ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)
In Weld County, we live in a culturally and socially divided community where misunderstanding and mutual mistrust are sad facts of life. Communication is one key to overcoming this gap and creating a unified society. Additionally, non-English speaking adults have fewer employment opportunities, are unable to be engaged in their children’s education, face tremendous obstacles in every aspect of daily life, and often feel that they live on the outside of society. We intend to tear down those language barriers with as many people as we possibly can. Our English acquisition classes offer life-skills based lessons which emphasize reading, writing, speaking and listening, with the incorporation of technology training where possible. By offering this opportunity, we are offering worlds of new possibilities and life-improvement and self-sufficiency.
ABE (Adult Basic Education)
For a variety of reasons, adolescent learners choose to leave school before they have earned a diploma. As adults, those individuals often regret this choice but lack the resources to remedy it. Persons without a high-school education had an average annual income of $15,000 while the median income for those with high school diplomas was $21,000 (Bell Policy Center, 2002). Multiplied over a lifetime, the accrued disparity for families with two working adults equals roughly $1.2 million . The economic impact of such statistics is mind boggling, and an excellent reason in itself for state and local agencies to invest in adult basic education. Right to Read offers pre-GED preparation classes at very low cost to extend to these adults an opportunity to improve their skills and education level which will ultimately improve their lives and the fabric of our community. Though computer literacy is not a part of the GED exam, technology skills are crucial to tomorrow’s workforce. To that end, we incorporate computer skills training into our pre-GED program.
Family Literacy
Family literacy is one of the most effective means to address many social ills including poor academic performance, poverty, illiteracy, and abusive parenting. In our four component model, which address the literacy needs of parents and children, parents learn, perhaps for the first time, that they are their children’s first and most influential teachers and we provide them with the tools necessary to maximize that role. Lives are changed, children thrive, and parents begin to feel hopeful about their future. We currently fund two family literacy sites and hope to expand this valuable model to other sites. Each program features adult literacy, including English acquisition, job skills training, workforce development, and basic literacy; children’s educational support including homework help, reading-readiness, and English acquisition; parent and child together time, in which parents and children learn together doing literacy-based, educational activities; and parenting support, during which time parents receive and give guidance and support about a myriad of issues facing at-risk families.
We currently run two family literacy sites and hope to expand this valuable model to other sites. Each program features adult literacy, including English acquisition, job skills training, workforce development, and basic literacy; children’s educational support including homework help, reading-readiness, and English acquisition; parent and child together time, in which parents and children learn together doing literacy-based, educational activities; and parenting support, during which time parents receive and give guidance and support about a myriad of issues facing at-risk families
U.S. Citizenship Exam Preparation
In partnership with Union Colony Bank and Catholic Charities Northern,
Along with a grant from the Anschutz Family Foundation, we were able to offer the only known Citizenship Exam Preparation class in Weld County. This class is designed to help the legal resident pass the citizenship oral and written exam and fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a U.S. Citizen. Community and civic leaders, as well as our Board of Directors, are all very excited bout this opportunity we are finally able to offer legal immigrants in our county.
