Our work with adult learners at The Welcome Project includes:
Classes for English Language Learners
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). The Welcome Project offers accessible and friendly English classses. Our classes are designed to not only help our students improve their English language skills, but also to provide opportunities to engage in the civic life of the city.
Our morning class offers childcare through partnership with the Somerville Family Learning Collaborative. Like our morning classes, our evening classes meet twice a week over 28 weeks throughouut the year.
We also offer special topic based classes on community issues designed to help English Language Learners participate in city issues.
Our first such class in fall 2009 was English and Transportation a module that was cosponsored by the Somerville Corridor Coalition, a group of community organizations promoting public involvment in the planning of several new Green Line stops in Somerville.
In the spring of 2010, we offered an English conversation class, Jobs and Money in partnership with the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC). A trilingual job counselor from the Career Place offered direct assistance and counseling on-site after classes on Wednesday evenings.
In fall 2010, The Welcome Project offered two new modules: English for Helping Your Child in School and English and Health. These topic based classes are designed to not only provide information and tools for English Language Learners, but to help identifiy and communicate the needs and concerns of immigrant adults to the institutions that serve them.
The Helping Your Child in School class has now been offered three times. Several students from the class also participate in The Welcome Project's International Parent Group, which is organizing for changes in the schools to enable immigrant parents to more effectively participate in their children's education
We also infuse our regular classes with special topics of interest and concern to residents, including parenting/schools, jobs and work issues, health access, and housing.
News and Notes
Expanded Adult ESOL Program Helps Students Connect, October 21, 2010
5 English Classes at Welcome Project this Fall, October 28, 2009
Welcome Project Graduation Celebration, June 7, 2009
First Generation to College (Parents Program)
Parental support plays an important role in the success of young people. Yet, for many parents not born in this country, the educational system can be unfamiliar and frustrating to navigate. The Welcome Project offers support to immigrant parents, both in undertanding the school system in Somerville and in accessing information for higher education.
In the summer of 2010, we partnered with Tufts University's Eliot Pearson Department of Child Development to hear from immigrant parents about their views and concerns about supporting their children in the Somerville public schools. The focus was on Mystic Public Housing Development parents whose children attend the adjacent Healey School (K-8). We conducted 3 focus groups, interviewed several more, and completed surveys with 15 additional parents. Bilingual high school students in the Liaison Interpreters Program of Somerville (LIPS) were trained as co-investigators and served as cultural brokers and assisted with interpretation at meetings, during interviews. They also conducted surveys. More information about the LIPS youth and the summer project is found here.
News & Notes
Five Somerville youth certified as co-investigators for community-based research project, August 2010
