On June 20th, 2013, the Adult ESL Program and the NYC Department of Education co-hosted their end-of-school year celebration to honor their adult students. Students from two ESL classes, a joint endeavor of the YWCA of Queens and the DOE Office of Adult and Continuing Education, celebrated their accomplishments after a year of hard work at the YW. The celebration started with a language game, Stars of the Galaxy, where each student had a star affixed to the wall and his/her classmates would write some adjectives or sentences to describe this person. Students were thrilled when reading the beautiful compliments their fellow classmates had written about them.
Ms. Helen Kim, Executive Director of the YW, was present at the event. She touched the hearts of all the adult students by sharing an inspiring story of her own experience in learning ESL when she came to the US as a 5th grader.
Certificates of Completion prepared by the YWCA were also awarded to all the students who were present. Recognizing the achievements of our students is very important. For many of them, this is the first time they have been a part of something like this.
The Adult ESL program at the YWCA attracts several hundred immigrants each year with its high quality classroom instruction and relevant workshops and info sessions throughout the year. Some life-skill focused workshops held at the YW recently include Health Literacy, Financial Literacy, and Immigrant Rights & Services Workshop.
