Language ETC Celebrates 20 Years!
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summer 2013 NEW 20 Years! Continued from Page 1 Welcome to LETC new LETC staff STAFF With nearly 2000 students annually, Language ETC is open 6 days a week. teven White and Lee Griffith, who served as LETC’s LETC provides practical and affordable HOURS: MondAy & WEdNESdAy: 1:30 Pm – 8:00 Pm Svolunteer coordinators for several years, left us this English language education in a diverse and wel- Improving the lives of immigrants through education. spring to pursue other opportunities. Both Steven and coming environment. Our proven student-teacher TUESdAy & THURSdAy: 9:30 Am – 8:00 Pm Lee were incredibly dedicated. They enthusiastically partnership approach to education removes barriers, fRIdAy: CLOSEd In ThIs IssuE... managed and supported hundreds of LETC volunteers giving students the confidence to fully participate at SATURdAy & SUNdAy: 9:00 Am – 4:00 Pm and ensured they were prepared to teach their classes. home, work and in society. Our small classes with 20 Important Dates: Language ETC Celebrates 20 Years! 20 yEaRs of LETC ExECuTivE DiRECToRs We were sad to say goodbye to them but are fortunate two teachers and extra-curricular activities empower EXEC. YEARS! Jeanie Lee Boehmler, Pilar Laugel (LETC founder), to welcome new staff who we know will also do a students to become self-sufficient. JULy 4: CLOSEd fOR INdEPENdENCE Day anguage ETC’s 20th Anniversary celebra- DIRECTOR Mercedes Lemp (LETC Executive Director), fantastic job. tion held on May 6th was a huge success! LETTER As a leading, nonprofit school and advocate for adult JULy 13: Teacher TRAINING fOR SUmmER TERm L Carolyn Morrissey Our dedicated supporters, volunteers, stu- Page 2 Alyssa Jacobsen is LETC’s new Weekday Volunteer education in the Washington, DC region, our volun- JULy 15: BEGINNING Of SUmmER TERm dents and staff gathered at the beautiful Jones year, the number of people who have passed through Coordinator. Alyssa was a weekend volunteer teacher teer teachers help our students achieve success. With August 25: ENd Of SUmmER TERm for over a year and was hired in a part-time support Day rooftop party-room and deck overlook- LETC’s doors over the past 20 years is almost 70% of our students improving at least one literacy AUG 31 - SEPT 2: CLOSEd fOR LABOR Day position before taking the full-time position of ing the U.S. Capitol building to celebrate two unimaginable. level each year, we have greatly exceeded the national Volunteer Coordinator. Prior to joining LETC, Alyssa SEPTEmBER 7: Teacher TRAINING fOR fALL TERm decades of LETC accomplishments. The views PHILAN- average of 40%. and food were amazing but the highlights of LETC has evolved from a small church-based program served as a Special Projects Coordinator at the Pentagon SEPTEmBER 16: BEGINNING Of Fall TERm THROPY to one of the largest DC area non-profit organizations the evening were the inspiring speakers. Memorial Fund and as an Events Coordinator and Our organizational focus is the successful integration October 14: CLOSEd fOR Columbus Day Page 3 providing English as a Second Language instruction to Registrant Manager at the C. S. Lewis Foundation. She of each individual immigrant into his or her commu- Three of LETC’s students spoke about how adult immigrants. In the past 20 years LETC has grown speaks intermediate French and basic Hindi/Urdu, nity. Students come from 75 different countries on LETC has impacted their lives. Reyna Duran- to offer eleven levels of English classes throughout the for furThEr Information, has a BA from Walla Walla University and a graduate five continents, bringing different Baires, from Mexico, explained that taking LETC student presenters: Reyna Duran-Baires, Hongliu year. Call LETC aT 202-387-2222. classes at LETC enabled her to advance in her certificate from American University in Cross Cultural backgrounds and life experiences. Wang, Jose Munoz-Martinez NEW job at the Washington National Cathedral Thank you to all of our supporters and friends who Communications. STAFF joined us in this milestone celebration. It was an and gave her the confidence to volunteer to Jose Munoz-Martinez from Honduras recalled Denis-Illige-Saucier joined LETC last April as Manager Page 5 evening we will always remember! help with the Presidential Prayer Breakfast. not being sure he could afford to take classes of Weekend Programs and Partnerships. Denis served She was very proud to be able to take part in because he did not have a job. He was relieved as a university English instructor and a teacher trainer this important event. Her presentation was so to find out he could enroll in classes regard- while serving in the US Peace Corps at the University of compelling that later in the evening she was less of his ability to pay the low tuition fee. Conversation Clubs Continued from Page 1 Central Asia in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan from 2010 to 2012. offered a job at a bank by one of our guests! He started in the Basic level and rose all the LETC’s Prior to joining the Peace Corps, Denis held various way through Advanced. He now supports his small groups to Hongliu Wang, from China, mentioned that DONORS writing jobs, was the Director of the Writing Center wife and young son by working for a non- discuss the topic many of her fellow classmates found employ- Page 4 or apply it to their at the Odyssey School in Denver and was the Editor- ment as a result of what they learned in their profit that provides tutoring for Latino youth. home culture, and in-Chief of The Evansville Review. He has an M.A. in 2200 CaLIfornIa sTrEET, nW 202-387-2222 Workplace Advanced English class, and that Pilar Laugel, LETC’s founder, gave a brief then finally coming English from the University of Denver. WashIngTon, DC 20008-3902 in her job teaching Chinese at American Uni- history of the organization and reminded us together for student We welcome back Clodoaldo Lopez as our new Office versity, she uses activities and other teach- of how many lives we have touched. With presentations to the Manager. Clodoaldo returned to LETC in March after ing tips that she has learned from her LETC more than 1,000 students enrolling each LETC SCHEDULE whole class. having served in a similar position at LETC from 2006 teachers. Continued on page 5 Page 6 What may the fu- through 2009. He joins Claudia Belloso, in a newly ture hold for the created fulltime position that will help LETC better CONVERSATION CLUBS AT LANGUAGE ETC: conversation clubs? Ideas include making the clubs manage and track the hundreds of students that register more social by introducing book groups, a student list- each term. Clodoaldo has served in administrative roles Casual, COmfy, Creative! serv (which is working well in the regular Advanced at the National Hispanic Medical Association and at Plus evening class), a Twitter account, or a blog. Excur- Generations United. He also served as a Partnership By susan Joseph whole hour without knowing quite In the past I had been presenting a sion groups could move the conversation beyond the Development Intern at Partners of the Americas. He has what that would demand. newspaper article at the beginning he opportunity to lead a one- four walls of Language ETC. Any way you look at it, a BA in Business Administration from the Universidad Language ETC offers conversation of each class, such as Sally Quinn’s hour conversation club at LETC conversation groups help build the LETC community Americana, in Managua, Nicaragua. T clubs for students at three levels: Washington Post article last January was alluring. Spontaneous conversa- of teachers and students by expanding students’ famil- beginning, intermediate, and ad- arguing in favor of big inauguration Emily Naber is the newest addition to our staff. Also tion was always my favorite part of iarity with American culture generally and life in DC vanced. Students currently enrolled festivities. The class was then divid- coming to us after first serving as a volunteer teacher, the regular textbook-based classes. I specifically. And as teachers, we benefit from learning in regular classes can attend on a ed into small groups to practice new Emily is getting her master’s degree in TESOL and is used to devote the first part of each drop-in basis, and the sessions are vocabulary and idioms, with the more about our students in the comfortable and casual serving as a program assistant, helping with teacher class, when students would straggle atmosphere of our new conversation clubs. free. goal of having the students teach resources and classroom observations. in, and the last part, when some their material to the class. This was Over the last two terms my approach ** Taken from the LETC teachers blog posted on June 7, 2013: When you see these new faces around the school, please might have to leave early, to open too formal. Now I try to have four susan Joseph started tutoring at Language ETC in the fall of 2010. she has since to leading the advanced conversa- discussions of current events and 15-minute activities: news (some- taught levels 1a and 2B, finally settling in advanced and advanced conversation as a introduce yourself and say hello! tion club has changed. It’s become ideas for exploring Washington, times led by volunteer Gabby Geier), member of the daytime teaching team. focused less on “teaching” and DC. I welcomed the opportunity to presentation of a controversial topic, lead students in conversation for a more on stimulating conversation. 5 Improving the lives of immigrants through education. Continued on page 5 SUmmer 2013 www.languageetc.org Letter from the $500 – $999 $200 – $499 continuedd $200 – $499 continuedd up to $200 continuedd DONORS Marc Elliott Albert Kristy and Ed Farley Betty Shirley Ann Ingram Executive director Fall ’12 – Kirby Behre and Jody Curtis Susan and Michael Fine Stephen Skubel Andrew Joskow and Lisa Sockett Language ETC to be featured in the Horton Beebe-Center and Amy Finkelstein Teresa Soto Sherry Kaiman Visit Our Website – spring ’13 Stephanie Slewka Sarah Flanagan and Barbara Stein Ann and Julius Kaplan www.languageetc.org Victoria Regina Burton Steven Selby Bonnie and Robert Temple Cheryl Kariya Catalogue for Philanthropy 2013/2014 Toni Clark and Richard Bell Dr.