Teaching brings joy to Wildwood Elementary School’s Alexandra Horner, who was honored on Feb. 5 as the English as a Second Language Teacher of the Year by the Louisiana Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
“It’s a culmination of so much joyous work,” said Horner, who has been in education for 22 years, including 13 at Wildwood. “Everything that goes into loving a child and nurturing a child is magnified when you have a child that is vulnerable and speaks another language. You have to dig deep down to meet the needs of that child. … My kids are so humble. They’re so hardworking, and they deserve nothing less than a teacher who will dig deep herself and love them and advocate for them.”
Horner is one of the key reasons Wildwood had the highest ESL subgroup School Performance Score (80 B) in EBR Schools and was one of the few schools with a B SPS in the state. The school has shown consistent growth for the past three years.
With a large population of English Learners, the school had 22% become proficient on the English Language Proficiency Test along with many students on the trajectory.
“It’s always nice when one of our faculty members receives the recognition that they so richly deserve,” said Wildwood Principal Daniel Edwards.
“This is a very special place,” Horner said. “I could not have done or accomplished everything I have without the quality people in this building, the beautiful human beings who teach at such a high caliber. Mr. Edwards has supported me every step of the way.”
Horner has been joyfully dedicated to teaching and serving multilingual learners for the last 18 years.
Born in New York City, she graduated from Columbia University with two degrees, one in English literature and the other in elementary education. After working for several years in the private sector, she realized that public education was her true calling.
In 2003, Horner moved to Baton Rouge, where she began teaching fourth grade, and in 2007, the ESL Department hired her to work with children for whom English is a second language, both as an EL teacher and an ESL instructional specialist. Her students have made great strides under her tutelage, as evidenced by their social/emotional health and their positive assimilation to U.S. schools.
Additionally, her ELPT scores have exceeded both the district and the state in grades 2-5 for four years running. Horner believes that multilingual learners are true assets to the school community. As such, she has developed and provided countless opportunities for her students to feel welcome and empowered after school hours while engaging with language in meaningful ways.
Horner has been a program coordinator for Bilingual Prime Time Family Reading at Wildwood Elementary, serving English language learners and their families for the past five years. The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities family literacy program models reading and discussion in both English and Spanish so parents can implement these strategies at home in their preferred dominant language.
