Monterey Institute for English Learners advocates bilingual teaching model

By Sophia Huang McKenzie

On a sunny fall morning at Lincoln Elementary in Salinas, the students in Elizabeth Matos and Gabriela Suarez’s third-grade class are sitting together in a corner of the classroom, listening intently to a story. Matos reads to them from “Charlotte’s Web,” the beloved children’s classic about Wilbur the pig and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte.

It’s a part of the day that every student in any elementary school will likely tell you is one of their favorites, next to recess and lunchtime. But something’s notably different about this storytime. Matos is reading to the students in Spanish.