Just a few seconds into the match, the Constance Lane Yellowjackets soccer team rockets home a goal. The student who scored and almost half of his teammates speak Swahili.
At most Illinois schools, the two most common languages spoken are English and Spanish. But what’s the third? Well, at Rockford Public Schools, that’s changed over the past few years. Swahili just passed Arabic.
Rockford says they serve around 700 Swahili students. According to the Illinois State Board of Education, there are just over 1,500 Swahili-speaking English learners in the state.
Constance Lane Elementary has more than any other school in Rockford. They have just north of 200 Swahili kids, which is over 30% of the school.
“I love supporting my school," said Swahili-speaking fourth graders Brian and Amari, kicking around the ball just before their game. "It's fun, and we get to enjoy playing soccer, and we have good food! The thing that matters is having fun with your teammates. Yes, for real! And supporting the school.”
But for the past few years zero Swahili students were on the team. So many barriers kept them from the sport they love: from transportation to food to equipment. Getting them in a Yellowjacket jersey, joyfully jogging past defenders, has taken years of investment both on the pitch and in the classroom.
“I used to sit with those students who don't really understand what's going on with their teacher. I'll make them understand, like interpret from English to Swahili. But now I'm in this position and I'm everywhere," said Amerance Kimengele. She’s a family support professional with the district. She shuttles from school to school translating for Swahili parents, helping students feel comfortable in class, and connecting them with resources like food pantries and English classes.
Rockford’s multilingual education director, Johanna Poncio-Jordan, says many of their Swahili-speaking students are refugees and asylum seekers from countries like Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Whenever I go to the [home], you see the eight student kids they have at home, and it's just grandma," said Poncio-Jordan. "She explains to me that actually it's just her on her own. The grandpa is actually still back at the refugee camp — so is the dad. They haven't seen them."
She says the number of Swahili students coming to Rockford has slowed since the Trump administration closed the country to nearly all refugees.
Poncio-Jordan says some come in without much formal education, some without much English. Coming from refugee camps, they need trauma support too.
“Going from a refugee camp and now they're here and they're in high school," she said. "I mean, can you imagine the culture shock?"
They have to teach some newcomers basic American school norms and what’s called “survival English” like, ‘here’s how to tell your teacher you need to use the bathroom.’
A few years ago, Constance Lane didn’t have any Swahili-speaking support staff. They relied on translation devices.
Now, they have family support pros like Kimengele and bilingual tutors. This fall, Constance Lane Principal Brian Doering says they’re also opening a dedicated classroom for newcomer students who need the most academic support.
“But none of that," said Doering, "is the same as actually having a Swahili-speaking, true bilingual teacher, which is where we would love to get to."
Poncio-Jordan says, because of how many Swahili students the district serves, they need to offer a full bilingual class. They have positions posted, but teachers are hard to find.
At Constance Lane, they’re seen real improvement though. The school earned top marks in English-language progress to proficiency last year, which Doering says is a credit to their teachers and tutors.
They’ve also tried to make Swahili students feel like they’re an important part of the school. A sign in the main office reads “You belong here” in Swahili. Students performed during a "culture day." Then, of course, there’s soccer.
Assistant principal Mitch Wilson reflects as he walks out to the pitch. It started a few years ago with an afterschool club.
“'Soka Umoja,'" he said, "which translates to ‘Unity Through Soccer’ in Swahili."
Wilson says they really wanted to play but to participate students had to have no discipline referrals and no missing work. He says it helped a lot of them learn to succeed at school. Sports wasn’t just a platform for their soccer skills, but also their kindness and integrity.
But it was still a separate club, not the school team. This year, the goal was to get them into Yellowjacket jerseys. Kimengele went into homes to help families sign the necessary waivers. Teachers donated cleats. Alignment Rockford supplied pre-game meals. Many didn’t have transportation so, Wilson says, they convinced the district to let them play every game at home.
On the day of tryouts, they were still calling parents. He got the okay for a fourth-grader, Kyenge, just as he was about to leave.
“I went and scooped him up out of his bus line," Wilson said, "and he had been moping around all day because he didn't think he was staying for tryouts, which means he wasn't going to be a part of the team, and his face just lit up."
On the day of the first game, some of the kids showed up with jeans on, so Wilson had to think fast to find equipment.
“I was rummaging through the P.E. closet, just praying I'd find some shorts for these boys," said Wilson, "and the PE teacher came over the radio and said, ‘Kyenge just scored the first goal!’ That just broke me.”
He ran back out just in time to see Kyenge score his second goal of the game.
“That right there," said Wilson, "is something I'm gonna remember for the rest of my life."
This year, out on the pitch, Constance Lane’s team calls out to each other in both English and Swahili. And before their recent playoff game, the whole school lined the halls. They clapped and chanted for them as the team strode through in their Yellowjacket jerseys.
One team, one school. Soka Umoja. Unity through soccer.
