English Skills Learning Center (ESLC)

Utah is home to thousands of refugees who have fled poor conditions in their homelands in home of a better life in America. The goal of the English Skills LearningCenter (ESLC) is to assist non-English speaking adult refugees and immigrants in learning English and acclimating in to American life. The ESLC currently tutors nearly 500 individuals from 40 different countries.

Here are ten reasons why I love volunteering with the English Skills Learning Center!

1.      The students love to learn! I am excited every time I go to teach a class because the students cheer me up with their positive attitudes about life and learning.

2.      The ESLC staff is SO supportive! I am never nervous to teach because I know I have the support of a wonderful, experienced mentor when preparing lessons if needed.

3.      I get to be creative when preparing my lessons! I have learned a lot about what works, what doesn’t, and how to prepare activities that the students will enjoy and find useful.

4.      There are a variety of student levels I can teach! Individuals need help in all stages of their transition, whether learning basic English, applying for citizenship, or getting a driver’s license.

5.      I get to see the students’ progress! I love when I can tell the students really understand something they didn’t know before. I know I am truly helping them improve the quality of their daily lives.

6.      I can get to know my students! Whether it’s a one-on-one class or a small group class, I am teaching the same students over an extended period of time so I can really get to know the students and appreciate their improvement.

7.      I get a glimpse into other cultures! I have taught students from all over – Burma, Bhutan, Somalia, the Congo, Nepal, Mexico, Iraq, Iran – and I love hearing about life in other places.

8.      The ESLC is accommodating about teaching locations! There are a variety of places I can select from to teach at, depending on what works for me.

9.      The training is excellent! Going to the training was so beneficial. I learned a lot about how people learn and felt very prepared when I was assigned to my class.

10.  Basically it just feels good to serve others and I know I am making a difference!

If you would like to know more about the English Skills Learning Center, e-mail programdirector.eslc@gmail.com and I’ll tell you everything you need to know!

-Kelsi Foutz, ESLC Program Director

 

College Bound Highland

College Day

A Day Of Inspiration, Information And Incentive

Highland High School became a community partner with the Bennion Center on Fall 2011. The program started because of two moms at Highland High who identified the need of free ACT prep classes at the school and came to the Bennion Center for help. I was excited to direct the program and get it up and running as soon as possible. As a result of the 2011-2012 evaluation on the ACT Prep course, I felt that the kids at the Highland High needed more than just preparation for an assessment test; they needed reasons and encouragement to want to take the test and go to college.

In order to improve the program and be able to reach out for more kids, it was proposed that the program adapted a larger approach – the program would then be called College Bound. In addition to the ACT prep classes, the program would offer tutoring and other tools for students to be successful in high school. A bigger and exciting addition to this program would be an event called “College Day”.

The purpose of College Day is to inform high school students about college preparation, inspire them to pursue higher education and let them know that they have incentive and support.  The idea was to bring Highland High students of all years (freshman, sophomore, junior and senior) to spend a day at the University of Utah to learn about the importance of going to college, what they can do in high school right now to prepare for it and get a feel of what college looks like.

With the help of amazing volunteers and a dedicated co-director, we had an incredible event. Initially, we were planning College Day for 40 students but we had so many more interested in coming that we ended up having 110 students being part of this. All the kids that came to the U were excited to learn more about college and were very receptive. This is a part of our community partners’ reflection about the event:

“Highland High absolutely loves The Bennion Center. College Day was a great success. We cannot believe the thoughtful hours of hard work you so generously gave our students.  Breaking the students into their classes was a wonderful idea. Sometimes, college seems overwhelming but the students were taught the steps they need to take now to make higher education attainable”

We’re happy to announce that College Day will be back for Spring 2013 on March 28 and we need a lot of volunteers to make it happen!

For more information about College Day and how to get involved, please email us at actprephighland@gmail.com

- Tammy Reque, College Bound Program Director

Soaring Eagles

Soaring Eagles is a volunteer program at Mountain View Elementary a title 1 school located on the west side of Salt Lake City.  I am the program director (PD) for this program. The Bennion center has a partnership with Mountain View and also works with a few other programs at this school. The purpose of this program is to help students stay on task, learn, and have a mentor outside of the traditional methods (other than a teacher) it gives them support through someone who is connected with the university on a more direct level. The student-volunteer relationship establishes a network for the student to feel more comfortable and be excited to learn and think about attending college, using resources, and being a support system for the students. 

Volunteers work with kids in k-5^th grade and have the chance to be able to be able to do different kinds of volunteering which include In-Class Support, Supervision, Clerical, Homework Help, and Recess/Lunch Supervision. Volunteering at Mountain View provides many benefits to the community and personal growth. In my personal experience I have been able to connect with people I would not normally get to know if I was just going to school without my extra volunteer work. It is beneficial to the community by providing a service that is so important to the development of a child’s life. Being able to show a child that you want them to succeed in their schooling and afforded the educational opportunities that they should be able to take advantage of is an irreplaceable service. Current volunteers in my program have told me that they really enjoy working with these kids and they are going to continue their service for the second semester. It is also beneficial to be able to understand and work with a diverse group of people, and be able to relate to children and adults, as well as other college students who are interested in the same things as you are.

Sometimes it’s not easy feeling like you have made an impact on a child’s life , some days are better than others but it’s definitely worth it to be able to have one good impact instead of none at all. To be able to create the sort of bond and support in a child’s life is really important to their development and growth. Students volunteer at least 1 hour a week (sometimes more) for a least a semester (or from the time they start to the end of the semester) any time between 8am-6pm Mon-Fri.

Mountain View Elementary is a very diverse school that makes it unique, in addition to the soaring eagles program there is also a school garden where families of the kids that attend the school can learn how to grow their own food and prepare it, this is also a very important skill for children (and anyone) to learn to enhance their lives.

Being able to work so closely with children and community partners has really helped me to be able to understand people that come from all walks of life. As the year has progressed I have been able to learn so much from students at Mountain View, the bennion center, and staff and community partners. University students are welcome to bring their own creativity to the classroom or to provide feedback to teachers so that if there is a problem changes can be made and volunteers, teachers, and students can all feel like they are in a safe space.

I would highly recommend this program if you like working with kids, are interested in education and diversity, or are just looking for something different to try. 

- Kylie Farris, Soaring Eagles Program Director