Phillips County Family Education Services’ ESL program participants who attended the achievement night held May 25 are pictured, from left, Luis Monjaraz, Arturo Lopez, Monica Martinez, Maria Huasanche, Alan Porras, Rosalba Sánchez Velásquez, Gerardo Andrade, Oscar Sánchez, Dulce Zúñiga, Cecilia Retama, Iveth Guardado, Yudith Garcia, and instructor Brianna Bade. Retama, Guardado and Garcia received recognition for obtaining a one-year measurable skill gain on standardized English tests. — Jerel Domer | The Holyoke Enterprise
Family Education celebrates achievements
Members of Phillips County Family Education Services’ classes and programs gathered with their families at the Phillips County Event Center to celebrate the students’ achievements on Thursday, May 25. This awards night is designed to recognize the students that made one year of gains on the standardized tests, and also to acknowledge everybody who participated in the ESL, citizenship prep, conversation class, after-school, family literacy and GED programs.
The ESL program “focuses on grammar, reading, conversation and workforce skills, and it involves periodic testing of [the students’] skills,” according to program director Linda Jelden. “People are tested at their own level, so almost everybody makes gains, but the people who make year gains, that’s pretty exceptional.”
Around 30 students participated this last year. Classes take place four days a week during a fall and a spring semester.