Judy Gordon: Multilingual and Multiage Teacher Pioneer!

Originally from New York State, Judy Gordon was one of the cofounders in 1995 of the Zia Elementary School dual language program in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was hired to teach the Kindergarten-first-and-second grade class, while another teacher [podcast host clears throat] was hired to teach the third-fourth-and-fifth-grade class. To some, it might seem intimidating to take on the challenge of teaching three grades simultaneously in two languages. But for Judy, this model was simply the way education should be, since it better reflected the multilingual and multiage life outside the classroom that most of her students were experiencing. At the time Judy accepted the position, a dual-language program or strand within school was rather novel, since most of the other dual-language programs in the district were school-wide programs. This was yet another challenge Judy accepted without reservation. Over the eleven years she taught this class, she nurtured and taught several hundred students during the initial stages of their lifelong journey toward multilingualism. And now she’s off to fulfill a lifelong dream of visiting Cuba! Plus, we discuss circumstantial vs. elective multilingualism.