Clarke Central High School world languages department teacher Dr. Marcela Garza teaches in Room 388 on Aug. 27, 2025. Garza has been the leader of the CCHS Multilingual Learners Student Group mentorship program since the second semester of the 2025-26 school year, which serves 27 students across all grade levels. “(In) MLL Student Group, I work with students whose primary language is not English, in ways in which we can mentor them to better adjust to Clarke Central,” Garza said. “This group is not based on academics like other groups are. It’s more (focused) on building networks of friendships and mentors.” Photo by Iliana Tejada
CCHS’ Multilingual Learners mentorship is a once-monthly program to provide mentorship and peer support to CCHS’ bilingual population.
Clarke Central High School’s Multilingual Learners Student Group, a mentorship program for bilingual students, meets once a month in Room 388 to bond with one another, learn from the program’s faculty leaders and discuss aspects of Latino identity.
The group is led by CCHS world languages department teacher Marcela Garza, who began the program during the second semester of the 2025-26 school year. For Garza, the program’s inspiration came from her experiences growing up in North Carolina, where she lived for years after moving from Monterrey, Mexico.
“Coming from a predominantly white space in North Carolina, I never saw Latinos do things that I wanted to do, like (being) teachers, until I went to college,” Garza said. “I want to bring (representation) to (mentees). I want to show them that there’s other people like us with accents, with different experiences (and) with struggles succeeding.”
“I want to show them that there’s other people like us with accents, with different experiences (and) with struggles succeeding.”
— Dr. Marcela Garza,
CCHS world languages department teacher
Activities that the club facilitates range from artwork centered around students’ identity to celebrations for holidays, including Día de los Muertos. These activities are facilitated by individuals across various departments, with CCHS science department teacher Enya Granados being one of the mentors.
“It’s important to have a program like this, because in a culture that is so English-dominant, there’s often not a lot of spaces or supports for students who are multilingual or emerging in their (bilingualism) with English. Having something that’s dedicated to support these students is something that’s important for their success,” Granados said.
The program differs from some other mentorship programs available to CCHS students, including as Equal Education for Athens, in that its focus is on identity and life skills, rather than purely academics. CCHS English for Speakers of Other Languages department teacher Alora Barasoain, who became an MLL mentor the 2026-27 school year, believes this sets MLL apart from other programs.
“It’s really important that kids can get a grasp on how to advocate for themselves, how to show up for themselves, what they need to do in order to be successful in school, in life, in relationships,” Barasoain said.
