Bingo night is always popular at Belle Grove Elementary in Brooklyn Park, but this year, attendance was way down. Jacqueline Sanderson thought she knew why.

The English language development teacher feared the school had lost immigrant families’ trust amid a nationwide crackdown. So she got creative.

Sanderson helped assemble dozens of activity kits for families stuffed with crafts and snacks parents could enjoy with their children at home. Then she and others delivered each bag to students’ homes with a promise that families were safe at Belle Grove.

The plan worked. Soon parents started returning to school-sponsored events, Sanderson said. Her reputation as an advocate for multilingual learners helped Sanderson win recognition as Anne Arundel County’s newest teacher of the year.

“Often, there’s a belief that a lack of language means a lack of intelligence, and that’s definitely not the case,” said Sanderson, 41, a military spouse and mom of two who wants to use her platform to spread the message that immigrant children are assets, not burdens.

She joined the district in 2013, first working as a classroom teacher at Hilltop Elementary before jumping to Belle Grove in 2022. Sanderson is the first recipient of the award from Belle Grove, and the first from the North County in five years. Most Belle Grove students come from low-income families, and about a quarter are learning how to speak English.

Sanderson grew up in Northwest Indiana near Chicago and said she has known since fourth grade that she would become a teacher. It was then that she landed in Debbie Austin’s classroom. Back then, Sanderson said she was a chatty, social butterfly with mediocre grades who didn’t always listen.

But Austin saw her potential, invested in her and made her feel valued, Sanderson said. She now strives to be like Austin, and the two women remain close. Austin even attended Sanderson’s wedding. Austin said she cried “like a blabbering idiot” when she learned of Sanderson’s prize for exemplary teaching.

“I have had other students in my life go on to do great things, but she is special,” said Austin, 69. “When she told me about the award, she thanked me. I told her, you did all the work. All I did was plant the seed.”

Sanderson said she was inspired to specialize in English language instruction because she wanted to work more closely with immigrant students and their families, believing they needed an advocate at school. She earned her master’s degree in teaching English learners in 2018 and received National Board Certification for the specialty in December. Educators must demonstrate advanced knowledge to get the prestigious credential.

She works with small groups of students in kindergarten through fifth grades, many of whom are from the Dominican Republic and El Salvador. Sanderson said she’s inspired by her students’ resilience and determination. Some of them regularly make pupusas for their families from scratch, whereas her own sons barely know how to use the microwave, she joked.

One recent morning at Belle Grove, Sanderson huddled on a brightly colored carpet with students in the fourth grade language arts class she co-teaches. They had started to read the final chapter of a book about Long John Silver, and Elena Del Cid was struggling.

The passage opens with several lines of pirate dialogue, and the 9-year-old declared that she doesn’t speak pirate.

Sanderson had worked closely with Elena, whose native language is Spanish. Sensing the girl’s frustration with the strange, heavily accented words, Sanderson pivoted and offered to read those first few lines aloud. Elena and her classmates seemed relieved.

She was co-teaching that day with Lindsay Thompson, 30, who said her colleague’s creativity and enthusiasm inspire her.

When the pair kicked off the unit on pirates, Sanderson insisted they decorate the classroom with skull and crossbones flags and bought pirate hats and plush parrots to wear on their shoulders. She even sent students on a schoolwide treasure hunt to find the new books they would use for the unit. Thompson and her students were shocked to discover that Sanderson had buried the books under the school playground.

“I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, she really buried the treasure,” Thompson said.

Thompson said Sanderson’s ability to keep students engaged when they’re overwhelmed and starting to shut down is masterful. One time, when Sanderson was leading a lesson on descriptive language that students were struggling to follow, she scrapped it and conjured another way to teach the material.

“I feel so lucky to have a coworker who is truly in this career to help people,” Thompson said. “Her mission is bigger than the classroom, bigger than the school. She doesn’t just see the students, she knows their parents, aunts and uncles. She knows this whole community.”

Sanderson is a resource for families who need help filling out paperwork or accessing the school’s online portal, Thompson said. If a parent feels uneasy about an upcoming field trip, Sanderson explains the plan and quiets their nerves. And she keeps in touch with former students, opening her classroom for children to gather once a week for lunch.

Another student Sanderson has worked closely with is Mary Landaverde, 10, a fourth grader. She emigrated from El Salvador and later tested out of the English language development program with a perfect score. Next year, she may join Belle Grove’s program for gifted and talented students.

Sanderson was not just Mary’s teacher — she was also her running buddy. They both participated in an afterschool run club that pairs students with school staff as they prepare for a 5K race.

The day of the race, Mary was struggling. The course was hilly, and the students had trained on mostly flat terrain. When Mary doubted whether she could finish, Sanderson fell in behind her, shouting words of encouragement that helped her make it across the finish line.

“We crossed the finish line together,” Mary said.

Sanderson will now represent Anne Arundel County in Maryland’s statewide teacher of the year competition. A winner will be announced in the fall.