Thread: PA Bucks County: A Graduation in "English"........

phillyBurbs.com / News / Local / The Intelligencer News



A graduation in English

By: Gema Maria Duarte

Bucks County Courier Times

It wasn't your typical graduation.

The graduates weren't wearing caps and gowns. And "Pomp and Circumstance" wasn't playing. Parents weren't cheering for their children.

Instead the graduates were listening to Bachata - a genre of Spanish music - and dressed elegantly in everyday clothes. And their children cheered them on.

The 10 graduates - eight Latinas and two Turks - were mothers who finished an English course that will help them assist their children with homework.

"I have learned a lot," Sulma Pineda said Monday afternoon before receiving her course completion certificate during a small ceremony at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School. "I can understand it more than I can speak it. I'm afraid I will pronounce the words incorrectly or people won't understand me. But I keep trying."

Before taking on the English course, the mother of three used to feel frustrated with her inability to help her children.

"Now, I'm able to help my daughter who is in kindergarten," Pineda said.

She emigrated 11 years ago from El Salvador, where she went to school through fifth grade because she needed to work to help support her four other siblings. Monday's acknowledgement is one of her biggest accomplishments, the 26-year-old mother said.

"I've been given the opportunity to educate myself and I will use the opportunity," she said. "I want to learn computer skills, not only for the advantage of helping my children, but also for myself."

Their teacher, Ryan Kanoff, said most in the class were beginners who moved up two levels to high beginners and a couple even higher to intermediate.
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The mothers learned English with a program designed by the Bristol Township School District to support its fast-growing population of recent immigrants and funded by a Pennsylvania State 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. The pioneer program will continue through the 2009-2010 school year with a new group of mothers, officials said in a written statement.

The program consisted of attending morning language classes two days a week, provided by VITA Education Services at the YMCA in Falls and one family night a week at Lincoln Elementary School, where they worked with their children on homework and other communications. At these family nights, they also were exposed to speakers from the school district, local business community and service agencies to help them integrate into U.S. culture.

Hanim Yardim, one of the Turkish students, said she will continue practicing English and along the way try to teach her husband. As she improves her English, she will continue to depend on her 7-year-old old son who translates for her.

At the ceremony, Bryan Allen, a legislative aide to state Rep. Anthony Melio, D-6, was the guest speaker. He encouraged the mothers to continue with their education.

"I look at you fine graduates today and I see strength, resolve and a determination to succeed," he told them. "I see a group of people who are trying to grab success by the horns and reach their full potential."

Gema Maria Duarte can be reached at 215-949-4195 or gduarte@phillyburbs.com.

June 16, 2009 08:09 AM

Comments
AMAZED, 06-16-09, 3:43 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
and THEY didnt have to spend a dime- only us US citizens paid with our taxes..... where is the justice??

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/t ... glish.html


Please leave your comments at the source site.....you can be sure that the Salvadoran woman with a 5th grade education isn't here legally...and her "struggles" are all self-imposed. There are few places in the world today where an illiterate adult w/no more than a 5th grade education can truly succeed without the crutch of publicly-funded, cradle to grave benefits and this "student" is no exception...what makes it worse is that she's here illegally, gets free medical care, free public school education for her children, free "English Classes" and pretends that her accomplishments are grand. I'm appalled that PA state government which is currently in a heated budget fight with a 3.1 billion dollar deficit has the audacity to spend any money on programs such as this especially if they aren't reserved solely for legal immigrants and u.s. citizens. Legalatina.

Well what do you know....the PA 21st Century Community Learning Center grant is a mix of both state and federal taxdollars......

Tiime to tell this organization to stop wasting taxpayer money on providing free English classes when our PA budget is in deficit to the tune of 3billion dollars...and that no taxpayer funds should be used for any grants not reserved exclusively for legal residents and u.s. citizens.

Read more..........



The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLCs) program is authorized under, Title IV, Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (P.L. 107-110), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The CCLC program provides funding for the establishment of community learning centers to provide academic, artistic and cultural enhancement activities to students and their families when school is not in session (before school, after school, and/or during holidays or summer recess). The primary goal of these Centers is to assist students to meet state and local standards for core subjects such as reading and mathematics, by providing students with academic enrichment opportunities. In addition to academics, Centers may also offer participants a broad array of other services and programs, such as counseling, character education, drug and violence prevention programming, art, music, recreation activities and technology education. Ancillary services for parents such as literacy instruction may also be given. Although the 21st Century program has been operating for several years, the No Child Left Behind legislation transfers administration of the program from the federal government to each state’s chief education agency.

For additional information regarding Pennsylvania's 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, contact:
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Division of Student Services and Migrant Education
333 Market Street, 5th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333
Voice (717) 783-6466
TTY (717) 783-8445