FACEtime with Our Staff: Ludy Soderman
Ludy Soderman has been the Director of Multilingual Family Support Services here in the FACE Office since August 2009, but her work in education extends much further. Ludy has been a passionate educator since 1988, teaching English at a private academy in Spain, teaching AP Spanish at a Connecticut boarding school, and teaching adult ESOL and Civics classes in Illinois. As the daughter of a Swedish father and a Puerto Rican mother, Ludy has a deep connection to immigration and serving multicultural and multilingual communities. In 2005, this connection strengthened during her work with refugees and survivors of torture. The opportunity to see and learn through others’ eyes taught Ludy about courage, trust, and strength. “The passion for what I do,” Ludy says, “comes from the people who raised me, who mentored me, and who trust me.”
Since 2009, Ludy has built tremendous trust among the multilingual families that she serves. Each day she leads her 57 Bilingual Counseling Assistants (BCAs) in the distribution of resources for families throughout the city. The Multilingual Family Support Office makes home visits and school visits to conveniently provide families the services they need. These personal visits develop relationships of understanding and comfort. Ludy creates a space for each person she speaks with to have a place and a voice, and she says that this is the most important part of welcoming multilingual and multicultural families to the School District.
“I have the best job in this place,” Ludy says. “I get to see families arrive, transition, and make a home. I get to remind the families that they have brought the most invaluable resource: that resource is who they are. Their cultures, their languages. I truly love what I do.”
Through her time as the Director of Multilingual Family Support Services, Ludy has seen the financial resources for her office decrease dramatically, yet she continues to provide as many services to families as possible. There is the Welcome Wagon that offers community workshops and trainings for families to learn about transitioning to life in the United States, language access in the School District of Philadelphia, and creating an atmosphere for their children to continue learning outside of the classroom. There is translation support for families to learn about the expectations of Philadelphia public schools, picking elementary and middle schools, and applying to high schools. There is support for families to learn about work safety and personal rights, parent-child conflicts, and navigating differences in identity. The BCAs have even worked with LaSalle’s Hispanic Institute to develop a standard Code of Ethics for Educational Interpreters, and they continue to receive training on interpretation techniques and best practices.
Of all the successful services provided and programs developed, Ludy believes that her greatest achievement is letting families know that someone here in the School District is willing to treat them with dignity, willing to listen, and willing to help. “Whatever it takes,” she says.
A conversation with Ludy is a conversation that examines growth: her growth throughout life, the growth of society, and one’s own personal growth. As the conversation neared its end, Ludy asked, “what have you learned about yourself during our time together?” This question is a true representation of her passion for education and for aiding the growth of others. Ludy teaches us all to remember what we are given in our education, to remember what we wanted as children and students, and to strive to provide equitable education to future students and peers, both in and out of the classroom.
