Making English work in the classroom

October 5, 2024 2:00 PM • Last updated: October 4, 2024 10:42 AM

Norwich — At least two want to be doctors, another a computer scientist and several others have their eyes on a career as a nurse in America, but they all recently sat in a classroom at the Rose City Learning Center working on the one skill that will help them dreams come true: English.

Woodly Mars, an 18-year-old native of Haiti and a speaker of Creole and French, said he is taking classes at the learning center, located at CT State Community College Three Rivers, in hopes of pursuing his goal of having a heart for the are humanity. doctor. It’s a dream that seemed unlikely amid Haiti’s current chaos and violence, as famine and gang warfare intensify.

“It was hard for me to fight for more opportunities to help me and my family in the world,” Mars said shortly after his two-hour class. “And I come here to find more opportunities to learn English.”

Fifty-two-year-old Rider Pereira spent 32 years in the Brazilian Military Reserve, earning a master’s degree in computer science along the way. He is a native Portuguese speaker and is currently on a tourist visa in the United States with his wife Cinthia, while his daughter attends ninth grade at St. Bernard School.

Stephanie Moril, another 18-year-old Haitian resident here with her two older sisters, found she couldn’t take classes at Norwich Free Academy because she had gotten older, so she came to the learning center to improve her English. She is currently taking both morning and afternoon classes in hopes of passing her GED high school equivalency exam.

All students attend two hours of classes Monday through Thursday and then are required to practice 15 to 20 minutes daily on a program called EnGen, which tailors instruction to the type of job each individual hopes to achieve. The learning center also helps students connect with childcare, transportation and other services.

“What makes us unique is that everything we do is focused on the workforce,” says Kelly Ennis-Davis, a veteran teacher who founded the Rose City Learning Center as a nonprofit a few months ago.

The amazing thing about many of the students, she added, is that they often have high levels of education in their home countries. One is a speech therapist, another a lawyer, a third an aircraft mechanic, and there are also people trained in education, pharmacy, banking, accounting and contracts.

Ennis-Davis, who taught in the Norwich Adult Education program and in public school systems in the region, said she realized that a program for non-English-speaking adults trying to get jobs in the United States was an important niche, but not really. tackled in the Norwich area. And demand is huge: Currently, 64 students are enrolled in her program and dozens of others are on a waiting list to be admitted, even though classes are only a few weeks away.

At Norwich Adult Ed, she said, there was a wait list for English classes of 300 this fall, up from 200 a year ago.

“I think just being in this setting does a lot for them, because they’re in a modern setting,” Ennis-Davis said, looking around at her nearly two dozen students who had recently attended class on Monday.

According to statistics from the program compiled last week, more than three-quarters of students in their home country have at least a high school diploma, and a quarter have a bachelor’s degree or higher. About two-thirds have been in the United States for less than two years, and 81% are from Haiti, apparently attracted by Norwich’s large Haitian population.

Almost half of the students here hope to find a job in healthcare. Business, information technology and commerce are other top areas on the minds of students, with an average age of just 35.

Ennis-Davis said students are not asked for documentation of legal immigration status to participate in the program because it is not legal to ask; they are accepted on a first come, first served basis. Those unable to participate in the learning center program will be referred to the Haitian Community Center of Greater Norwich, which offers classes in the evenings.

Ennis-Davis and two other members of the Rose City Learning Center team are working as volunteers on the program, hoping to generate enough funding from grants and private donations to eventually become disbursed and perhaps one day expand. The center has already received a grant from the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, as well as donations from other private businesses and individuals.

The classes are free and Three Rivers has offered its classroom to the program at no charge. In addition to Ennis-Davis, who teaches morning classes, the learning center staff includes Mikayla Punsalan, the afternoon instructor, and Andrea Dawley, who provides support services to students such as resume writing, job fairs and job interviews. They all previously worked at Norwich Adult Ed.

“This has huge ripple effects in the community,” Ennis-Davis said. “There are so many people hiring and there are all these high-paying, in-demand jobs available. … It’s just that English piece that’s holding them back.

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