Illinois school district approves two new Assyrian language courses
Yasmeen Altaji | Nov. 15, 2023
A public high school district in the Chicago area has approved two new Assyrian language courses for the 2024-2025 school year.
The Niles Township High School District 219 (D219) board on Tuesday approved Assyrian Language II, the next progression in its inaugural Assyrian language course sequence. The board also approved a separate class for heritage speakers. Both courses will be offered at the regular and Honors levels.
D219 made history last year when it became the first public high school district in the U.S. to offer an accredited Assyrian language course. This is the first year the district rolled out the course, titled Assyrian Language I, also offered at the regular and Honors levels.
Ramina Samuel, a counselor at Niles North High School who was involved in the years-long effort to bring Assyrian language courses to the district, one of the schools within D219, told The Word this week’s approval are steps closer to a four-year program tailored to fit student needs.
“Within level one [of the course], we have such a diverse group of students—students that never learned to speak Assyrian or who’ve never been exposed. Maybe they're not even Assyrian, or they're advanced, they've learned through church or community centers and want more challenging work,” she said. “The more we advance the language program, the more variation we can offer for these kids so that they're more appropriately placed.”
William Sargool teaches the Assyrian I course, along with four sections of math, at Niles West High School in D219. He told The Word
“Students were continually asking the question, at least in my class, ‘Well, what's going to come next? Is there even an Assyrian II?’,” he said. “I'm sure they are definitely excited.”
According to Sargool, the team behind the Assyrian language program submitted proposals for the two courses on Sept. 1 for approval by the district’s Curriculum Standards for School Improvement (CSSI) committee, per district procedure. He said Tuesday’s news brings hope for the future of the program.
“I'm just looking forward to not only next year, but the years to follow and to see how the program will continue to grow,” Sargool said.
The board also voted to approve an external documentary project on the Assyrian language courses at Tuesday’s meeting. Last month, Maine East High School in Illinois’ school district 207 also voted to begin offering Assyrian as a World Language course next year, becoming the second district to do so.
Editor’s note: This story was updated Nov. 15 to include comment from William Sargool, an Assyrian language teacher at Niles West High School.