the center mobilizes and edu- cates students toward re- sponsible and transforma- tional service locally and globally through a collab- orative network of offices and programs. Azusa Pacific University is an evangelical Christian university committed to God first and excellence in higher education. AZUSA PACIFIC Sarah Williams serves in ministry "Kids love it. They are sponges in learning languages." — Richard Cherveny, principal of Sacred Heart School Leaders for a Lifetime, a youth academic out- reach program at Cali- fornia State University, Chico, will open the "We Are Hmong: We Are Your Neighbors" exhibit at the Chico Museum 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15. While admission to the exhibit is free, Sunday's opening is a fundraiser to benefit the Chico Museum and Leaders for a Lifetime, and a donation of $5 is re- quested. The Chico Mu- seum is at 141 Salem St. in Chico. The exhibit is scheduled to run for a year and has been created entirely by the more than 50 students who attend CSU, Chico and local high schools and are part of the Leaders for a Lifetime program. The students worked together to gather photos, cultural items and other artifacts from their families for the exhibit, including funeral attire, baby carriers, jew- elry, story cloths, embroi- dery, shaman tools and dolls wearing traditional clothing. Leaders for a Lifetime started in 1997 as part of a larger youth empower- ment initiative founded by the California Well- ness Program. Once the grant ran its course, CSU, Chico Professor Emeritus Mary Portis moved the program to the Univer- sity campus, where she has been the director of Leaders for a Lifetime ever since. "Our focus is learning cross-cultural leadership skills, creating and pre- senting performance ac- tivism pieces about cul- ture, and community service to low-income fam- ilies," Portis said. For the exhibit, the Chico Museum took a risk and tried the unique ap- proach of having youth create an exhibit about their culture. To allow the students to teach Hmong culture to people of all ages in small groups, the mu- seum even moved the event's opening time to Sunday afternoon rather than hold it in the eve- ning, when opening events are usually held. Portis added that the ex- hibit may be of interest to faculty and students who have a Winter Session class that touches on cul- ture. For more informa- tion on the exhibit, con- tact Portis at mportis@ csuchico.edu. CHICO MUSEUM Hmong culture takes center stage in exhibit The following students at Salisbury High School have received awards as listed for Session III, 1st Semester, for the 2016/2017 school year. Honorroll Ashlye Anderson, Owen Burden, Gabriel Chavira, Steven Donovan, Rebecka Farwell, Jimmy France, Mateo Gonza- lez, Michael Hawthorne, Veronica Hernandez, Brooks Holt, Kelli Nie- mann, Andrea Perkiss, Yasmin Valdovinos, Brian Woods. Academic achievement Sammy DeTavis, Joie Gniech, Savanna Goffic, Dustin Graham, Ema Mc- Mahan, Cheyenne Reep, Skyla Sanchez, Andrew Schuck. Perfect attendance Anabela Altamirano, Owen Burden, Steven Donovan, Jason Duna- gan, Rebecka Farwell, Brooks Holt, Nikko Nava, Nick Orson, Aleina Perez, Yasmin Valdovinos, Brian Woods. SALISBURY First semester academic awards By Christopher S. Rugaber The Associated Press WASHINGTON Americans with no more than a high school diploma have fallen so far behind college grad- uates in their economic lives that the earnings gap between college grads and everyone else has reached its widest point on record. College graduates, on average, earned 56 per- cent more than high school grads in 2015, ac- cording to data compiled by the Economic Policy Institute. That was up from 51 percent in 1999 and is the largest such gap in EPI's figures dating to 1973. Since the Great Reces- sion ended in 2009, col- lege-educated workers have captured most of the new jobs and enjoyed pay gains. Non-college grads, by contrast, have faced dwin- dling job opportunities and an overall 3 percent decline in income, EPI's data shows. "The post-Great Reces- sion economy has divided the country along a fault line demarcated by college education," Anthony Car- nevale, director of George- town University's Cen- ter on Education and the Workforce, said in a report last year. College grads have long enjoyed economic advan- tages over Americans with less education. But as the disparity widens, it is do- ing so in ways that go be- yond income, from home- ownership to marriage to retirement. Education has become a dividing line that affects how Ameri- cans vote, the likelihood that they will own a home and their geographic mo- bility. Yet few experts think the solution is simply to send more students to four-year colleges. Many young people either don't want to spend more years in school or aren't pre- pared to do so. Already, four in every 10 college students drop out before graduating — often with debt loads they will strug- gle to repay without a de- gree. Rather, labor econ- omists say, many high school grads would ben- efit from a more compre- hensive approach to ob- taining skills, especially involving technology, that are increasingly in de- mand. "If the only path you of- fer them is a traditional college path, they're not going to be successful," says Harry Holzer, an economist at Georgetown University. Helping lift high school graduates' skill levels is critical, given the many ways they are lagging be- hind their college-edu- cated peers: • They're less likely to have a job. Just two-thirds of high school-only grads ages 25 through 64 were employed in 2015, down sharply from 73 percent in 2007. For college gradu- ates in the same age group, employment dipped only slightly from 84 percent to 83 percent. • They are less likely to be married. In 2008, mar- riage rates for college-ed- ucated 30-year olds sur- passed those of high- school-only grads for the first time. • High school-only grads are less likely to own homes. Sixty-four percent are current homeowners, down from 70 percent in 2000. By contrast, three- quarters of bachelor's de- gree holders are home- owners, down slightly from 77 percent in 2000, according to real estate data firm Zillow. • College grads are more likely than high school- only graduates to contrib- ute to a 401(k)-style re- tirement plan, according to research by Christo- pher Tamborini of the So- cial Security Administra- tion and Changhwan Kim, a sociology professor at the University of Kansas. Col- lege grads contributed 26 percent more even when members of both groups had similar incomes and access to such plans, their research found. Participation in 401(k)- style plans requires deci- sions — whether and how much to contribute and how to invest — that can become barriers for the less educated. All of this contributed to a sharp political split in the presidential elec- tion. College graduates fa- vored Hillary Clinton by 9 percentage points. Non- college grads chose Don- ald Trump by 8 points, ac- cording to exit polls. That was the largest disparity between the two groups on record since 1980, accord- ing to the Pew Research Center. Some of these trends might eventually reverse themselves if more high school grads acquire the skills needed for higher- paying work. EDUCATION DIVIDE Pay gap between college grads and everyone else at a record 744MainSt.,RedBluff FineQualityGifts& Accessories (across from the clock tower) YEAR-END DEALS ($10 OFF OF $50) • SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL, TRINKET • ORNAMENTS, CRYSTAL JEWELRY • WAX-POTTERY CANDLES, SOAPS • HIGH QUALITY HANDBAGS, SCARF • EVENING WEAR, BEADED BAGS • BOXED CHEESE STRAWS SNACK • CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES ComeandShopwithUs CALIC#778199 GERBER 385-1153 HINKLE ROOFING & CONSTRUCTION, INC Visitusat 100JacksonSt. in Red Bluff for details (530) 529-1220 Visit www.redbluffhealthfitness.com for more infomation Monthly Membership as low as $ 28 00 a month! 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