ESL groups on campus unify to create tutoring program

During the summer, a core group of about eight University of Richmond Bonner Scholars came together in order to establish one cohesive English as a Second Language program where students at Richmond could help teach English to members of the community who want to assimilate into society.

The idea was presented to the group of students by Kelly Behrend, a 2010 graduate, who thought this would be a great project for the Bonners to undertake.

In the beginning, the idea was to unify the three main English as a Second Language, or ESL, groups that were organized by Richmond students. These three programs were the Richmond Immigration and Refugee Services off-campus tutoring program, the on-campus tutoring program of Heilman Dining Center workers and staff, and the Bonner Scholars tutoring program.

This summer, the group created mission goals and brainstormed how it would recruit more volunteers as well as share the program with the public. The name of the program would be RIICO, Refugee and Immigrant Issues Coalition.

The main goal of RIICO is to provide immigrants and refugees with the appropriate tools to integrate into the community of Richmond. RIICO is made up of Bonner Scholars, Richmond students who are taking Spanish in the Community, and some Richmond students who are just looking to volunteer.

"It's nice to have a bigger group of teachers because then you can give small groups of students more attention," senior Bonner Scholar Nadia Parekh said.

RIICO members go to West End Presbyterian Church where they are in charge of teaching three different classes of immigrants and refugees on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7-9 p.m. The ESL students are separated into classrooms depending on their knowledge of the English language. Those who are completely new to the language are placed in classroom one, those who know some vocabulary are placed in classroom two and those who know a good amount of survival English are placed in classroom 3.

Suwattana Sugg, the site supervisor for West End Presbyterian, is simply that: a supervisor. She does not do any of the teaching but she walks up and down the hallways keeping an eye on each of the classrooms.

"There are also classrooms with teachers who are not Richmond students," she said. "These classes are primarily for the advanced students and the students looking to take a class on citizenship in the U.S."

The Bonner scholars and volunteers meet after each Thursday session to review the week, discuss what worked well in the classroom and to try and find ways that they can improve the curriculum.

"We want to be able to develop our educational techniques and be able to adjust to the needs of our students," senior Bonner Scholar Russell Gong said.

The RIICO curriculum is strict and the teacher's have a lot of material to get through with their ESL students. Some of subject areas taught in the RIICO program include: personal identification, insurance, housing, clothing/appropriate dress, legal rights, health and emergency services, food, and transportation.

Earlier in the semester, the Bonner scholars and other volunteers executed a successful RIICO day in which the ESL students and other immigrants and refugees from around the Richmond area cooked authentic foods, mingled with each other, and had the opportunity to discuss refugee issues in Richmond.

RIICO students represent a large number of ethnicities as well as age groups. Students have come from North Africa, Central and South America, Russia, the Middle East, and South East Asia.

In terms of age, the range is rather large.

"We have a large number of students between the ages of 30 and 35 while we have an 85- year- old man from El Salvador who still wants to learn English," Gong said.

Gong, the head of the Bonner Scholars at the West End Presbyterian site, has learned a lot about the cultural philosophies and the different mindsets of some of the immigrants and refugees he teaches.

"You can read all about international issues but when you hear someone from El Salvador or Honduras telling you they are in the U.S. trying to support their families and children who are still living in their home countries, there is nothing more real than that," Gong said.

Gong was impressed by one of his older male students in particular. When Gong entered one of the classrooms, attended mostly by Hispanic women, he noticed the man and asked him his name. The man's name was Hickman and when Gong tried to explain the lesson in Spanish, he quickly learned that the man did not speak Spanish, but that he spoke Arabic.

After ten minutes of intense charades, the man made it clear that he understood the lesson and Gong asked the man where he was from. Hickman told Gong that he fled to the U.S. with his son and granddaughter from Afghanistan, where his entire family was killed.

"As sad as it is, I had nothing to say to him besides welcome to my class," Gong said.

Gong welcomed Hickman to the class and the man replied with a big bear hug, a kiss on the cheek, and told Gong that now he could teach Gong Arabic.

According to Gong, RIICO's biggest goal is to increase their coalition base and effectively link the on-campus tutoring effort to the off-campus tutoring program. After the senior Bonner Scholars graduate Gong hopes that the organization will be able to exist alone and the coalition will continue to build.

Contact reporter Bria Eulitt at bria.eulitt@richmond.edu