S4/E18: Providing Newcomers with Equitable Access to Services During School Closures with Elizabeth Leone

On this episode of our Look for the Helpers series, we talk with Elizabeth Leone about what she is doing through her school and community to ensure her most vulnerable students and their families have access to critical educational services. We also discuss why access to technology at home is so important to maintain educational equity, particularly for the newcomers who Elizabeth serves.  If you'd like to join us on our Look for the Helpers series to share your story with fellow educators, go to bit.ly/ELLHelper.  You can find all of the resources we mention in the episode on our Look for the Helpers short video series. Elizabeth Leone is an ESL teacher and Project-based Learning (PBL) coach in Manchester, New Hampshire. She teaches in a sheltered instructional settings for newcomers from all over the world. She completed her Masters in TESOL and her undergraduate studies in Elementary Education. Elizabeth is passionate about making learning more equitable and attainable for all students, especially those with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE). She uses project-based learning as a way to meet learners where they are with their language skills and rapidly streamline their education to get them into mainstream classes. Using PBL strategies, she is able to simultaneously work on language acquisition, content education, and 21st century skills in a way that keeps them motivated to learn.