PALCUS adopts Espírito Santo School

FALL RIVER — The Espírito Santo School has gained a whole new “family.”
    The Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States (PALCUS) has decided to adopt the first Portuguese parochial school in the United States. The announcement was made at a ceremony held at the school on Wednesday attended by a number of officials who joined in to celebrate the school’s 100th anniversary and its commitment to teaching the Portuguese language and culture.
    “I guess I am going to be the godmother for all of you because we’re going to adopt you,” said Dr. Odete Amarelo, a PALCUS Board director who also served as master of ceremonies for the event.
    Addressing the school’s entire student body, teachers and administrators, Dr. Amarelo said, “how magnificent to be here to celebrate all of you — you are the focus of this celebration.”
    PALCUS Board of Directors Chairman Fernando Rosa also expressed his pride and praise in the school’s commitment to teach Portuguese since its foundation and in reaching the centennial anniversary milestone.
    “I extend to you our congratulations for your success and we recognize your efforts to promote the Portuguese language and culture. We applaud your commitment to go forward without forgetting your roots. We’re here to help you advance to your next level,” said Rosa.
    He reminded the students about the importance of learning more than one language and about one’s roots.
    “You have two languages, you understand two cultures. This helps you to be prepared, and to be prepared is to win,” he said. “Don’t be ashamed of your roots; you can’t celebrate your future if don’t understand where you came from. We’re going to adopt you, so we can help you just a little bit. So, go forward, reach for the stars.”
    Rosa then presented several gifts to the school, including a plaque marking the school’s anniversary, children’s literature books in Portuguese, shirts, pencils, medals, small Portuguese flags and a check.
    “This is the first donation from Brown University to buy books,” said Rosa, whose words were received with great applause.
    Espirito Santo School opened its doors on September 19, 1910. Today, 260 students as young as three years old are learning Portuguese at the school.
    Principal Louise Kane said students learn numbers, colors and basic expressions as part of daily routines in Pre-Kindergarten. Portuguese is taught once a week to students in kindergarten to second grade. In upper grades, students are exposed to the language more frequently, and by the time they graduate most of them can read and write Portuguese with a high degree of proficiency, she said.
    “I am so proud of the children and I feel blessed to have visitors be part of our community,” said the principal. “It’s a very special feeling. I say we caught the spirit.”
    Kane estimated that 75 percent of the students come from Portuguese families, although some are already fourth generation.
    “I tell the kids how fortunate they are to be bilingual,” said the principal, who is Irish and is one of the few staff members who do not speak Portuguese. “I’m trying to learn. I make a point of learning one or two words a day. As PALCUS is adopting us, I am going to adopt this as my second language.”
    Kane described the new relationship with PALCUS as “wonderful.”
    “It’s a blessing to be able to have someone so supportive, an organization that we can call on that understands the importance of the language and culture,” she said.
    Portuguese Consul in New Bedford Graça Araújo Fonseca praised the school for its great contribution to enhance Portuguese culture and language in the Fall River area and thanked the parents for encouraging their children to undertake the task of learning a foreign language.
    Dr. Fonseca then told students that Portuguese is spoken by 240 million people in eight countries spread across four continents.
    “It is a value-added to speak a second language,” said the consul. “It will help you in the future when you reach the job market.”
    Fall River Diocese Superintendent of Schools George Milot also praised the school for exposing students to the Portuguese language and culture.
    “I’m so proud the Portuguese language is being taught in the diocese,” he said. “It’s part of my heritage and part of the heritage in Fall River.”
    Citations were then presented to Kane and to Espirito Santo Church Pastor James Ferry from the Massachusetts House of Representatives, U.S. Congress and City of Fall River.
    Mayor William Flanagan, who presented the municipal citation, commended the school for exposing students to the Portuguese language and heritage.
    “It’s so great the Portuguese language and culture has been taught to these school children for the last 100 years,” said the mayor. “It’s a disappointment to lose your roots, but that does not happen here at Espírito Santo. The teachers have made a concerted effort to make sure you don’t lose your heritage and culture.”
    During the celebration, students read and sang in Portuguese and sealed the occasion with a taste of massa sovada donated by area bakeries.
    “This is where it needs to start… at an early age,” said PALCUS Board Member Marie Fraley, a former speech-language pathologist, about learning a foreign language, as the ceremony was coming to an end.
    A larger celebration is planned for September when the school celebrates its 100th anniversary, Kane said.