A year ago, just after the ICE raids, the celebration was sparsely attended. But on Monday, the annual party at a Fair Haven English language learning center was packed with happy tutors, like Rita Barse (left), and students, like Maria Tunkiewicz (right).
In the biggest turnout in the Springs Learning Center’s six-year history, dozens of people came together to recognize the accomplishments of the the students learning English and to salute the efforts of their volunteer tutors.
The Springs Learning Center is associated with St Rose of Lima Church, in Fair Haven. The center is run by the Dominican Sisters, a national organization of nuns, and offers free one-on-one English tutoring to all who request it.
Following an evening mass at St. Rose, the teachers and students had a potluck dinner together in the church basement. The meal included food from the 27 different countries represented by the center’s students. The majority of the English-learners are from Latin America, but students from other areas of the world, including India and Iran, also attend.
Click the arrows above to see more scenes from the celebration.
The evening was emceed by Sister Maryann Lawlor, founder and director of the center and also a tutor. She was born and brought up in the Fair Haven parish.
Lawlor was one of many of the tutors who expressed their respect and admiration for their students, many of whom work multiple jobs and still find time to attend English classes.
“These people have a high work ethic,” said Sister Maryann Lawlor, “a high, high work ethic.”
Students attend classes for different reasons. Many are hoping that English skills will help them to find work, or to gain better work. Others are studying English to move towards attaining U.S. citizenship. Lawlor said that the center has assisted five students to get citizenship.
Dora Ospina, from Colombia, has been studying at the center for five years, off and on. She works in child care and is in training to become a Child Development Associate. Eating dinner with her husband, Hector Ospina, Dora said that she has been taking CDA classes taught in Spanish, but that next Fall she will be attending classes taught in English at Gateway community college.
A Little English
Later in the evening, it was time to put the new English skills to the test.
“Who’s going to be the first to speak a little English?” asked Lawlor, standing at a podium draped in red, white, and blue.
One by one, students came forward to speak about their experience at the center. Tutors also addressed the room.
Ospina initially spoke to the crowd in Spanish, but after being drowned out by chants of “Ingles! Ingles! Ingles!” she related, in English, her plans to study at Gateway. The audience cheered their approval.
Volunteer tutor Peter Schwartz spoke about his “wonderful experience” as a tutor and then took advantage of having a captive audience to hand out his tutee’s business card. Schwartz’s pupil, Randal Mena, has just started an internet cafe and computer repair business in Fair Haven.
Elba, from Venezuala, read a short statement that she had written in English about the climate of her native country. In a very soft voice, she carefully told the room about Venezuela’s average temperature and rainfall.
Lawlor was impressed by Elba’s reading. “She was very, very shy when she first came,” she said.
Last to speak was Father James Manship. He urged the tutors to tell others about what they had experienced at the center, to share their new insight into the immigrant experience with people in their workplaces. “Go out and have this conversation,” he said. “Simply tell the story of these wonderful people you’ve met.”