Every year, Porter High School welcomes hundreds of new students. While many of these students are able to quickly adjust to the school environment and familiarize themselves with our school and its layout, students who do not speak English often have a harder time understanding instructions and locating key areas and important places around our school.

With the help of our administrators, teachers, and students at our school, Mr. Valle and his 6th-period Spanish class have created a new project called ¡Bienvenidos a Nuestra Escuela! – which translates to “Welcome to Our School”. In this new project, students will work together to create a virtual, bilingual tour of our school designed to assist non-English speaking students.

In this project, students will work collaboratively to identity and highlight the most important areas of the school such as the cafeteria, library, gym, office, and specific classes. Different groups of students will plan scripts and develop storyboards that explain the activities that take place in each location and introduce the staff members who work there, providing essential information for newcomers. The virtual tour will feature both Spanish and English subtitles, ensuring accessibility for students who speak either language.

The main goal of this project is to help those new students who come to our school and don’t speak English feel more welcomed and supported. We understand that a language barrier can make it more difficult to follow instructions, ask for help, or just simply feel at ease in a new environment. By creating this tour, we hope to ease the student’s transition, offering them a visual and verbal guide of the school, aiming to contribute to a more inclusive and supportive community at Porter High School, where every student can feel seen, heard, and valued.