PSD 202 Awarded $30,000 In Bilingual Education Grant

PLAINFIELD, IL — Plainfield School District 202 was granted a $30,000 Bilingual Education Award, the district announced Wednesday. The money will go toward helping bilingual families and their students "move toward success."

District educators, along with the Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee, recommend the funds be used to buy books to help parents help their students, according to a news release. The grant will also go toward supporting English language development for pre-K through 12th grade, toward stipends for teachers to develop lesson plans, and for programs to enhance the English Language Development program, Michelle O'Shea, director of linguistics and diversity, said in the release.

The award went out to districts that have "greater financial needs and show significant improvement in its English learners' English proficiency."

The grant has to be used for any of the following activities by Aug. 31, according to the release:

• Developing and implementing remote instructional curriculum, activities, and approaches to support e-learning or remote learning for English Language Learners, schools, and parents of English Language Learners
• Providing training to paraprofessionals and parent outreach liaisons to enhance their ability and skills to work with parents of English Language Learners on educational and/or social and emotional issues.
• Professional development activities to improve the teaching of English Language Learners
• Professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators who directly work with English Language Learners
• Program or curriculum development activities to improve the instruction of English Language Learners