Northaven Elementary teacher in process of becoming U.S. citizen
Feb. 26—JEFFERSONVILLE — A Jeffersonville school showed its appreciation for an elementary teacher Thursday after she completed a major milestone on her pathway to U.S. citizenship.
Nacera Buckler, an English Language Learners (ELL) teacher at Northaven Elementary School, passed her citizenship test in Indianapolis on Wednesday, and the next day, staff and students celebrated her accomplishment.
Buckler is from France, and she has been a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. since 2005. She began teaching at Northaven in 2018.
In coordination with the celebration, students at Northaven completed lessons and activities related to citizenship, including artwork and posters congratulating Buckler and exploring the topic of "what makes a good citizen."
The students learned the song "Frère Jacques" to sing to Buckler as she visited each classroom, and she was greeted warmly by kids waving little American and French flags.
It was emotional to see the school recognize her in this way, Buckler said.
"It's a good feeling that you know you have an impact on kids, and what I always say is, I hope they remember when they grow up, 'I had a teacher who talked funny but taught me something,'" she said. "And they're showing that to me today."
"I'm not just helping them," Buckler said. "They're helping me, too, They've become my family away from my family."
Northaven Principal Laura Morris said staff at the school were excited to learn about Buckler going through the process to become a citizen, and they wanted to do something special to recognize her.
"Mrs. Nacera is a huge part of our school, so when we found out over a month ago that this was a possibility, we got super excited," she said, using the name many in the school use for Buckler.
Northaven is a school of immigrants, Morris said.
"We have students from all over the world — 30 countries, 13 languages, so the thought that this can happen for all of our students is fabulous," she said. "That's why we just wanted to celebrate. We wanted to celebrate the possibility for all who dream to be a U.S. citizen."
Morris said she likes to call Buckler the "Mary Poppins of France" because of her unconditional love for her students.
Buckler said she has completed nearly three-fourths of the process to becoming an American citizen. After completing her citizenship test, she still has some paperwork to complete.
"After all this paperwork is sorted out, hopefully I will become an United States citizen," she said. "I would be so over the moon."
She is originally from the French Alps region, and she studied at a university in the city of Grenoble. The college had a partnership with a small university in Oklahoma, and she was selected for an exchange program to study there.
Buckler met her husband in the United States, and she has remained in the country ever since, working in various teaching roles.
She speaks four languages fluently. In addition to English and French, she is proficient in Spanish and Berber, a division of Afro-Asiatic languages.
Her varied language skills help her relate to both students and parents, Buckler said. The school has many students from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so she has been able to help those French-speaking families.
"I think it really builds bridges between families in the school, and that's what we want to do — build a community," Buckler said.
Her desire to vote in a presidential election in the U.S. is one of the reasons driving her to become a citizen, she said.
"I pay my taxes, I am a member of the community, and that was the only thing that was missing for me — the ability to vote," she said.
Buckler hopes her path toward citizenship shows kids to be patient as they pursue their dreams.
"Take it one step at a time, don't rush it, and hopefully you will get to what you were dreaming of," Buckler said.
As an ELL teacher, Buckler has found that her students can relate to her because she is from a different country.
Yasmin Flores, who works at Northaven as an English as a second language tutor and translator, works closely with Buckler.
Flores said Buckler is beloved by her students, and she helps families in any way she can in or out of school.
"She is always available for any situation, and she puts a lot of hours into it," she said. "She is a hardworking lady, and I'm very, very proud of her."
