Letter to the District #95 in Support of the Dual Language Program

Dear Superintendent Lewin:

My family and I live in District 95. We are very interested in having our children be a part of a dual language program, preferably housed in District 95. Please consider this letter one of support for such a program.

Thank you,
Kim Asner-Self

Letter to the Editor of the Southern Illinoisan Newspaper in Support of the Dual Language Program

To the Editor:

Kudos to the Southern Illinois Dual Language Coalition for their outstanding community conference on the Advantages of Bringing Dual Language Education to Southern Illinois Saturday, April 23. My husband and I, along with our two children, attended the half-day conference because we were curious about dual language education (in this case, Spanish and English), and whether this option would be a good one for our children. Wow! What a wonderful opportunity for Southern Illinoisan children. If the coalition is able to launch this program, either as a charter school, or as a strand in one of the district schools, our children would get to learn to read and write in two languages, learn math and science in two languages, and learn to interact interculturally. What a gift we parents could give the children of Southern Illinois. Our children would have an edge in tomorrow's job market, while Southern Illinois could have an edge in attracting global businesses that appreciate a culturally and linguistically flexible workforce in addition to our beautiful environment, our warm hospitality and our increasingly improved infrastructure and access. We hope this program both finds a home and is available to ALL Southern Illinoisans. As excited parents, we urge the district superintendents to really look at what an innovative opportunity we have here. Thank you to the Southern Illinois Dual Language Coalition for your energy and commitment. We are 100 percent behind you. What a boon to our children and the area.

Kim Asner-Self, Brian Self