A $22,017 grant to provide evening language classes for beginning English users was awarded to Rosalie Rendu Center (RRC) of East Palo Alto by Literacy Partners Menlo Park (LPMP).
The money will support the RRC’s new 34-week offsite evening class of up to 50 students, three nights per week for the school year starting in September. LPMP’s support provides salary for recently hired ESL teacher, Minia Ahmadi, offsite room rental, student workbooks, teacher manuals, a portable projector and supplies.
Maria Lozano, executive director of RRC, said the Rosalie Rendu Center serves more than 200 learners annually, mostly Menlo Park and East Palo Alto residents who have arrived in the United States within the past two years, primarily from Latin America. Lozano said the average age of participants is 40, and most are employed in service jobs. This is LPMP’s first grant to the Rendu Center.
Sister Trinitas, or Sister T, began teaching English to her East Palo Alto neighbors in 1996 before starting the Center some two years later. Since then RRC has provided English as a Second Language classes, and a variety of supportive services including cultural enrichment and childcare for the adult students.
EPAA Class
The new LPMP-supported evening class is intended for people who are just starting to learn English. Most of the students in the new classes find the evening timetable invaluable because of busy and often rigid daytime work schedules, mostly in the service sector, Lozano said.
LPMP President Mike Goodkind said, “Basic English classes are often the gateway to education, invariably including navigation training and skills to help in what for many is a new life and opportunities. LPMP and its donors are glad to be able to help Rosalie Rendu Center deliver this vital component of its mission.”
For more information about the Rosalie Rendu Center, go to https://www.rosalie-rendu-center.org/
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