FOR RELEASE: Monday, August 27, 2007
Former Springdale ESL Director Leads New Education Renewal Zone
Judy Hobson
The College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas announces the appointment of Judy Hobson of Springdale as director of a new Education Renewal Zone office for English language learners.
Hobson, who recently retired as coordinator of English as a Second Language and migrant programs in the Springdale School District, directs a newly established Education Renewal Zone that will focus exclusively on public schools with high populations of children learning English. Nick Tschepikow, a former principal of Ramay Junior High School in Fayetteville, directs the original Education Renewal Zone established in 2005 that partners with middle schools in Washington, Benton and Madison counties.
State legislation in 2003 created zones across Arkansas with the directive of fostering collaboration among public schools, colleges and universities, education service cooperatives, parents and community members. They are funded by the Arkansas Department of Education. The original Northwest Arkansas ERZ built partnerships across three counties, among a number of colleges on the University of Arkansas campus and with community resources, all aimed at improving student achievement and school performance throughout the region.
Hobson holds a bachelor’s degree in home economics education, a master’s degree in elementary education and a specialist’s degree in educational administration, all from the University of Arkansas, and a master’s degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages from Arkansas Tech University. She worked in public education for 39 years, including 13 years as a classroom teacher and 14 years as an elementary assistant principal. She was hired as director of federal programs for the Springdale district in 1995. The early 1990s saw the beginning of an influx of Spanish-speaking people to the area and their children to the schools.
“In 1989, the population of Springdale schools was 1 percent Hispanic,” Hobson said. “Today, it’s about 35 percent. Springdale grew in 1995 from 400 children who were English language learners to 6,200 last year.”
The number of people living in the area who speak languages other than Spanish, such as the Hmong and Marshall Islanders, has also grown significantly in that time period.
During her career in Springdale, Hobson organized many ESL training opportunities for teachers and conducted some of the training herself. She belongs to Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and Arkansas Teachers of Students of Other Languages, serving in several offices of the state organization, and has organized several state and regional conferences.
“I want to focus on some of the smaller school districts that don’t have the personnel in place to organize training and pursue funding to help their English language learners,” Hobson said. “I have resources and contacts I can use to help these schools get their programs started.”
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Contact:
Heidi Stambuck, director of communications
(479) 575-3138, stambuck@uark.edu