Thompson High School recently honored the outstanding achievements of English Learner students during a special ACCESS Awards ceremony. Each spring, students across Alabama take the ACCESS text for ELLs assessment, which measures growth in academic English across listening, speaking, reading, writing, and overall proficiency. This event recognized the remarkable progress of students who have worked diligently throughout the year to strengthen their language skills.
At the celebration, students were recognized for:
* Highest score in each area
* Most overall growth
* Meeting growth targets
* Achieving the score to exit the ESL program
Certificates of achievement were awarded to winners, while students who demonstrated the most growth in their grade level or successfully exited the program also received special goodie bags.
The celebration was made possible through the support of district and school leaders, including Dr. Wesley Hester, Dr. Amanda Wilbanks, Dr. Kristen Westwood, Dr. Brent Byars, and Mrs. Amanda Rodriguez. Thompson’s dedicated ESL teachers, Dr. Ashley Riner and Mr. Cesar Rivas, played an instrumental role in organizing the event and guiding students toward success.
The ACCESS Awards shine a spotlight on the hard work and accomplishments of Thompson High School’s multilingual learners and reflect the school’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive.