Kristen and Quinton (upper left) join other volunteers and students to celebrate Oma’s (center in pink) citizenship!
Written by Kristen Huffman, Citizenship Class Volunteer
Serving at Mission Adelante has been one of the highlights of 2019 for our family. My husband, Quinton, and I signed up to volunteer in January 2019 for Citizenship Class on Tuesday evenings. We were nervous driving to Mission Adelante for the first time to attend the volunteer huddle. We didn’t know if we’d be good teachers, if we’d be able to communicate with the students due to language barriers, or if we’d be able to teach them anything about becoming citizens as we knew very little about the process. However, when we walked in the door, our nerves were immediately calmed when we were greeted with smiles, handshakes, and an amazing crew of volunteers and staff ready to teach us.
After a time of worship in three different languages, we met our team of volunteers for Citizenship Class. During the next 12 weeks, we worked closely with this amazing team to teach students about how to become citizens of the United States. We grew to love our Tuesday evening time at Mission Adelante. So much so, we have just started leading the class for our third consecutive trimester!
The best thing about our time at Mission Adelante is the friendships we have developed with both the volunteers and the students. We have learned so much from our students about their home countries, their languages, and their traditions. We love being able to learn from them while they learn about how to become a citizen of the U.S. We are so excited to see what new things we will learn this trimester with our new volunteers and students!
Citizenship class group picture from trimester one. (Kristen and Quinton are pictured in the upper left.)
CURRENT NEEDS:
Do you have a heart for kids? Do you want to make a difference in a kid's life? Kids Adelante is looking for energetic and fun-loving volunteers! If you are interested in volunteering, please visit our website at www.missionadelante.org/kids
Our Leaders in Training program teaches young students about the importance of eating healthy. Being an after-school program, the kids are often hungry by the time they arrive! You can help out by providing healthy snacks like granola bars, trail mix, and fruit snacks! Contact Megan Fountain if you are interested: meganm@missionadelante.org