English at Work

Hello, English at Work friends and supporters! As many of you know, I was lucky to receive a 2007 Echoing Green Fellowship this summer. Echoing Green provides seed funding to social entrepreneurs around the world. One of the perks of being an EG Fellow is connecting to the larger world of social change agents and the organizations that support them, like the Skoll Foundation. Social Edge (www.socialedge.org) is Skoll’s website and I am pleased to invite you to listen to a brief interview I did for the site a few weeks ago. To hear it, go to http://www.socialedge.org/blogs/new-entrepreneurs/archive/2008/04/22/maile-broccoli-hickey. Best, Maile

This month we’re profiling Barbara Caballero. Barbara recently finished teaching a series of courses to a group of housekeepers, cafeteria workers and laundry attendants at the Hilton hotel in downtown Austin. Barbara has worked with English at Work since last fall and we’re excited about the interactive activities Barbara brings into her classroom. When her Health & Safety class wrapped up, she invited the students’ supervisors in for a day of role play. Everyone took turns playing receptionist, doctor, patient and cashier and re-created the experience of going to the doctor. Thanks to the Hilton for hosting a class and thanks to all the supervisors at the Hilton who supported their coworkers learning English and who volunteered to participate in class activities.

Having studied French and spent time abroad, Barbara says she understands the struggle her students go through, not just in learning a new language, but a new culture as well. In France she was grateful to all the people who were so kind to her and helped her learn French. Teaching ESL is her chance to give that back to someone else.

Barbara says her favorite part of teaching is that light bulb moment – the moment when you’re teaching and you can see the student get it. And it’s even more exciting when that student turns around and teaches someone else.

Barbara first started teaching in California. She had just moved and was looking for a church. She came across a church with a sign for literacy classes, and thought, “Any church that teaches literacy must be good!” She ended up volunteering with the literacy group that used the church’s space, and in time became the program’s director. That eventually lead to teaching ESL, and we’re so lucky to have her with English at Work!

The Pew Hispanic Center recently released a report on English language use among native and non-native Latinos. The following two statistics stand out:

(1) Immigrants use English at the workplace far more often than they do at home. Almost 30 per cent of survey respondents said they speak mainly or only English at work whereas only 7 per cent report speaking mainly or only English at home.

(2) Latino immigrants indicated that limited English skills are a more common cause of discrimination than skin color, immigration status, and socio-economic background.

The full report is available at www.pewhispanic.org

Last year, English at Work served 126 students at 10 businesses, and we are well on our way to surpassing those numbers this year! Our success comes from the fact that we have such great teachers and volunteers working with us. We want everyone to know how much we appreciate all their hard work, and would like to share their stories. We’re kicking things off by profiling our longest running volunteer, Don Roach.

Don has been volunteering with English at Work for 2 ½ years! He didn’t have a background in teaching or tutoring, but it’s something he’d thought about trying. Don’s tenure with E@W began when he saw an ad in the Chronicle in 2006. He now tutors two employees at the Hotel San Jose on South Congress. Don’s two students, Nico and Rosa, work in housekeeping. Rosa recently advanced to Assistant Manager of Housekeeping, and she credits Don with giving her the English skills necessary to get this promotion.

Don says his class is pretty laid back. Most of the time they practice conversation or talk about difficulties the students ran up against at work or in the community. One exciting moment for Don was when Nico called him to talk about class and they were able to talk in English over the phone, rather than communicate through other hotel employees. Now they talk on the phone every week! When he’s not teaching at the San Jose, Don works as a web designer and likes to compete in triathlons.

Thank you Don for your dedication, and congratulations to Nico and Rosa for all your hard work! And a big thanks to the Hotel San Jose for sponsoring English classes for their employees!

This fall, English at Work’s Executive Director, Maile Broccoli-Hickey, had the privilege of working with two groups of students from the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business. Each group chose English at Work from a list of local nonprofits who sought help increasing revenue, developing a competitive advantage, and planning events, among other things.

Maile is pictured above with students from Professor Eugene Sepulveda’s Community Development Consulting course. The students were charged with researching whether English at Work can increase the fees it currently charges employers to host a class. After meeting with four host businesses, the group found that half of the employers would be willing to pay more, whereas the other half indicated that paying more to host an English class is not currently possible. While businesses and students gave English at Work the highest possible rating in surveys and interviews, they also shared the following suggestions with the McCombs group:

- courses should last longer than 6 weeks,
- incorporate class activities for different types of learners, and
- include cultural lessons in each course.

The Community Development Consulting group went beyond what was expected of them and also helped English at Work launch its Guest Speaker initiative. This project brings successful immigrant community members to English at Work classes to discuss strategies for learning English and commend students on their dedication. Professor Sepulveda’s students arranged for Professor Jose Montiel, from UT’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese, to visit the organization’s class at the Omni Hotel. Professor Montiel’s visit was a great success. Check back with this site next week for a summary of his comments.

Many thanks to Jesse, Paula, Dora, Fernando, and Professor Sepulveda for their great work!

English at Work’s Program Manager, Dawn Allen, and Maile with business students.

The other group that consulted with English at Work this fall was from Professor Mihran Aroian’s class in the Management Department at McCombs. These students investigated how English at Work can expand beyond the service industry in 2008. After months of research and a few visits to English at Work classes, the group concluded that the next industry the organization should target is construction. This suggestion was based on the following information:

- construction will be adding the highest number of jobs in the near future,
- it employs the most number of immigrants out of all Austin industries, and
- construction companies have a lot to gain from an English-proficient workforce.

The group made suggestions as to how to market to the construction industry and even made a brochure for English at Work to use in both English and Spanish. Like their Community Development Consulting colleagues, the Management group exceeded expectations by going on to develop a plan for English at Work’s expansion at the state and national level. Also, since several members of the group speak Farsi, they helped translate the organization’s fall fundraiser invitation so that our Iranian students could come to the October event.

A thousand thanks to Shapour, Pegah, Sanam, Shehzila, Jonathan, and Professor Aroian for their hard work!

Tuesday night’s fundraiser, Paso a Paso, was a great success! Students and their families mingled with instructors, supervisors, and program supporters while the music floated up to the twinkle lights in the old oak trees. Special thanks to our volunteers for setting up, monitoring the gate and silent auction, and greeting guests. Our thanks also go out to the business sponsors:

Wells Fargo
Guero’s Taco Bar
Austin Motel
Hilton Downtown
DoubleTree Guest Suites
Hotel San Jose
Home Slice Pizza
Antone’s

Check back soon for pictures of the event!

English at Work’s third annual fall fundraiser, Paso a Paso, will be held tonight from 7 to 10pm in the Oak Garden of Guero’s Taco Bar, 1412 South Congress. Highlights will include:

Hostess Lolis Garcia-Baab, creator of The Ladies Room with Lolis on 1370AM
A taco dinner provided by Guero’s
Face painting and crafts for kids
A silent auction with gift certificates from local hotels and restaurants
A raffle prize of a trip for 2 to San Miguel de Allende

Special thanks to this year’s sponsors:
Wells Fargo
Austin Motel
Hilton Downtown
DoubleTree Guest Suites
Hotel San Jose
Home Slice Pizza
Guero’s Taco Bar

Go to the “Contribute” page of this site to purchase tickets or make a donation. We’ll see you in the Garden!

Paso a Paso (Step by Step), E@W’s 3rd annual fall fundraiser, is less than one week away. Remember, $25 gets you dinner, one of Guero’s hand-shaken margaritas, and a chance to win a trip for 2 to San Miguel de Allende! You do not have to be present to win.

Other activities will include face painting and arts and crafts for the kids, salsa dancing, and a special check presentation to English at Work from the Great Society Fund.

If you can’t make it, here are 3 ways you can still support our students:

(1) Donate $50 towards a pre-packaged ‘Student Essentials’ backpack, which includes:

* Picture dictionary
* Customized student workbook
* Pencils
* Composition book for notes
* An Apple for your teacher
* A gift certificate towards the purchase of one class laptop (English@Work is in the process of integrating computer lessons in the curriculum)

(2) Donate a ticket for the fundraiser at $25: even if you can’t come, we will donate your ticket to a deserving student AND your name will still be entered into our raffle to win a trip to San Miguel!!

(3) Sponsor a student’s registration fee for a semester of English classes at $15. For one student to attend an entire semester it only costs $15 ($1 per class).

To buy an event/raffle ticket, go to the “Contribute” page of this site, or contact Maile at maile@austinenglish.org or 585-1600.

We’ve always thought the Hotel San Jose, the Austin Motel, the Driskill, and Guero’s were cool businesses for providing English classes to their employees on site. It turns out Austinites love them for other reasons, too!

Hotel San Jose (Best Hotel)
Austin Motel (Best Motel)
The Driskill Hotel (Best Lobby/Waiting Room).

Also, the Guero’s Oak Garden won for “Best Tot Dancing.” Parents take note: English at Work’s fall fundraiser will be taking place in the Oak Garden on October 23rd. See the post below for more information.

Date: Tuesday, October 23rd
Time: 7-10pm
Place: Guero’s Oak Garden, 1412 South Congress

This year’s theme is Paso a Paso, which means “step by step.” The event will include tacos and margaritas, a raffle contest, live music, and face painting and crafts for the kids. In keeping with the theme, there will also be a salsa dancing lesson led by English at Work students!

Purchasing a ticket for $25 gets you into the party, a free dinner, and automatic entry into the raffle contest. Smaller prizes include gift baskets from area businesses. The grand prize is a trip for two to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico! You can purchase tickets online by going to the “Contribute” page of this website or by calling (512) 585-1600.

See you in the Garden!