Resources for world language teachers across the globe

When Jorge Morales immigrated to the United States from Jalisco, Mexico at age 9, he struggled with culture shock, assimilation to a new life and learning English. He remembers seeing other English learners struggling in school and wishing there were more helpful programs in place.

As Morales grew up, he realized he wanted to help students who are experiencing similar struggles. So he decided to become a teacher.

After graduating from Fresno State with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a Spanish teaching credential, he started teaching Spanish at Sunnyside High School in Fresno.

In 2016, Morales’ second year at Sunnyside, he was eager to find ways to be more effective, and he was inspired by the veteran teachers around him. He learned of workshops offered by the Central California World Language Project at Fresno State and decided to sign up.

World Language Workshops for Teachers

The project is part of a statewide initiative to improve access to high-quality world language instruction for K-12 educators. Both student teachers and experienced teachers are able to use resources and take them into their classrooms. Housed in the Kremen School of Education and Human Development at Fresno State, the project is positioned to provide targeted support for the needs of the Valley’s future teachers, including for those who speak Spanish or Hmong languages.

“Teachers learn and leave with strategies, ready to be implemented into the classroom,” said Nancy Perez, project director. “And that’s what makes the project interesting and appealing to teachers, because they come, they learn and they practice.”

The project is not just for world language teachers but provides resources for all teachers. Since the project started in 2014, it has trained and supported over 1,000 teachers.

Historically, workshops were hosted in person, but COVID-19 has shifted the workshops to virtual. The project is offering over 30 free online workshops from July 27 through March 12.

Read more.

Dr. Jenelle Pitt Parker Named Associate Dean of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development

In 2009, Dr. Jenelle Pitt Parker went on her first tour of the Fresno State campus. She was inspired by the variety of student centers, including the National Coalition Building Institute in the Cross Cultural and Gender Center, an organization that works to eliminate prejudice and inter-group conflict on campuses and in communities throughout the world.

Always being driven to make a difference in her local community, Pitt Parker was motivated as she began her journey at Fresno State as an assistant professor in the department of counselor education and rehabilitation.

Pitt Parker began pursuing higher education when she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from U.C. Riverside. She then enrolled in Michigan State University and earned a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling and a Ph.D. in rehabilitation counselor education.  

Dedicated to advocating for others, Pitt Parker found many opportunities at Fresno State. 

During Pitt Parker’s first year, she was appointed to the President’s Commission on Human Relations and Equity where she helped to develop the University’s first diversity, equity and inclusion plan. She also served as a board member of the Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute and was a member of the Respect Civility and Inclusion Resource Team at Fresno State. In addition to many other contributions over the past twelve years, Pitt Parker was recently appointed to the 2020-21 President’s Leadership Task Force and the African American Student Resource Center and has begun serving on the Humanics Advisory Council.

Pitt Parker is not only active at Fresno State but she is steeped in the community. She has served on the City of Fresno’s Disability Advisory Commission since 2010, where she provides recommendations and advice to the mayor of Fresno on city policies, procedures, and services to enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities. She also serves on the Fresno Unified School District African American Academic Acceleration Task Force and uses data to find ways to help accelerate academic improvements for African American students in K-12.

“Being able to be a part of the larger work, on behalf of the 74,000 Fresno Unified students, has been something I’m very pleased to be involved in both professionally and personally,” said Pitt Parker.

Pitt Parker has served in many academic roles at Fresno State and wanted to further make an impact in areas of diversity, equity and inclusion, so she pursued leadership. 

After serving as chair of the department of counselor education and rehabilitation for two years, Pitt Parker has been named associate dean of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development. 

During this academic journey, Pitt Parker sought guidance from both her family and mentors. Her years spent at Fresno State have allowed her to nurture many interdisciplinary relationships which have led to various collaborations, partnerships, and invaluable support. 

“Considering the value of a university degree, particularly for use in a rapidly changing workforce, I remain focused on the need for stronger representation across faculty, staff and administrators, as it relates to matching demographics of the communities that are being served,” said Pitt Parker.

With extensive knowledge and research in rehabilitation and mental health, Pitt Parker is focused on wellness factors of faculty, staff and students returning to campus for the fall 2021 semester. As associate dean, she is also focusing on accreditation, high-impact and social justice philanthropy, and the needs of our students as they complete fieldwork and practicum at partnership sites in the community. 

The fall semester offers many opportunities and Pitt Parker is looking forward to navigating the ways she can provide support and enhance diversity, equity and inclusion in work settings. 

Pitt Parker is humble and a driving force who represents dedication to her community and profession. She plans to one day become a university president and says that it’s good to have goals and to continue evolving and growing.

Student-athletes make lasting impact on Valley’s youth

Fresno State women’s soccer player Kayla King is driven to help others — and she has shown it throughout her college years. 

When she started her postsecondary education, she began working as a tutor for school-aged children. Tutoring came naturally to King and created an opportunity for her to work directly with children.

While earning a degree in liberal studies at Fresno State, King excelled at juggling both academics and athletics.

“Being a student-athlete really teaches you a lot about, not only yourself, but how important managing your time is,” said King, a Hollister native. “It teaches you great life lessons that people end up taking with them for the remainder of their lives.” 

Being a student-athlete provided King with a variety of opportunities to partner in the community. In April, King and other student-athletes spoke virtually at a College and Career Day at Wawona K-8 School in Fresno Unified School District. This annual event encourages students to think about their future and what opportunities lie ahead.

“We want local heroes for our kids,” said Bob Nelson, superintendent of Fresno Unified. “We want our kids to see student-athletes who came from their neighborhood and who will inspire them.”

At the College and Career Day, King connected with 15 seventh and eighth graders and shared her story of how she became an athlete. She remembers them asking many questions about what it’s like to be a student-athlete. 

Fresno State is fully immersed in the community and continues to find ways for increased collaboration. In just one year, student-athletes volunteered 4,000 community service hours at 460 organizations. In addition to serving the community, the athletics department had a collective 3.30 GPA in spring 2020. This marked the 19th consecutive semester of over a 3.0 departmental GPA. 

“We’re always looking for opportunities to impact our community, and specifically the youth in our community, in a positive manner,” said Terry Tumey, Fresno State’s director of athletics.

With over 6,000 new undergraduate students overall enrolled in fall 2020, 52 percent are from Fresno County. 

“Our staff, coaches and student-athletes understand the important platform we have, and we all collectively consider it an honor to give back and inspire the next generation of Bulldogs and leaders in our Valley,” Tumey said. “Partnering with local school districts to help encourage the importance of education is a privilege for us.”

Bulldog Buddies

Kendall Boliba, a Fresno State athletics academic adviser, grew up as an athlete and remembers engaging with the community in a pen pal project when she was younger. The program was impactful for her, and she wanted to create something similar in the Valley. 

In fall 2019, Boliba partnered with Prince Marshall, then principal of West Fresno Elementary School in Washington Unified School District. She pitched the idea of creating a pen pal program with Fresno State student-athletes. 

With support from Marshall and West Fresno Elementary teachers, Boliba organized for the women’s water polo team to become pen pals with a second-grade class in 2019. She called it the Bulldogs Buddy program. 

This program was powerful for West Fresno Elementary, not only by directly connecting students to collegiate athletes but also by positively reinforcing the power of reading and writing.

According to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (2019), 53% of third-grade students in Fresno County didn’t meet the ELA/Literacy standards. And 83% of West Fresno Elementary third graders didn’t meet the standards.

West Fresno Elementary worked the Bulldogs Buddy program into its curriculum. The second graders wrote back-and-forth with their Fresno State pen pals and worked on incorporating open-ended questions and weekly writing prompts. Marshall said he saw a direct impact on the students’ eagerness to read and write.

“Writing is one of the most difficult tasks for our students, especially second-language learners,” said Beth Liberta, second-grade teacher at West Fresno Elementary. “When we write narratives, informational or persuasive stories the students struggle to develop proper sentences and those sentences are often very short and without details. However, when my students write to their Fresno State Buddies, their sentences are endless and so full of life.”

Though the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily paused the program, Boliba plans to expand the Bulldogs Buddy program across multiple school districts in the Central Valley.

While this program provides a way for Fresno State student-athletes of any major to engage with and positively impact Valley youth, some decide to make a career out of teaching.

After King graduated with her bachelor’s degree in liberal studies, she immediately enrolled in Fresno State’s early childhood education graduate program. She is eager to get into the classroom and begin directly impacting Valley youth. She hopes to become an elementary school teacher and one day work with students with special needs.