Susana Franco-Fuenmayor became Pearland ISD's first director of bilingual education in March. Before joining the district, she was a dual-language teacher for 12 years in Houston ISD, an assistant research scientist and graduate research assistant at Texas A&M University and an assistant professor at University of St. Thomas in Houston. She spoke with Community Impact Newspaper about her new role, as well as her passion for dual-language learners. The interview has been edited for clarity. Why was the role created? The district saw the need for more direction in the department. Actually, the programs have grown through the years. The dual language program started seven years ago, so our first cohort of students is getting to sixth grade, and there were also some concerns about some of our English learners at the secondary level and where they’re struggling, and being able to have more direction and more training. What is your background? I am actually a secondary language learner myself. I came to the US when I was a sophomore in high school with no English. I moved here from Venezuela with my parents at that time. I started at a very large high school in HISD, with a very big cultural shock because first you’re in a new country, you’re in a big high school, a lot of people are talking to you and you can’t understand them. My mom is also an educator, she is a retired from being a principal, and I always had that passion for teaching kids to learn in another language. Of course, I went to college to become a bilingual teacher. That was my goal and my dream. I believed in giving kids not only the opportunity to learn the language but also the academic content that they could really be successful in life if they could do it in two languages. Why did you choose Pearland ISD? One of the things that really attracted me to the position was twofold. On one side, it’s the dual language passion—having to be a dual language teacher, to train many teachers to be dual language teachers, and to have the opportunity to expand the program and see the kids that are now starting sixth grade go all the way to high school. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime to see that actually happen in practice. To see a program really be sustained pre-K through 12 and have the support of the administration, I think that is very crucial. The administration really supports it and that is usually one of the toughest things for the directing programs. Another thing that attracted me to apply for the job was when I saw they were really trying to target the secondary students. I saw a lot of classmates who really struggled and who dropped out, were not motivated to be in school, and I think all students deserve an opportunity to be better and to get ready for college. I really like the Pearland area. If I had to relocate, it would probably be in this area. I would love to grow my future family to be part of this district. I look at it to be here for a very long time—to make an impact. What makes a successful program? I think it all starts with administration support but really to target the professional development that teachers need. We want our kids to be not only be bilingual but also bi-literate—to read and write in Spanish and in English in this case—and we also you know, be bi-cultural. There is no need for you to give up your culture, but you can learn from other cultures as well.