In a major decision more than seven years in the making, a committee tasked with reviewing curriculum changes in a Chicago-area public school district voted this month to recommend an Assyrian language and culture course.
If approved by the district’s Board of Education — set to hear the proposal on Oct. 11 and vote in November — it would become the first accredited Assyrian language program offered at a U.S. public high school. Students could register for the course beginning January 2023.
“This is a course that is not only something our district will offer, but it’s something that’s possible for any school in the state,” said Caroline Benjamin, a school administrator in District 219. “This truly becomes a blueprint for other districts.”
Niles Township High Schools (District 219), which includes Niles North and Niles West, enrolls more than 4,700 students, with roughly 30% estimated to be of Assyrian descent, according to D219, a parent group representing Assyrians in the district.
A long road to approval
Any new course in the district requires approval from the Curriculum Standards for School Improvement (CSSI) committee — a process that can take years and numerous meetings. In the case of the Assyrian language curriculum, work began in 2015 following a D219 Suraye parent meeting co-hosted by Benjamin.
The group was advised to start by surveying over 1,000 8th- to 10th-grade students. Despite initial interest, progress was slow as frequent turnover in school administration meant they had to regularly win over new educators, and some school officials raised concern that the new course could draw students away from other language programs.
A summer elective was trialed in 2017, enrolling ten students and taught by an Assyrian staff member. The program continued for three consecutive years, becoming a virtual course in 2020 due to the coronavirus.
Parents, however, wanted more. The course needed to be integrated into the regular school year and offered full-time in the fall and spring semesters.
Building momentum
Advocacy gained traction with the arrival of Ramina Samuel, a school counselor at Niles North and current co-sponsor of the Suraye parent group.
“Ramina came in and started asking the right questions and started pushing in a way that took people out of their comfort zone,” Benjamin said. “They started realizing, ‘These people aren’t going away, these people aren’t going to stop.’”
A full-time curriculum was presented to CSSI in fall 2021. The committee responded favorably, but noted a major obstacle: the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) had yet to recognize Assyrian as a world language in the state catalog, preventing an accredited public high school course.
“That was not something at that time that seemed possible,” Benjamin said. “We didn’t have the team that we do have now advocating at that level.”
State-level support
Assyrian activists and political leaders mobilized. Atour Sargon, Lincolnwood Trustee, and Reine Hanna, Director of the Assyrian Policy Institute, pressed state representatives to bring the curriculum to the attention of ISBE.
“The significant progress made in recent weeks is the result of many years of advocacy and persistence by advocates and community members,” Sargon wrote. “Had the community not pushed for it in the face of immense obstacles, we simply wouldn’t have reached this stage in the process.”
With support from State Rep. Jen Gong-Gershowitz, co-chair of the newly established Illinois Assyrian Caucus, ISBE approved thirteen Assyrian courses in December 2021. These have since been added to the Illinois State Course Catalog, slated for release this fall.
Final steps
Even with state approval, the course still required CSSI’s recommendation.
The Suraye parent group collaborated with community activists to build support among school officials. During a February briefing with the district’s Board of Education, Assyrians presented more than 800 letters from community members advocating for the course — and submitted these to the committee alongside the ISBE approval.
But since changes to the district’s course catalog are only approved by CSSI once a year in September, the proposal faced another delay.
While the course sat in summer limbo, World Language teacher Thomas Neal, together with Samuel and math teacher William Sargool, worked on the curriculum’s design. They collaborated with Australia’s Assyrian schools, which had already developed a K-12 program and accompanying textbook series.
After six months, Assyrian parents and educators on Sept. 13 returned for a third presentation to CSSI. This time, they faced a committee that had nearly triped in size, prompting renewed questions including concerns about whether the course would reduce enrollment in other world languages.
Following the meeting, the curriculum was recommended for the Board of Education’s approval. It is slated to be offered as a two-year language course fulfilling students’ world language requirement.
Details regarding who will teach the course are still being finalized. At the state level, the instructor will need a Professional Education License (PEL), with additional endorsements and teaching requirements to be determined by the district.
Looking ahead
As parents and educators await the Board’s final vote next month, efforts are already underway to expand the curriculum nationally.
“This didn’t start connecting until the right people were hired in the right positions,” Benjamin said. “That’s why bringing people into spaces like schools where they reflect the community truly matters. It couldn’t happen with just one person advocating.”
2 comments
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Important effort with high yield return possibilities. Very well written with emphasis on the persistence needed for eventual success. Congratulations to all, including the author.