By Meg Booth (she/her), Youth Education and Advocacy Specialist

"My whole sense of reality was shaped through English, which is positioned, not as a neutral language, but as a seemingly essential tool in a world where it holds social, economic and political power."

My own story of coming to the United States started with the loss of language. My life’s trajectory changed immediately after being brought to Pittsburgh as a baby. English became my native language; the language I would come to think, feel, and dream in, and Chinese (whether it would have been Mandarin or Cantonese) has become incomprehensible to me.

As an international adoptee, my immigration and language experiences are quite different from students who are part of ARYSE programs. I had immediate access to material resources that, for better or worse, seamlessly facilitated my academic and linguistic integration. I don’t remember learning English, and there was never a time when I couldn’t use language to communicate with teachers or peers. But these experiences influence how I’m oriented towards English language learning and how I think about my role in that process for students at ARYSE programs.

Meg as a baby "reading" the book "My First Book of ABCs".

Prior to coming to ARYSE, I worked in several English language-learning educational contexts including as a Teaching Assistant through the Fulbright program, and an English Instructor at Literacy Pittsburgh. These experiences have also led me to think more critically about what it really means to participate in supporting English language learning.

My whole sense of reality was shaped through English, which is positioned, not as a neutral language, but as a seemingly essential tool in a world where it holds social, economic and political power. Knowing English is power, and, you’re taught to believe, the default. Yet I also find myself questioning the validity of that power and the belief that the onus is on individuals to change (learn English) rather than community and institutional practices shifting to be more linguistically inclusive and equitable.

Meg at PRYSE Academy 2021 as one of our co-directors.

I think a lot about the ways that throughout history, learning English, especially in educational contexts, has been forced on different communities, and that only specific forms of English are deemed acceptable. How do our assumptions and perspectives change when we consider that English isn’t merely an objectively benevolent tool to greater opportunity but also holds a history of violence and colonization?

The pressure and urgency to learn English is an omnipresent reality for many of the students at ARYSE upon arriving in the U.S. Across our programs, students, especially those who have recently arrived, ask for more targeted English learning opportunities. Students and families are constantly navigating spaces where they are expected to communicate in English or run the risk of missing out on important information and resources. There’s also the motivation to be socially connected.

One student recently told me that what frustrates her the most about not understanding English isn’t missing out on academic lessons, but rather not being able to understand her peers and express herself to them. This makes me think about the importance of creating spaces with multi-lingual cultures–where it becomes the norm to share, uplift and provide opportunities to develop the language skills in students’ first language(s) and how those spaces have the potential to benefit all students. What do we lose or miss out on when we prioritize English?

The first meeting with our Afghan Youth Support program during the 22-23 school-year.

For us at ARYSE working within these realities, we must be able to show up for youth in ways that are responsive to the support they request in reaching their language goals without validating systems and beliefs that center English as the most legitimate language to produce knowledge and ways of being. Furthermore, we must remain critical of the standards we are asking students to aspire towards, the narratives we are potentially reinforcing, and inequities we are perpetuating when we design lessons and experiences that ask students to, in English, familiarize themselves with U.S. systems. And, how can we use our program spaces and relationships with students and families to build solidarity to uncover hypocrisies and contradictions together?

As ARYSE moves towards our own involvement in advocacy work, it’s important that we grapple with these questions and gain a better understanding of our positionality and role within the education-community ecosystem. Not only do we learn a great deal from facilitating programming, it’s also an important site for creating alternatives and the spaces we want to exist for young people.

Meg listens to one of our students at our Understanding Money Post-Secondary program event.

This summer was the first time at PRYSE Academy that we incorporated English classes taught by certified English Language Development (ELD) teachers into the camp day for all students. This shift in program design was in direct response to student feedback, and teachers had creative freedom to further tailor lessons to students’ interests. With the support of trained educators who are also interested in building educational spaces outside of the confines of traditional schools, we hope to continue building on this model to configure approaches to language learning that are student-centered and remain critical of the why and what we are teaching.

In over a decade of programming, students have frequently shared challenges they face in schools and to their educational goals more broadly. We’ve worked alongside students and families on a case-by-case basis and learned a lot through these experiences. What we’ve learned has also directly influenced decisions on how the organization grows (ex. starting the Post-Secondary Support program, creating the Youth Advocacy & Education Specialist position). In addition to partnering with teachers at PRYSE, this summer, we have been working with a group of Pittsburgh Public Schools teachers to support their advocacy work that began last summer with the proposed school changes and closures in the district (Future Ready Facilities Plan).

Since last summer, several English Language Development (ELD) teachers have been publicly advocating for more support and improved educational experiences for their students. We’ve been learning a lot through these recent opportunities to work more with teachers, which has helped us further our understanding of our role and leverage in advocacy work. To learn more about what we’re advocating for in PPS alongside educators, you can listen to this recording from this past Monday’s Public Hearing where 3 of these educators and our Executive Director share recommendations for transforming and improving experiences of English Learners across the district.

Meg, Jenna, and several Pittsburgh Public School ESL teachers meet to discuss advocacy strategies.

Ultimately, we envision our role in advocacy being one that centers student and family agency in their educational experiences in the U.S. We know that this agency is inherent and should never be denied or overlooked simply because it’s not exercised in English. In order to be truly grounded in youth voice and perspective, we must also build advocacy around the understanding that we, as youth workers and adults, are in an interconnected struggle with youth.

Part of how we hope to do this is through building our student alumni network and convening more collaborative spaces with people in different positions (students, families, teachers, organizations, community members, etc.) to be in direct conversation with one another. We hope this work will move us towards more collective reimagination of what academic success means, and what youth well-being in educational spaces looks like beyond current standards of achievement.

Amidst the aforementioned advocacy work, we’re keeping a close eye on updates from the federal level that have already and will continue impacting education access for immigrant students and their families. While there are preexisting structural challenges of support for English learners, we know that the further proposed dismantling of these supports will have rippling effects on school districts, teachers, students, families, service providers, and community members at large.

Relevant News We’re Watching:

We consulted the Education Law Center here in Pittsburgh to gain some insight on what it means for the current administration to rescind the 2015 guidance that provided more specificity on the education of English Learners. Here’s what they shared: “The good news is that the guidance builds on existing federal laws and Supreme Court cases that protect English Learners from discrimination and require schools to provide language instruction to English Learners. Removing guidance or making declarations through Executive Order does not change existing law or case law. For example, the Supreme Court case Lau v. Nichols confirms that Els requires meaningful access to education that is equal to their English-speaking peers and Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Equal Education Opportunities Act both require schools to provide ESL to ELs.”

Blog Issue 5: Learning English, Learning Systems: Advocating for a More Accessible Future

Falling Into Another School Year - September 2025

Thank YOU!