These are a few questions from the US Citizenship Test. Every person who would like to become a naturalized citizen of the US must: submit a lengthy application, sit for an interview, pass an English test and pass a Civics test. It is not a multiple choice test. Answers must be handwritten and demonstrate correct English usage and punctuation. It is very important. The whole process takes years.
Enter Welcome House Volunteer (and hero) Gladys Grissom.
A retired 7th grade Social Studies teacher, Gladys volunteers weekly to guide men and women through the intricacies of US history and government. As a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Alpha Theta Omega Chapter, Gladys was encouraged to be involved in her community. Using her gifts of teaching, she decided to make a global impact in her own neighborhood. Meeting weekly over Zoom throughout the pandemic, she finds her international students to be highly motivated learners. When asked what the biggest struggle is for many in her classes, she pointed to an unfamiliarity with certain American concepts. For example when she was teaching middle school, she realized that a student who had never been to the mountains would struggle in understanding Dr. Martin Luther King's speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop". Likewise men and women who have lived under different forms of government have no reference points for concepts like democracy, co-equal branches of government, specific rights of the citizenry. Working with her co-teacher, Jennifer Kennedy, Gladys carefully chooses her words and breaks down these ideals and concepts so that her students can understand and learn.
Eventually, with such an equipped and dedicated teacher guiding them along, these students will become citizens who enrich and support the enveloping fabric of our heritage and community - our neighbors. We are grateful for Gladys and all the other volunteers who meet with students weekly in our ESL and Citizenship classes.
