When English is a Gift

This summer, I learned first hand what it meant to be in a culture where I didn't know the language. When I went to Honduras in July, my junior high Spanish just wasn't enough.

So kudos to those folks like Gina Frey, director of adult education at North Shore Community Action Programs in Peabody, MA, for her leadership with ESOL classes. Frey is pictured here with Sander Juste, an immigrant from Haiti, where he taught high school students but is now honing up on his English, knowing the benefits it will provide. Here's another of my local stories for the Salem News:

Gina Frey (l) and Sander Juste (r)

September 21, 2012

Need for English classes growing

BY JO KADLECEKCORRESPONDENT

Whenever Gina Frey has an open spot in one of her program’s classes, she doesn’t have to look far to fill it. As director of adult education at North Shore Community Action Programs in Peabody, Frey turns to her waiting list of almost 200 people, all of whom are hoping to take some level of English for Speakers of Other Languages.

They are students like Bao Li, 33, who is originally from China and now lives in Salem; she was on a waiting list for three years before she was able to enroll in the beginning English class at NSCAP. Now she is in an advanced course. Or Sander Juste, 44, who moved from Haiti to Salem nine months ago; he had been on the waiting list since March before Frey had an opening for him.

Read the rest of the article HERE.