Highest Aspirations

How might an EL teacher and his dynamic newcomers class react to having a journalist embed herself in their classroom for an entire school year? What partnerships might they form to learn more about students and what does this tell us about the resources schools have and do not have at their disposal? What are some of the best things about working with students who come with such a wide array of backgrounds, experiences, and skills? We discuss these questions and much more in our conversation with Eddie Williams.  Eddie’s newcomers class at Denver’s South High School was profiled as part of Helen Thorpe’s latest book entitled The Newcomers. In her book, Thorpe describes Eddie by stating,  “He was like a gardener, excited by seedlings. Where others might see students with limitations, or students who were lagging behind their peers, Mr. Williams saw a room filled with kids who had lived through titanic experiences, teenagers who could do anything at all, once they accepted whatever sort of history th