ESL students tour, learn about city government in Bowling Green

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Just as Kentucky lawmakers are discussing a bill to require a civics course and testing in high schools, one local school district is way ahead of that standard.

On Friday, 30 English as a second language, or ESL, students from Greenwood High School toured several departments that make up Bowling Green city government to get a real world idea of how they work together.

The Greenwood students are currently learning about the structure of government in the classroom and the important people and places in our communities.

Monica Porter, an ESL teacher at Greenwood High School, says, “We’ve had fun at every stop. It’s been interesting to see the BG Transit, how that can be really useful to their families. And the police and fire department, of course, were very welcoming, and this was really great too. They really enjoyed getting to meet the mayor.”

Porter says the students have also been studying clean drinking water this semester, and today’s visit to the water treatment plant brought that learning to life.