Every Monday evening for the rest of the year teachers Lilia Ben-Ayed and Peggy White will remain late at school. From 6-7:30 p.m. they will host a free English program for parents of RBHS students.
“We wanted to have a way to reach the parents of our students,” Ben-Ayed said. “If we teach the parents of our students to speak English, then they can be helpful and supportive in their children’s journey in learning English.”
She said they added this program after many parents had complained of the program at Douglas because of  inconvenient time and a long waiting list. The new addition to the English Language Learner program at RBHS will be fully equipped with Rosetta Stone. Senior Mariam Yahya, who came to the United States the summer before her junior year and is a student in the ELL program here, said that the program is very helpful to the students and parents, and most of them could not afford to use Rosetta Stone on their own.
“This program is so important because a lot of international students and their parents would never have had access to this program, because the cost is too large, and their money is being spent on other things like rent,” Yahya said. “This will allow parents to have access to an easy and simple way to learn English, without any waiting list or any cost.”
By Maria Kalaitzandonakes