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Sieh spent her first years teaching, in Miami, like her mother. She said, \u201cAnybody that works as a teacher in Miami, you are going to be an (English as a Second Language) [ESL] teacher because there are so many countries and cultures represented in a metropolitan city. That being where I started teaching, my Bachelor of Theology of Missions worked hand in hand with dealing with different cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sieh and her husband moved in her earliest teaching years and settled in Greenville, Tennessee, for a while. In Greenville, there was talk about her obtaining her master\u2019s degree and ESL certification. She planned to pursue it, but another move to another city with her husband\u2019s work put things on hold. Over the years, Sieh taught Spanish, science, and biology and ultimately arrived in Lincoln County as a middle school math teacher. They recognized the value of her bilingual skills and asked if she\u2019d be interested in obtaining an ESL certification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI kept thinking this would be a natural fit because I\u2019m an American immigrant. I was born in Cuba and came to America when I was almost 4 years old. My memories are very clear, and I remember what it\u2019s like learning the language and entering the school system. Understanding the school system\u2019s navigation was a natural fit for my becoming an ESL teacher,\u201d Sieh said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who better to empathize with students and their difficulties in navigating and transitioning into our American education system?<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to know what\u2019s going on to follow the path a student may want. You\u2019ve got to know what you\u2019re doing. They need a guide through all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ESL program at Highland Rim has evolved since she began in 2007 as a math teacher, with a few ESL students. As Lincoln County\u2019s immigrant population grew, Highland Rim\u2019s need for a teacher devoted to ESL grew. Sieh became their full-time ESL teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn ESL, you\u2019re trying to teach our language to children who come from a non-English based background to the level where they can function within the classroom so they can learn without that handicap. We may be teaching a math lesson at the same time we\u2019re teaching English because we\u2019re responsible for teaching the language of math, the language of social studies, or the language of science. I have to work hand in hand with their general education teachers,\u201d said Sieh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sieh\u2019s students are with her for only a short time each day. She has to maximize the value of their time. The students have varying degrees of familiarity with the English language, so teaching the group as a whole would be ineffective. One may have no English skills because they\u2019ve newly arrived. Another may have been in America since first grade and soon graduate ESL. Yet another may have been here a few years but struggling with his native language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said, \u201cYou end up needing to meet all of these needs. Some have strengths in one subject but not so much in another, yet all of their teachers need the students to learn the material. That\u2019s my job \u2013 not only helping them learn the English and the vocabulary of each subject, but also helping them access the knowledge of that subject.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have students that have been to college and graduated. I have students who\u2019ve started their own businesses. I\u2019ve had students that struggled with learning complete high school and become a supervisor in their workplace. Those are success stories. Every time they tell me of these successes, it fills me with pride. That\u2019s my goal, to help these children find their path and become productive members of our community and our society. That\u2019s my hope for these kids.\u201d Sieh said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She wants for each of them what she found in America and in Lincoln County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Lincoln County, Sieh feels wholly accepted, her differences embraced. Her passionate personality has been welcomed, empowering her care for her students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said, \u201cThey encourage me to be myself and reach these kids the way I feel I need to. That\u2019s the core of us all; what we crave and want and desire. I\u2019ve found it in Lincoln County.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gema (pronounced Hemma) is Spanish, meaning gem, and Sieh (pronounced See) is her husband\u2019s German last name \u2013 a melding of languages and cultures, like her. In her life story, we see a jewel of a teacher. GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThey want a better life. They want a better life and more opportunities for their children. The majority of the immigrants that come to America, that\u2019s what they\u2019re looking for,\u201d she said. It\u2019s the same thing her parents wanted for her. She is Gema Sieh, a Cuban immigrant rooted in teaching and the American dream. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC04647-1024x683.jpg\")
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