Rothstein was busy on an early May day helping five students in the Book 2 Class with grammar lessons from a workbook followed by a “time to talk” exercise during which students teamed up to practice English skills.
This free Adult Basic Literacy Education program through Miami Valley Career Technology Center Adult Education next month will kick off its 18th year at the Sulphur Grove United Methodist Church, 7505 Taylorsville Road.
Jacqueline Bunke, HELP director, has been with the program since its Huber Heights beginnings. She first started volunteering with English for Speakers of Other Languages at St. John’s United Church in Dayton and asked a program leader why a program wasn’t held in the northern area.
“She said there was a need … but someone was needed to lead it,” Bunke recalled. She said she prayed about that need and ended up helping to establish and open the program in the church. She still teaches one day a week during the program year of September through May.
New registrations are accepted the first Wednesday of each month while the classes are in session. Each student is tested to determine which class level they should attend. Childcare is available for children of participants.
The students in Rothstein’s class were from Guinea, Philippines, Korea, Guatemala and Japan. Some knew no English on their arrival in the United States while others had some familiarity with English.
Rothstein patiently walked through the day’s exercises with the participants and encouraged them to help each other while working on written lessons.
“It is fun because they are motivated. This is really rewarding,” Rothstein, who lives in Tipp City, said of the program.
Bunke said the best advertising for the program and for finding volunteer instructors is word of mouth. She provides training for instructors, some who have teaching backgrounds.
“We’ve had engineers, people who have not taught anything before. They stay because they love doing it,” Bunke said. “It’s the eagerness of the students; discipline problems are minimal. They are here because they want to learn.”
Anyone interested in participating in the program or volunteering as an instructor, is asked to call Bunke at 937-235-5783 or jbunke@mvctc.com.
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