UPDATE (Nov. 3)

With a historic vote at its November 2022 meeting, the District 219 Board of Education unanimously approved the Assyrian Language and Culture course proposal, making Niles Township High School District 219 the first in the nation to offer Assyrian as an accredited World Language option. This new course will enable students to study Assyrian in order to fulfill World Language requirements for graduation and it can be helpful when seeking college admission from specific institutions. The decision follows the addition of 12 new Assyrian language courses to the Illinois State Course Catalog.

Beginning with the 2023-24 school year, Niles North High School and Niles West High School will add Assyrian to the World Language course offerings.

Counselor Ramina Samuel shares her reaction to the Board’s unanimous vote.

This approval means more than just adding a World Language offering for our Assyrian community. It was evident in the ululations and the tears witnessed after the board vote from our students, parents, community members, and staff including myself. It felt that as a community we had been holding in our breath for decades and now have finally made it to the surface for some air. It is a great accomplishment to be the first in the nation. It took years of tireless efforts and advocacy led by amazing women. Moving forward, it is essential that our school community continues to ensure that our students are supported and informed so they can easily access this offering. 

I want to highlight the effective role that our Assyrian Family Liaisons, Janeet Askharia and Souzan Barkho, played through D219 Suraye in creating that bridge that made it possible for our families to communicate their needs. Without their roles, our families would not have had an equitable opportunity to access our school systems. 

In 2015, Niles North’s ELL/World Languages Executive Secretary Ms. Carmen Al-Bazi and Director of Student Activities Ms. Caroline Benjamin created an Assyrian parent group called “Suraye”, meaning “Assyrians”. The group was established to give guidance to Assyrian families to help support them, such as being able to navigate school, how to help meet with the College Career Counselor, using infinite campus/other academic platforms, and any requests/suggestions that they felt could benefit the Assyrian students’ time here at Niles North. 

Many parents started to suggest the idea for an Assyrian language course to be offered at District 219. At the time, Assyrian was not considered a world language in the state of Illinois. This obstacle made the goal unrealistic and required a lot of hard work and team effort to become successful.

In 2018 Niles North had welcomed a new counselor, Ms. Ramina Samuel. Being an Assyrian immirgrant herself, she started to push for the course on behalf of the Assyrian families in the district. She, as well as Benjamin and Niles West mathematics instructor Mr. William Sargool, dedicated a lot of their time and effort into reaching beyond school measures and finding ways to get a meeting with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). That’s when they reached out to the community, and got in touch with Village of Lincolnwood trustee Atour Sargon, and Assyrian community activist Reine Hanna for help. 

After Sargon and Hanna were able to get them a meeting in December 2021, ISBE approved the idea and felt it was equitable for communities that do not have the course. Now, any school in the state of Illinois could propose and offer an Assyrian language course. 

The next step was sending a course proposal to the Curriculum Standards for School Improvement (CSSI). The course proposal was sent in December 2021. In March 2022, the CSSI replied asking to “come back in September”, since that is the only time they consider and approve new courses. Over the summer, Samuel and Sargool teamed up with German and Spanish instructor Mr. Tom Neal, and wrote the curriculum for this course so they could present it again in September. 

The course was represented again to CSSI in September 2022 and then Oct. 11 2022, a board meeting was held asking the Board of Education to consider approving this as a course. The Board of Education gave back positive feedback towards the consideration. 

“It really took a team effort. No one could have done this on their own,” Benjamin said. “Worldwide we [Assyrians] have a small group, but locally we actually have a concentrated number in this township. So what is really beautiful in all of this is when we need to support one another, we are there. Which is why representation of staff in the school matters so much.”

After nearly a decade of advocating for this course, the official hearing/vote will take place on November 1, 2022. 

“I think the course will be a great opportunity for Assyrians and non-Assyrians to learn about who we are and what we have been through as Assyrians,”  junior Mary Shamoon said. “- and also just for the Board to be considering this course will be really important in Assyrian history.”

If the course is approved, it will be offered to all students at the start of next school year (August 2023- May 2024). Students will be able to register for the course in January 2023, which is when class registration usually takes place. The course will count as a world language credit or an elective credit. The goal for the course is to model every world language class and have a 4-year program, as well as a heritage course if needed. It is not for sure who will be teaching this class, but many strong candidates are being considered for the position. 

The course is not only going to be teaching students on the language, but as well as the culture, customs, traditions, and history of the Assyrians, which creates a greater importance towards it. 

“Assyrians have contributed greatly to humanity since ancient times and are an integral part of the Niles Township community,” Samuel said. “It is necessary to create a learning space that celebrates and highlights their contributions, a space that gives our students and future community members a means to thrive and support their community through language, and a space to allow for a better understanding of the culture for Assyrians and non-Assyrians.”

Niles North and Niles West will be the first high schools in the U.S to offer the Assyrian Language Course. These high schools are aimed to be an inspiration or the “blueprint” for other high schools around the U.S to offer this course.