By Holly Harding
It’s an early Saturday morning in January. Educators from Butte, Glenn, and Tehama counties are coming together to focus on one of California’s most pressing challenges in education: the needs of Long Term English Learners.
These students, who have struggled to keep pace with their English-speaking peers for years, are finally getting the attention they deserve with the introduction of a new subgroup on California’s statewide dashboard. This year marks the first time that Long Term English Learners will be specifically reported,. Now, districts have an invaluable tool to track their academic progress—or lack thereof—through statewide tests.
This session is a key opportunity for teachers and administrators in Region 2 to gain insights from state and local experts about how to better support these students.
And that’s where I come in.
A Passion for Multilingual Learning
As the Region 2 English Learner Specialist, I help our nine counties meet the needs of multilingual students and families. With 20 years in this role, I am deeply passionate about the work I do.
My journey began in Southern California in 1997. I immediately knew that supporting multilingual learners would be my life’s calling. When I joined Butte County Office of Education (BCOE) in 2005, I got the rare opportunity to design a support system that had never before existed in our region. Thanks to the visionary leadership at BCOE, I felt empowered to implement my ideas—ideas that focused on the unique needs of our rural districts and multilingual students. This creativity has allowed me to build a robust network. Today, I collaborate with departments like Migrant Education, Mini Corps, and Future Educator Support. I’ve also gotten to work alongside local districts on various grants and initiatives.
The Courage to be Creative
One of the greatest gifts of working in a county office is the freedom to be innovative. BCOE has always allowed me to dream big about what education could look like for multilingual students, with the right support. It’s a dynamic environment that encourages us to create our own niches while staying committed to our ultimate goal: improving outcomes for our students.
On this Saturday morning, I could be out climbing mountains on my gravel bike or running laps around Bidwell Park, two of my favorite weekend activities. But being here, strengthening relationships with 40 like-minded colleagues, is far more rewarding. If I wasn’t here today, I would miss the deep conversations we share about the challenges facing our multilingual families. I’d miss the creative solutions we generate together, and the ongoing learning that keeps us all engaged and inspired. Over the years, many of these colleagues have become friends. Our shared commitment to our multilingual students is what binds us together.
Education is a journey with no true finish line. We will always have multilingual families in our schools, and we will continue to find new ways to serve them. And so, I say to my colleagues, to all of us: adelante—let’s keep moving forward, together.
Holly Harding is Region II English Learner Specialist at the Butte County Office of Education.
Interested in writing your own BCOE Voices column? Email Communications Officer Travis Souders at tsouders@bcoe.org.