My First Trimester Reflections and Celebrations!
by Veronica Garcia, Refugee Services Manager
My first trimester on staff at Mission Adelante flew by. I cannot believe it is over already. I am so thankful for the opportunity to create a program where students can come to learn English and practice with the volunteers. I want to personally thank the volunteers that have contributed their time and creativity to this inaugural trimester of Refugee ESL: Mary, Lindsay, Jill, Larry, Amy, Laura, and Morgan. The students came back each week for you! Thank you.
From October until the end of November, we had 8 lessons that focused on practical English. Each lesson, we had multiple components: reading, writing, movement, and active conversation. I wanted to make sure to emphasize all of these components because of the different language backgrounds we had in the class.
We only had a few students this trimester, but boy, was it a lot of fun! Having this first trimester with a small class really allowed all of the students and volunteers to really get to know each other on a deeper level.
As for Citizenship, we had a great trimester as well. We were getting calls of interest almost every week. I am confident we will have a lot of new students and returning students in January.
On a super exciting note, I want to congratulate Marcela for passing her Citizenship test! She had been working with one of the volunteers, Laura, one-on-one the past few weeks to really prepare for her test and interview.
We had some rockstar volunteers for Citizenship: Karen, Morgan, Jim, Debbie, Emma, Geraldina, Mary, Laura, Elliot, and Rachel in our beginners class; and Dean and Carlie leading our intermediate group! This group of volunteers are motivated and committed to helping students accomplish their goals of becoming a citizen.
At Mission Adelante this season, our theme is to celebrate. I am celebrating that my transition onto staff was smooth and even smoother with the volunteers. Everyone has been so welcoming and kind as I learned the ropes of running programs. I am celebrating that while Refugee ESL was small, it was successful. The students have emphasized that this class has really helped them gain confidence in speaking English and they are excited to return in January! I am celebrating that Marcela passed her Citizenship test! Thank you for celebrating with me. The ESL department has a lot planned for 2023, so stay tuned. I am looking forward to what the new year will bring and what else we can accomplish together.
