ILI and Northampton Rotary Club focus on volunteerism
If you’ve been to an ILI volunteer tutor training session in the past year, you’ve been the beneficiary of our wonderful partnership with the Northampton Rotary Club. And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for! The next is December 4 (details coming.).
How did we get here? In late 2023, ILI was the proud recipient of a District Grant from the Northampton Rotary Club allowing us to focus on recruitment, training, and support for our outstanding cadre of current and potential tutors. They work one on one with immigrants and refugees in our free English classes, providing additional English practice, encouragement, and fellowship.
Participants in the free English Program are often underemployed and at low income levels. The majority identify as non-White, with Latinos comprising the largest race/ethnic group. Learning to read, write, speak, and understand English can help them better navigate their new environment and lead to better employment and higher education opportunities.
Many volunteer tutors come to us having never taught a language but wanting to help immigrants and refugees in our area as they build new lives in Massachusetts. With support from Rotary, the workshops help volunteers realize how it feels to learn a new language. According to Northampton Rotarian Barb Devlin, who is also a volunteer tutor, the workshops “expanded our knowledge about the experience of immigrants living in Western Massachusetts and increased our confidence by introducing us to strategies and activities that could be used right away in our tutoring sessions.”
Barb, who was instrumental in helping ILI prepare the grant application, is a constant presence at our training sessions and always offers excellent suggestions for future topics and shares activities she’s found particularly useful with her student. And she recently shared her experience with Rotarians from all over western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut at their annual district Foundation Brunch. Here’s that story.
“I paired with a delightful woman named Pamela who emigrated with her husband from the French-speaking area of Cameroon a few years ago and has since given birth to two children. While some volunteers and English language learners met in person, Pamela and I met weekly via Zoom – with a few breaks – from January through September 2024, to accommodate her transportation and childcare limitations.
Like many immigrants, Pamela and her husband are hoping to increase their earnings potential and create better opportunities for their family in the U.S. A licensed physician in Cameroon, Pamela’s long-term goal is to become a medical doctor here. However, when we began meeting, her immediate goals were to increase her English vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills to better navigate life in the U.S., including shopping, cooking, doctor visits, passing the driver’s test, and becoming comfortable in social settings.
After our last tutoring session in September, I was gratified when Pamela wrote, ‘I learned a lot from you, you always encouraged me and looked for a way to improve my English as well as my social life.’ I was even more proud to learn that Pamela passed the advanced English class at ILI as well as the first of two required Massachusetts medical exams! Go Pamela!”
Barb also shared some of the topics covered in the workshops that helped her, and others, navigate their tutoring sessions with more than 40 students. As she noted, “We learned how to use pictures to engage students in conversation and support grammar instruction. We became familiar with how to access online resources to assist with English language pronunciation, vocabulary building, and listening comprehension. We were provided with materials and activities to develop reading comprehension. And we reviewed case studies depicting challenges faced by tutors and learners and explored possible solutions as a way of honing our tutoring skills.”
While the volunteer tutors benefitted from the training provided, the ultimate beneficiaries were the English language learners who worked with them. As Barb shared in her closing remarks to the Rotarians, “I am pleased that the Northampton Rotary Club sought and received approval for a continuation of this project in 2024-2025. I plan to continue as a volunteer tutor and encourage other Rotarians – both in Northampton Rotary and other clubs – to become volunteer tutors as well. Whether in-person or via Zoom, becoming a volunteer tutor is a wonderful way to exemplify Rotary’s commitment to “Service Above Self.”
At the International Language Institute, we too thank the Northampton Rotary Club for continuing this project, and agree that tutoring is a wonderful way to serve your community. Thanks to you for all you do!
Barbara Devlin, Northampton Rotarian and ILI volunteer tutor, and Jeanne Barron, ILI Volunteer Coordinator, collaborated on this article.