SANTA ANA : Students Praise Class in English

Luis Rincon, 15, mouthed the letters of the alphabet as he coached another student on how to use a computer program designed to teach English.

As his friend conjured up English-speaking cartoon monsters on the screen, Luis praised a Santa Ana High School program that is making their transition to regular classes and American culture in general much easier.

“If this program didn’t exist, I couldn’t learn English because all the other classes are taught in English. Other classes would be very difficult and I wouldn’t understand,” he said at school this week.

Luis is one of about 16 recent immigrants who are enrolled in a special class designed for newcomers. The students are all literate in their primary language and have received education in their native country. Called EASE, for English Acquisition in Secondary Education, the six-week program aims to give students a basic understanding of English before placing them in regular classes.

Dee Ransom, who teaches the class, said, “I’m like the welcome wagon of the school. I have to get them and their parents used to school.”

Students spend the entire school day in the class, studying English, math and U.S. culture. Using computer language software and electronic Spanish-English translators to assist in their assignments, the youngsters create portfolios of art and writing and lists of personal goals.

The new federally funded program is especially useful in a district that has received 12,000 new immigrants in the past two years. However, at present it is only offered at Santa Ana High School and Sierra Intermediate School, Ransom said.

She added that “every other campus wants it. Every other campus needs it.”