In this video, from the Coalition conference in October, 2023, three high school students who have grown up in community-based heritage language schools and spoken their language their entire lives (Brazilian Portuguese, French, and German) talk about the value of their language and their school experience. Melissa Castillo, Management and Program Analyst, Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), U.S. Department of Education, makes powerful statements about these students’ experiences and the importance of their language proficiency.