Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

School teachers English to Hispanic parents

A $150,000 grant, from the Century Community Learning Center program out of Little Rock, is the funding source for adult Hispanics to learn English through the Gurdon School System.

Lynn Failla, director of the program, said Tuesday, "We have 27 adult students signed up for the program this year, and they learn to speak English from 5:30-9 p.m. on Thursday evenings at the Cabe Middle School Library."

The program is announced at Hispanic Church and predominately involves parents of Hispanic students who attend public school in Gurdon.

"This is the fourth year for the grant," Failla said. "They did this adult education for English to the Hispanic last year. They start with a book that is used in Mexico, with the left side in English and the right in Spanish. They read it in Spanish and then sound out the words and read it in English. It is similar to a kindergarten-type class situation. We have four adult tutors with four to six people each to teach."

The primary teacher for the Hispanic language class is Jean Smithey. Her assistants are: Victor Riley, Kim Hulan and Stephanie Walker. The program starts in September and finishes when school is out in May.

Failla said, "A lot of our participants are repeats from last year. In addition to learning English, they have an opportunity to get a GED. They work their way through books one, two and three. Also, we have purchased laptop computers with the grant money so they can practice their English at home. They also get taught how to do resumes. We keep it simple, without the Internet."

The program is free to the students. It is for all age adults. The oldest currently in attendance are in their middle 30s. Failla said the current grant funds 100 percent of the project, but if funding continues next year, the Department of Higher Education will switch to funding 80 percent. This means the district, or some other money source, such as another grant, will have to make up the difference.

"We have a babysitting service so those with infants have no excuse not to come and learn English," Failla said.

The grant also covers an after-school tutoring programs for grades five through eight and nine through 12. In the five through eight program, Failla said there are two math teachers and two English teachers. On the high school level, there is also a chemistry/science type teacher.

"Our grant does not pay for both English teachers," she said. "One of them just knew we needed help and volunteered."

The high school and middle school tutorials take place in classrooms, with five to 18 students per grade being served.

"We are adding another tutorial class for helping Hispanic kids on Mondays and Thursdays. It is one day at middle school and one day at high school," she said.

As to the program for Hispanic adults to learn English, Failla said there are usually 21 or so to attend of the 27 each week, as work schedules sometimes prevent them from coming every time.