Melting pot: Bridging languages, cultures is goal of McHenry High multilingual program administrator

Family vacations to Mexico were just one of the things that made Kelsey Podgorski sure, even as a junior in high school, that she wanted a career teaching Spanish.

Other experiences – studying in Spain, working with Japanese students on a U.S. Naval base for a summer and trip with middle school students to Australia – “immersed me in their cultures for more than just your average trip length,” she said. “It solidified my love for learning cultures and languages.”

Podgorski taught middle and high school Spanish for 13 years before taking that love of learning about other cultures further. During COVID-19, she picked up an administrative degree “to see what was there, outside the classroom.”

It was during those advanced-degree courses that she decided running a districtwide multilingual program was where she wanted to focus, Podgorski said, even while noting that it was a rare speciality.

She is now the assistant director of multilingual education for McHenry High School District 156, a role she’s had since July 2023. It is an area of education that has exploded, she said. Between the two District 156 campuses, there are now 235 students in the multi-language program – about 10% of district enrollment. That number has increased from 180 students in just the last two school years, she said.

Upper Campus Principal Jeff Prickett said “the population of multi-language learners continues to grow. It is not just Spanish speakers. It is other languages and other cultures and meeting the needs of those learners.”

Besides Spanish, there are also students whose families speak Ukrainian, Russian, Thai, Polish and Serbian and more, Podgorski said. She and others in the district have worked to bring those cultures to the wider community via the district’s Multicultural Fair. The second annual event was held April 5 “to provide a great mix of cultures for everyone to experience,” Podgorski said.

She modeled the event on the Culture Blast festival held at Central High School in Burlington, where her husband works, but also from when her classes focused on American immigration. Her program aims to ensure that students learning a second language – or in some cases a third – are also getting all of the other parts of a high school education.

“They need to get into classes where they are still challenged” academically, Podgorski said.

Each year, the multi-language students are tested in their English proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and listening. They can also receive a seal of biliteracy.

This year, 35 students took the test for that biliteracy certification and one student tested as trilingual.

Showing literacy in two or more languages “is a really cool thing for kids to attempt,” Podgorski said.