Representing Houston: Bellaire’s World Language Magnet Program Draws Students from Across the City

As the high school with the highest enrollment in HISD, Bellaire High School is known for incorporating Houston’s diverse population into its student body. One may subsequently ask: How does the school attract students from so many different backgrounds? One major draw is the school’s World Language Magnet Program.
Bellaire’s Magnet program allows students to choose two languages from the options of Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Latin, Hindi, and Spanish.

The program “provide[s] equity of education opportunities for students all over the city,” said Ms. Yabei Yin, Bellaire’s magnet coordinator. “If a student isn’t zoned to Bellaire, they still have the chance to apply,” she explained.

“I’ve gotten a lot of different friends from different cultures, and it’s cool to broaden my friend group with all these different people,” Natalie Perrin, a sophomore in the Magnet program taking Hindi and Spanish, stated. Perrin often volunteers at cultural club events associated with the language courses she takes, such as the Diwali Festival hosted by the South Asian Student Association, Bollywood Club, and Hindi National Honor Society.

Students not directly involved in the Magnet program profit from Bellaire’s wide language selection too. Sophomore Joseph Locklin has always wanted to learn Italian, the language of great writers like Giacomo Leopardi, Dante, and Petrarch. At Bellaire, he has that opportunity. “[Acquiring Italian] helps me understand the nuances of what [those writers] are saying,” he emphasized.

For others, mastering a language is about deepening their perspective of their own culture. Sophomore Sara Patel is a native Arabic speaker, yet she still believes her Arabic class provides new insight into the traditions she grew up with. “When we were all fasting for Ramadan, [my teacher] explained: This is why we’re fasting,” Patel cited as an example.

Lunar New Year Kung Fu Performance: Aldric Tanzil, Alex Starnes, Elaine Wang, and Austin Byun strike an iconic pose for their Kung Fu performance during the most recent Bellaire Lunar New Year festival. (Photo: Emily He)

Similarly, sophomore Alexander Starnes took Mandarin Chinese to “communicate with [his] family in China.” “[Mastering Chinese] helps me promote part of my culture,” Starnes, who is half Chinese, expressed. Like Perrin, Starnes also appreciated participating in cultural activities hosted by clubs his language class sponsors. “I really enjoyed the Lunar New Year performance,” he said, recalling his involvement in the Kung Fu demonstration during the festival. “That was the biggest [event] we had where you could see all these different cultures,” he continued. The festival was a collaboration between student organizations including the Chinese Honor Society and K-pop club.
Starnes points to one of the most important benefits the World Language Magnet Program brings to Bellaire- a sense of community.

“The [language] teachers are not just promoting one language- they really want the students to learn about different cultures, to broaden their horizons,” Ms. Yin said. Under the Magnet program, students come together to celebrate the stories of cultures from around the world- stories best understood through the lens of those cultures’ native languages.

“It brings a lot of culture and diversity into this campus,” Ms. Yin noted. “We’re one of the most diverse high schools in Texas, and I think it’s just a great thing.”