MMSD’s Sandra Franco earns first 2023 Crystal Apple award

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Our first Crystal Apple Award goes to an early childhood speech and language teacher in the Madison Metropolitan School District whose work allows Spanish-speaking students to flourish.

Mrs. Sandra Franco works with about half of MMSD’s bilingual students who need speech and language intervention in preschool. She uses books and toys to help the students first master their native language so they are prepared to start learning a second language when they enter kindergarten and hear primarily English.

“The district thinks it’s better to start at an early age to fix or complete the Spanish, because sometimes they listen to two languages and do not develop Spanish completely,” Franco said. “My work is in areas of comprehension, expression, articulation, to prepare the child for 4k or 5k.”

Franco grew up in Colombia, nearly 3,000 miles away. After a brief stint in medicine, she switched to teaching.

“My parents no like it, but yes, I switched!” Franco said. “They no love it, but I love it, work with children.”

Franco’s career started in Mexico. She then headed home to work in Colombia before moving to Madison to work with bilingual students here who need speech and language intervention.

“I bring toys because in this age is easier for them to learn and during the game introduce concepts, ideas, vocabulary, model articulation, because at this age they don’t pronounce correctly the words,” Franco said.

MMSD Speech Program Support Megan Pierce praised Franco for her work.

“She’s just able to use any material to target any skill, and so she has a book and she can use it to target any of the language pieces she needs to target, and the speech sounds she needs to target, and she makes it so fun and exciting for them,” Pierce said.

As a native Spanish speaker who is also working to master English, Franco says she sees herself in her students and takes pride in walking them down a path to a brighter future.

Franco works with about 25 bilingual early childhood speech and language students every week, meeting both at Head Start and in the students’ homes to also model how parents can support their child’s learning.

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