U.S. Essay Honors Go to Chula Vista Students

Ted Millan did not learn formal English until he was 8 years old when he moved to Chula Vista. Before that, he lived in Hawaii and spoke his native Filipino language, Tagalog, along with a lot of Hawaiian slang.

It wasn’t easy for him in school as he learned a new language, but he did well, so well that he won a national essay contest this month in English.

With the help of Ruth Broudy, bilingual education coordinator at Chula Vista High School, Millan entered the contest dealing with the subject “All Americans Should Be Bilingual.”

In the end, the 17-year-old junior won first place. Gloria Varela, 18, another Chula Vista High School student (who was born in the United States but raised in Tijuana), won second place.

School Places for 3rd Year

For the third straight year since Chula Vista High School students have been entering the contest, its students have placed either first or second among approximately 900 contestants nationwide. The National Assn. for Bilingual Education has been sponsoring the contest for 16 years.

“I told them, ‘If you could convince those students who are against bilingualism 100% . . . why they should speak another language, you’ll win,’ ” said Broudy, who speaks five languages.

In Millan’s English class, all the students had to write essays. Some students wrote in support of bilingualism and others against it.

Millan, who prefers to write about his feelings rather than talk about them, said he did not appreciate classmates who wrote essays critical of the bilingual movement.

‘A Form of Prejudice’

“It’s a form of prejudice,” said Millan, a junior, who has earned a 3.8 grade point average. “They’re missing the point of bilinguality. People refuse to learn another language, a culture. They feel already safe within their language. Only knowing one language sort of restricts your mind to other things going on around the world.”

In his essay, Millan wrote: “America is a country of many nationalities, a union of culture, ideas and philosophies. We live in a world shared by brothers, yet many close their eyes and minds to their ways. . . . To be restricted by language is to deprive oneself of what America has to offer. To learn and understand another language is the key to opportunity and true freedom.”

Varela, a senior with a 3.5 grade point average who will be entering UCLA in the fall, said she started learning English when she was 10, after her family moved to Chula Vista. What is particularly aggravating for her, Varela said, is that, although some of her friends who are Latino support programs like bilingual education, other Latino students favor a monolingual approach, so they can become part of the American mainstream.

“It’s important to learn about other cultures, other people,” Varela said. “The world is very large. They need to know that people are basically the same.”

3,000 Hear Essay

In Denver, where Millan received his award at a dinner more than two weeks ago, the husky student read his essay in front of 3,000 people, including Broudy; his mother; his English teacher, Rochelle Terry; a large media contingent, and officials from the local and state level.

“I was surprised and kind of scared,” said Millan. “At first when they started introducing me I was terrified because here I was, little old me, a San Diegan.”

Millan received a $200 savings bond, a plaque and a bronze medal. Varela, 18, who did not attend, received a $150 savings bond and a plaque.

Before entering the national essay contest, Millan and Varela qualified by being in the top four in their school.

Robert J. Acuna, principal of Chula Vista High School, attributed the success of the last three years to Broudy and the English teachers who encouraged and worked with the students.