Posted on December 4, 2025 by Katelyn Juarez
Seven master’s students step forward as leaders in supporting multilingual learners
Students at Irving Dual Language Academy engage in classroom learning using laptops.
The College of Education and Human Development has been revolutionizing education for multilingual learners through Project SELFIES (Secondary English Learners and FamilIES), an initiative designed to equip educators with culturally and linguistically responsive teaching strategies.
Funded by a $2.5 million National Professional Development grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OLEA), the five-year project – awarded in 2021 – prepares secondary in-service teachers in local school districts to earn supplementary certification in English as a Second Language (ESL) or bilingual education. Participants also earn their Master of Arts degree through the department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies. Every activity within the program is designed to advance equitable schooling practices for multilingual students in grades 7-12 and their families.
Project SELFIES cohorts run over two calendar years, with participants completing five master’s-level courses in the first year, engaging in professional learning communities (PLCs), receive coaching and support, and taking ESL or bilingual education certification exams. In the second year, they complete any remaining courses needed for their MA degrees. The program covers all tuition, fees, books and exam expenses, ensuring that financial barriers do not stand in the way of their professional growth.
This semester, seven students from the Project SELFIES cohort are graduating. These master’s students brought unique experiences and perspectives into the program and now carry that knowledge forward into their careers and future academic pursuits.
For graduates like Dara Russell, earning a Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language, the program has been transformative. Transitioning from a special education and dyslexia teacher into an Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) facilitator, she reflects, “It’s about more than just getting a degree. It’s about opening yourself up to acceptance and understanding different cultural perspectives, applying culturally responsive frameworks to real life and making things available for all language learners.”
Another graduate, Myra Chavez, completing a Master’s in Bicultural-Bilingual Education, found Project SELFIES equally impactful. Coming from a background in secondary ESL education, she saw the program as a chance to expand her expertise before moving into elementary education, a level she had never taught before. “I wanted to get as much training as possible,” Chavez recalled.
Her training translated into real-world impact. Chavez co-organized a literacy fair in Boerne with the SELFIES team that boosted parent participation from just seven families to more than 50. “The goal is supporting the bilingual education program, the ESL program and building capacity for our teachers,” she explained.
Assignments like literacy boxes encouraged students of the Project SELFIES cohort to explore their own cultural and linguistic identities, helping them understand how personal experiences shape educational approaches.
As education for bilingual and multilingual learners becomes increasingly vital in communities across the nation, Project SELFIES graduates are stepping into schools and districts ready to lead from a linguistically responsive lens. They are not only educators but advocates who see the uniqueness of many languages in the classroom not as a challenge, but as an opportunity to foster a welcoming environment and cross-cultural awareness.
As Russell puts it, “We’re not just learning teaching techniques, we’re learning how to be more human, more understanding.”
— Katelyn Juarez
