The Community Education Newsletter |
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Citizenship Teacher Becomes A Citizen!
Gedion Carido was in the unique position of being both a citizenship assistant teacher and a citizenship student in 2021. An immigrant from the Philippines with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education, Gedion had to reside the prerequisite three years in the United States before he could apply for citizenship. In that time, he became certified to teach in Pennsylvania, did extensive volunteer work, and became employed by IU13 Community Education as a paraeducator. In the citizenship classroom, he and the students benefited from each other--sharing similar experiences as immigrants, while learning about the culture and history of the US. “Whatever pains the students encountered, I had as well,” explains Gedion.
Gaining US citizenship was important to Gedion so that he could build a life with his spouse here. Additionally, he wanted to discover himself as a world citizen--to be able to travel out of the country under no restrictions. Just two weeks after passing his oral and written tests, he swore his oath at a ceremony in Philadelphia. That same day, he exercised two important rights as a citizen: he registered to vote and applied for a passport! Although family and friends could not attend the ceremony due to COVID, Gedion came home to cards of celebration and invitations to parties.
Gedion offers three pieces of advice for those in the process of gaining citizenship: Study--be knowledgeable about what will be tested. Plan ahead--set your schedule for work, family and study time. Finally, connect-- ask your teacher for help and support. Gedion acknowledges that being an immigrant is hard work, saying “As an immigrant, I have to work hard to get the job I am dreaming of. There is assimilation, acculturation. You have to read a lot of books, you have to be curious, and you have to embrace the challenges by treating them as learning opportunities instead of black holes in your life.”
This hard work has paid off. This fall, Gedion will teach his own citizenship class as a new Community Education instructor. Gedion reflects on the value of new citizens: “The diversity of immigrants in this country is the strength of this nation. We need to acknowledge that regardless of our differences.” To his students, Gedion reminds them, “You are making America better and stronger!”
“I have a lot of gratitude for what I received in this country, and teaching a citizenship class is my way of paying it forward to other New Americans,” he concludes.
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Innovation in Technology
Instructor Marilyn Lydic earned kudos for her technology support to students and teachers at a statewide conference this summer. This recognition at the Technology in Adult Education Virtual Conference showcased her innovative approach during the pandemic.
Marilyn shared with participants the challenges IU13 Community Education faced with moving to remote learning and how technology coaching for both students and teachers helped. She spoke about the decision to use Schoology and Zoom for instruction, the procedure for identifying students new to remote learning, the coaching opportunities she offered them prior to class, the assistance offered to teachers during class time to help students access assignments, and tools she used to help students learn technology remotely. She also spoke about organizing materials in a learning management system to fit teachers’ content and instructional needs.
Marilyn shares that the most rewarding part of her technology coaching experience has been witnessing the change in students’ confidence level. When students joined her in a Zoom, the first words out of their mouths often were, “I can’t do technology”, but by the end of the meeting they exclaimed, “I CAN do technology!”
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Steinman Foundation Funding Announcement |
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Former adult refugees and immigrants in Lancaster and Lebanon need access to funds to pay for postsecondary education so that they can achieve their career goals in the U.S. The Literacy and Learning Success Centers were recently awarded $50,000 from the Steinman Foundation through a grant to provide up to $2,500 of tuition funds for former refugees and immigrants. Grant funding will be used to help cover textbooks, supplies, and tuition, which will greatly reduce the financial burden for students. IU13 Community Education is proud to work collaboratively with The Literacy and Learning Success Centers to implement Career Pathway for English Learners (CPEL) programming for eligible participants, many of whom will benefit from tuition funding through this Steinman Foundation Grant. |
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Adult learners need services now more than ever due to the COVID-related emotional and economic havoc they are experiencing. We need your help to give adult learners a chance to get back on their feet! Please support us through your gifts of time and funding. |
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Classes, Resources, Services, and Trainings |
Check out our class, resource, service, and training list at the bottom of this newsletter. |
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Check out Tim Talk at the bottom of the newsletter for important updates from our program director.
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Interactive Literacy Activities(ILA) Summer Session |
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On a balmy July afternoon, six Family Literacy families and FLIT staff joined together for a summer session kickoff at Lancaster County Park. Following some warm-up parent and child activities focused on the five senses and a camp-styled sing-along, participants enjoyed grilled hotdogs and sides provided by supervisor Lora Zangari and program assistant Deb Reidenbach. Students and their children next enjoyed a guided tour through the Garden of Five Senses with a park naturalist who encouraged the use of all senses to explore the surrounding natural beauty. Families and staff paused to smell aromatic plants, herbs, and trees such as sassafras, rosemary, white pine, and mint. Everyone listened to the pleasant silence of the forest, touched the cold trickling water, viewed the unique structures of leaves, and tasted mint plants.
Safely back in the pavilion as the wind picked up, families created natural crafts to include flower and leaf pressings, miniature floatable rafts made from sticks and moss, and Cheerios bird feeders crafted by the toddlers. Nature journals were provided for reflection of the experience and as a parent/child interactive literacy activity. Leftover snacks were finished before families said goodbye to each other and the wonders of the natural world around them, each feeling refreshed and grateful for a wonderful day of learning and sharing.
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Summer 2021 marked the transition from all virtual high school equivalency (HSE) classes to an offering of either face-to-face or virtual classes.
In Lancaster, students attended classes in person at the PA CareerLink on North Charlotte Street, choosing between math, reading/language arts, or both. Students selected this offering because they felt learning in person was more beneficial: they appreciated the camaraderie among classmates, the ability to concentrate and avoid distractions, and a better connection with their teacher. One student notes about his instructor, “He has all these students at different paces and still manages to attend, teach, and encourage them all at once.”
In Lebanon, students had the option of a math Zoom class, a science/writing face-to-face class at the IU13 building on 1 Cumberland Street, or a combination of both. Those who continued with only virtual classes did so for health reasons, child care reasons, or scheduling issues. Students especially appreciated the flexibility during the summer when children were at home and families tried to get together for vacation. Staff were excited to welcome other students back into the building, especially those who had not been able to join virtual classes in the past year and a half.
The fall session started in a few weeks ago, and students continued to have remote and face-to-face options.
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ESL Level 3 Morning Classes
ESL Level 3 students studied jobs with instructor Kevin Boll by first visiting CareerOneStop: Careers and Career Information to watch a video about job vocabulary. Students also read sample job interviews and studied help wanted ads abbreviations. Practicing conversations about their experience related to job hunting helped them to gain confidence and familiarity with common questions posed by employers.
Pictured below are ESL students, one volunteer, and one college student who joined the class to observe.
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An English for Careers class met at Long’s Park with instructor Susan Mast. They enjoyed perfect weather to meet in person for the first time off Zoom. Students got to know each other better and were able to continue practicing and growing their skills while building a sense of community. |
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Career Pathway for English Learners (CPEL) Update
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IU13’s Refugee Center at Reynolds Middle School is home to staff who support refugees and immigrants through a grant-funded program—Career Pathways for English Learners (CPEL). This grant, funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and BB&T Bank with different parameters for each, allows clients to attain the knowledge and resources necessary to begin a professional career in their new community. Refugees or immigrants receive assistance in finding and paying for training to gain the skills necessary to be self-sufficient economically and to benefit the communities where they live.
In its third year, the CPEL program has supported over 175 clients. Services range from career counseling to financial aid. Additionally, since many clients have limited English, they are placed in an IU13 ESL classroom. Others have a high school diploma from their native country, but since it is not always accepted here, they enroll in IU13’s high school equivalency classes. Navigators also work with the clients to get their certifications evaluated and evaluated for use in the US.
Navigator Jeremy Rhoads has assisted clients with trainings in a variety of fields. One was a nurse in his native country and wanted to remain in that career here. In order to do so, he must pass a national licensing exam, requiring a great deal of studying. In the meantime, he needed a job and preferred one in the medical field. Jeremy assisted him in determining a training that interested him, which was phlebotomy. The client is now working as a phlebotomy technician while preparing for the nursing exam.
Additional recent clients include several who enrolled in the Facilities Maintenance Technician program at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, one who entered cosmetology training, and one who studied Spanish education at Millersville (she was a linguistics major in her native country).
Jeremy recounts the challenges of working with students virtually rather than in person, but notes the rewards are many--the clients are so grateful for the assistance they receive in their new community and IU13 staff are grateful for their contributions to Lancaster.
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Back to school is challenging for any parent and even more so for non-native English speakers. Cultural Navigator Loice Byler, along with three other IU13 Community Education Refugee Center staff members, helps School District of Lancaster families to thrive, not just survive. Her clients number 80 households and all speak Swahili, a language that Loice grew up speaking.
During the summer, she and other cultural navigators enrolled students in the Leap into Language Program. They participated four days a week in assisting teachers, students, and administrators to succeed and thrive. Loice also assisted parents in preparing for the school year by making announcements about COVID vaccines for those who are 12 or older, McCaskey tours for new students, back-to-school nights/ice cream socials, and a uniform and back to school giveaway.
Loice’s plan for the 2021-22 school year includes more specific education navigation. She will help families enroll in education programs, girls into STEM and engineering programs, and moms to sewing classes. If there are clients who are older than 21, she will direct them to IU13 adult education classes that may be helpful, such as GED or ESL (English as a Second Language). Clients sometimes have housing, medical, and food issues that Loice will also assist with. Additionally, she helps school district navigation by communicating with parents and schools.
Loice has also had an opportunity to participate in professional development and create space for educators to grapple with cultural differences and expectations between New American students (refugees) and the norm in the US.
Loice shares that her biggest challenge is time, but notes, “The reward is sitting back in the evening and saying ‘I had a success.’ I really enjoy working at the IU. I feel seen, heard, and encouraged.”
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Summer Citizenship Courses |
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This month another successful Citizenship course concluded. Enrollment and retention in this online class were high, with the teacher using many interactive exercises to accommodate different learning styles and levels. Instructor Ken Travis showed videos from US Citizenship and Immigration Services with a detailed explanation of the process and a mock interview to help students feel more confident about the process and to lessen their anxiety.
Ken also used PowerPoint presentations with pictures, maps and graphic organizers to guide students’ learning. The display of agenda items, class expectations and the topic of the day encouraged them to attend. Ken also dedicated time for small talk to practice the personal information questions, which are part of the N-400 citizenship interview.
In every class Ken had a citizenship challenge that kept students on their toes and created a sense of healthy competition. Additionally, Ken had students practice reading sentences aloud in preparation for the reading portion of the interview. Another strategy used was the dictation challenge: every class Ken dictated three sentences so students could practice for the writing portion of the interview.
The last part of the class was dedicated to giving students the opportunity to journal about what they learned in class as well as a thank you message for their participation during class.
A very important component of the course is the constant support of a classroom assistant. The assistant conducted one-on-one mock interviews with students outside of class hours via Zoom to prepare them for the interview. Students who attended these mock interviews had their actual interviews in Philadelphia and successfully passed and became citizens. These students returned to the classroom to talk about their experience and provide encouragement to their classmates. The assistant also made follow-up calls during the class session to ensure student retention and provided tech support as needed. Finally, he helped with a drive-through citizenship resources distribution over two different days to accommodate students who could attend in the evening and the morning hours.
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Volunteer Opportunities
IU13 Community Education, The Literacy Learning & Success Centers, and the Refugee Center at Reynolds are all looking for volunteers.
Please visit our website to see how you can help.
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Tim Talk
IU13 Community Education Program Director
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U.S. Department of Labor Grant |
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I am so excited to announce that the Lancaster Workforce Development Board, IU13 Community Education, the Lancaster County Prison, and EDSI were recently awarded a U.S. Department of Labor grant to help break the cycle of recidivism. This grant helps link those who are incarcerated to the workforce system early—while still in jail—and then immediately upon reentry into the community. The $1,499,999 grant, which operates from July 2021 to January 2025 with services to 150 individuals in the Lancaster County Prison was highly competitive, with only 21 awards nationwide.
IU13 Community Education’s role will be to coordinate the overall grant and provide an instructor to prepare individuals for training and employment. The partnering agencies are currently in the planning stage, with services beginning January 1st. It is through this type of collaborative work that we can make a positive impact on the lives of individuals who are struggling to obtain education, training, and employment due to their criminal records.
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Free* Classes, Resources,
Services, and Trainings
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IU13 Community Education provides a wide variety of daytime and evening educational and supportive services to adults in Lancaster and Lebanon counties.
Click on the links below or call us at 717-606-1708 for more information.
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English as a Second Language
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GED | HiSET test prep classes
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Must be a United States Permanent Resident (Green Card holder) to enroll in classes
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ESL or HSE classes for parents of children between birth-3rd grade
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ESL classes with civics instruction and placement into job training programs
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Workforce Preparation Classes |
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Administration Support Professional
Basic Computer Skills
Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA)
Direct Care Provider Certificate
Teacher Assistant (Special Education)
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Services and Supports Include:
Paid Internships, Assistance in Seeking Employment, Training for Certification, Supportive Services, and more!
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**Youth must meet income and eligibility requirements.
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Bilingual cultural navigators connect children and adults with social, educational, and medical services in the community
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Using PA Standards-aligned lessons, high school students can build knowledge and understanding of the global refugee crisis
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*IU13 Community Education classes and services provided directly by IU13 staff are free with limited exceptions. Additional services/tests provided by our partner providers may have costs. Please contact us with any questions. |
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Contact Information:
For more information about Community Education visit our website
or call
Lancaster: 717-606-1708
Lebanon: 717-450-1525
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