Willowbrook hosts Multilingual Week to celebrate student diversity

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At District 88, we’re proud to have a diverse school community – about 50 languages and more than 30 countries are represented, and more than one-third of the nearly 2,000 students at Willowbrook speak a language other than English.

To recognize and celebrate that diversity, Willowbrook hosted a Multilingual Week from April 17 to 21, during which staff and students participated in the following events. The goal was to show students that being multilingual is an asset and has many benefits.

• Daily announcements with information about various languages and more
  
  
• Games for students to participate in during lunch, which featured information about various languages, as well as prizes
  
  
• Posters designed by students that showcased multilingual celebrities, as well as facts about multilingualism
  
  
• A map displayed in the lunchroom for students to pin where their family is from originally
  
  
• A contest where resource classrooms had the opportunity to decorate their doors to represent non-English-speaking countries
  
  
• A Spirit Week to celebrate the event, with a different theme/color each day
  
  
• As part of a Community Research and Literacy Unit, 62 English Learner (EL) 3 students visited Chicago on April 27 to do research on architecture and its function within the community. This was the perfect way to wrap up Multilingual Week.