School district to have bilingual paraprofessional

For the first time ever the Sisters School District will this year have a staff member whose job it is to focus on the needs of the district's English Language Learners.

Sisters resident Carlos Guzman-McFadden will serve in the newly created position of bilingual paraprofessional.

"The English Language Learner program this year will have certified teacher coordinators for a class period or two in each of the three buildings," said superintendent Elaine Drakulich. "Working with them to implement the individual plan for English Language Learners will be Carlos (Guzman-McFadden), our paraprofessional. He's bilingual in Spanish."

Guzman-McFadden is not only bilingual; he is what is considered "totally bilingual."

"A totally bilingual person is a person who thinks and talks in both languages," Guzman-McFadden said, noting that both Spanish and English are his native tongues.

Sisters is not the first school district for which Guzman-McFadden has worked with English Language Learners. Years ago he worked as a bilingual teacher in the bilingual department with the city schools of Rochester, New York.

Since coming to Sisters a little over a year ago with his wife Raquel, who works at Ray's Food Place, and his daughter Ilia, who works at Coyote Creek Café & Lounge, Guzman-McFadden has realized how lacking the Sisters Hispanic community truly is.

"That is something I had gone through before when I was in Rochester," he said.

Knowing that he had the background to help the town's Hispanic community better integrate into the Sisters community as a whole, he was anxious to help.

When he saw that the school district was creating a position for a bilingual paraprofessional, Guzman-McFadden told The Nugget: "I felt a need here... and I jumped to the opportunity."

As the bilingual paraprofessional Guzman-McFadden will work with students whose native language is not English. These students are assessed as to how well they understand English and are then provided with an individual plan to help them learn the English language. The goal is for these students to eventually filter into classes and function without support.

Specifically Guzman-McFadden will spend his days working "...with the students on their individual plans. It might be reading understanding. It might be reading fluency. It might be mathematics, whatever they need specific help on," Drakulich said.

He will also work with the Hispanic community to help break down the language barrier. He will help parents with school registration and to understand when conferences are scheduled. He will assist the district to publish notices and advertisements in Spanish, when appropriate.

"I see myself as a advocate for the Hispanic community and for the children of the Hispanic community, a facilitator as far as language is concerned and probably a translator for the district," Guzman-McFadden said.

The Guzman-McFadden family moved to Central Oregon a little over two years ago from Puerto Rico. While in Puerto Rico Guzman-McFadden taught art at the university level and learned the art of guitar making. With the goal of improving his guitar making art form, the family settled in Central Oregon.

"I decided to hone my skills more by going to work for a guitar company...," Guzman-McFadden said.

In addition to working with the school district, Guzman-McFadden plans to open his own guitar making business in Sisters. He is in the process of setting up a workshop in an outbuilding at his home, but since receiving the job with the school district, he has placed the project somewhat on hold. "I'm going to be dedicating most of my time to the schools," he said.

Although the district has few identified English Language Learners, the number is steadily growing. The district receives federal funding, called Title III Funds, that sifts down to state funding for providing learning plans for these students.

"As we have more students, we receive more funds, and now we are able to fund a paraprofessional," said Drakulich.