English Language Learners hang out with their friends in the morning before classes begin.

The student population at Everett is nearly 1,500 students. Records show that the student body is made up of 47.6 percent African American, 28.6 percent Caucasian, 15.4 percent Hispanic, 7.7 percent  Asian and .7 percent Native American. Everett has a higher amount of diversity than other school in the area.
According to English as a Second Language  (ESL) support specialist Oralia Contreras, Everett has students from 34 different countries, and there are a total of 24 different languages spoken by students.
Some of these countries include Cuba, Haiti, Nepal, Mexico, Russia, Somalia, Thailand, and many more.
“We have many kids from different countries,” said Contreras, “We learn from one another, it’s great!”
Students also seem to think that Everett’s diversity is a great thing.
“I like to make new friends,” said sophomore Sinay Blanco. “I have friends from many places.”
The average ESL class is made up of 25 students or more. These students are all from different backgrounds brought together as a group where they work together to accomplish tasks or complete assignments.
After class, many students say they prefer to gather with students from their own country because they speak the same language and share a common culture making it easier to interact and communicate.
“I have friends in my classes,” said junior Xia Thao. “But I like to sit with my group during lunch because it’s easier for us to speak our language.”
Everett’s rich diversity allows students the opportunity to learn tolerance, acceptance and understanding, thus increasing their ability to think globally.  These are skills needed by young people today in order to be successful in the 21st century.

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