COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sink or swim.

That's the best way Linna Jordan can describe her experience as a new American in Ohio.

"I originally came here in 1981. I was 8 years old," she said, "You were just thrown into the classroom, and you made it work and the teachers made it work somehow."

But thanks to support at home and in the classroom, she soared.

It's an experience that motivated this former English language learner (ELL) to become an English language teacher 20 years ago.

"I took the job at Davidson High School because they had 16 EL students. I thought, 'This is gonna be so easy.' Within two years, I had 167 [students]."

That growth hasn't slowed down since.

State education data for Franklin, Fairfield and Delaware counties shows that their ELL student populations have all grown o

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