Update on our ESL and Citizenship Classes
Update on our ESL and Citizenship Classes
ESL
We have hit the end of September and with that a new beginning to two of our main programs, ESL and Citizenship classes. Mid September BIIN held a registration for ESL classes in which on the first day we had 75 students in attendance including returning and new students. On the second day we had about another 23 students show up to register. As the days progressed we got more and more calls about students being interested in ESL classes. The worry began, where would we place so many students? BIIN has held classes Monday through Thursday for the past years and we have been saturated in the last year. With help from our partners and new director we have been able to secure an extra room upstairs and open a few new classrooms to house our students. BIIN now has three classes who are associated with our partners at the Education service center A, level 1 and a level 2 held on Mondays and Wednesdays and a level 1 held Tuesdays and Thursdays. BIIN also is holding a level 3 & 4 on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as an additional 1 & 2 class in our new room up stairs. All classes begin from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. BIIN is also having a morning class on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a total of 6 sessions. In the first week of class we have seen over 100 individuals and we keep getting calls of people interested in classes.
Citizenship
After a successful summer with about 15 students coming to an end, a new semester approaches. Citizenship classes started September 30th, with our teachers Rich and Jeremy coming back after the summer. We have 10 newly registered students and more who missed registration but will be able to show up anyway on the first day of class. We will also have some past students coming in to retake the class, as well as to volunteer and help out their fellow classmates in preparation for their interview. BIIN is awaiting the next naturalization ceremony happening at the end of October in which at least five of our past students have contacted us to let us know they had a successful interview. This is huge news and we hope to keep seeing results and our community members growing professionally and individually with this new accomplishment.
Classes will continue to run from 9:00 am until 11:00 am for our Spanish class in which we are slowly seeing more individuals that qualify for an interview in spanish. This class is also composed of individuals who feel more comfortable learning the material in Spanish first and then in English. In our English Citizenship class most of our students find the challenge of learning so much material in English, but here they learn how to hold a simple conversation as well as learn the history of the United States to be able to pass their interview. Most students have not yet applied; they prefer to learn the material first. However, we do have one student who is waiting on an interview date as of registration day.
BIIN is really excited for the growth we have had and hope to continue serving the community! 🙂
Thank you Viviana Castillo for writing this piece and all your contributions to BIIN!
