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Dayton woman helps immigrants earn citizenship

Julia Young

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By Kim Margolis, Staff Writer 6:55 PM Monday, March 15, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Julia Young, a Stivers High School graduate, has led an effort at American University in Washington, D.C., to help immigrant employees at the school improve their reading skills.

Young, a sophomore at the School of International Service, is co-chair of Community Learners Advancing in English and Spanish, or CLASE. The program was started in 2008 to help employees, who mostly are Spanish-speaking maintenance workers, develop literacy skills.

It started out slowly with student volunteers coming in and out, but this year, Young has bolstered the group to include 97 dedicated volunteers.

Young said the point of the group is to develop relationships, not just treat it as a group that does community service.

“I’ve noticed how invisible the workers are treated by the students, though they’re such a vital part of the university,” said Young, 19. “Along with the founding members, I became really passionate about befriending these wonderful people, a journey that had to begin with humanizing them to the general student body.”

The group will also continue beyond Young’s time at American University as it now is recognized by the Latino and American Student Organization.

CLASE pairs up student volunteers with employees. Not all the volunteers have to speak Spanish. Some help the employees learn English. Others help employees prepare for the U.S. Citizenship Test, a service the group can now offer because of its increased volunteer ranks.

Young was born in Fairborn, but her family moved to Dayton when she was a teenager. While a student at Stivers School for the Arts, she received a scholarship to study in Argentina during the 2007-2008 school year. It was there she learned to speak Spanish.

Then, as a freshman at American University in 2008, she became a tutor for CLASE and admits it’s pretty much taken over her life and she’s “OK with that.”

“It’s the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had, and it’s pretty much taken over my life,” she said. “I’m trying to juggle classes, internships, other campus organizations and a boyfriend, but regardless of how busy I get, at the end of the night, I’m sorting through CLASE e-mails or applying for grants,” she said.

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