Joliet’s District 86 hires its first French bilingual English language resource specialist

Kira Cloonan’s dream job was teaching French at the high school level.

But halfway through student teaching, Cloonan was placed in an elementary English language classroom for five hours of service.

“I thought, ‘Wait a minute. I want to be a high school teacher. I’m not sure I’m going to like this,’ ” Cloonan recalled. “And I absolutely loved it. While I did connect well with the high school students, I did enjoy working with the younger kids.”

She’s now the French bilingual English language resource specialist in Joliet Public Schools District 86. She works with students in kindergarten through fifth grade at Carl Sandburg and Sator Sanchez elementary schools in Joliet and one student at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Joliet.

“Once I found out this job was available, I just had to try for it,” Cloonan said.

It’s the first job out of North Central College for Cloonan, who started her new role at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year. And Cloonan is District 86′s first French-English language resource specialist.

Elizabeth Greenwood, English language learners coordinator in District 86, said the district has 21 students who speak French as their native language, making them the third-largest language group in the district.

“Many of them are coming from Algeria, which is also very interesting,” Greenwood said. “We actually have 14 total languages in our school district.”

Spanish is No. 1, English is No. 2, and Arabic is No. 4, she said.

District 86′s English as a second language staff supports students in listening, speaking, reading and writing English, Greenwood said. Computer-based supports in District 86 include Lexia and Rosetta Stone for younger students, Greenwood said.

Why are so many families from Algeria moving to Joliet? Greenwood said she isn’t quite sure, but District 86 does offer “an amazing education "

“When a family moves here, several other family members move to the area as well,” she said.

Ankhe Bradley, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said District 86 also is working hard to find resources in all native languages in District 86.

“When we go to some of our junior high libraries, we’ll see a Spanish section and an emergent French section of books to really embrace the needs of all our students,” Bradley said.

Need for teachers who speak French

Cloonan said she fell in love with the French language while taking four years of classes at Schaumburg High School.

According to her LinkedIn page, she majored in French with secondary education, minored in English language learner, served as a board member of the college’s French club and became involved with two organizations to help her succeed as a first-generation college student.

“It’s amazing what can happen when the child feels heard.”

—  Kira Cloonan, French Bilingual English Language Resource Specialist, District 86 in Joliet

Cloonan said it’s a misconception that the French language is spoken only in France.

“So many cultures speak the French language,” Cloonan said.

She said the need is high for French bilingual English language resource specialists, especially since many colleges actually discontinued their French language programs due to waning popularity. But Illinois has many French speakers who are not being served, Cloonan said.

Her position in District 86 actually was available last school year, she said.

“I actually applied before I graduated college,” Cloonan said.

Cloonan does more than teach English to her students. She also helps build the child’s confidence in using the English language.

“It’s amazing what can happen when the child feels heard,” she said. “I just admire the district’s commitment to serving so many students of many languages.

“I’m grateful they put that effort into providing them a teacher that can speak to them in their native language.”

Know more

Current student languages in District 86 include:

• Spanish – 4,920

• English – 4,709

• French – 21

• Arabic – 9

• Tagalog – 4

• Lao – 4

• Yoruba – 4

• Akan – 2

• Karen (S-gaw) – 2

• Malayalam – 2

• ASL (American Sign Language) – 1

• Gujarati – 1

• Thai – 1

• Other – 4