Jesusluvsall's Blog

It was all planned. It is time for the moms to have their second round of testing to measure progress. I implored them all to be in class yesterday for the testing. We had practiced conversation extensively the last two weeks to help them be ready for an oral English test. Wednesday came and NO CLASS because of the extreme cold. School was canceled yesterday, so no testing. Best laid plans of mice and men lol. With class being canceled it also meant no Kathleen Day in class, but that was okay because my wonderful volunteer Kathleen was in Denver visiting grandchildren.

Something special did happen this week. We had a new student begin class. She is from Southern Sudan. She is our first Sudanese mom in class. The other students have been together since September and a sense of community has already been developed among them. Realizing that the teacher sets the tone, her first day with us in class, I welcomed her so all of the students could see me welcome her.

She was sitting with a few of my Hispanic moms in class. She has lived here long enough to know that my Hispanic moms share the same or similar faith as she does. I started the class by saying to her, “Welcome to my class. I am the teacher. I am SO HAPPY you are in my class.” I did that for two reasons, 1- to help her feel welcome, and 2- for my students to see me welcome her and understand they should follow my lead. I also made sure t point out that we now have have moms from six different countries, but they are all here to learn English to help their children thus emphasizing their shared experience.

My new student is shy and eye contact is difficult for her. That might be cultural, it might be because of the oppression she lived under all of her life in Sudan as a religious minority, or both. I also wonder if she has faced racism here. She has been in the U.S. for eight years, but in my city for a few months.

It was beautiful to see one of my Hispanic moms take her under her wing in class. It was also beautiful to see other moms interact with her, help her, and welcome her. This week has been a great reminder of why I love to teach Family Literacy. I can empower moms with English, so they can help their children. Family Literacy is a specialized program where we teach parents English Second Language and connect it with their children;s education.

Today we do have class. This morning I spent some time praying for the moms and their needs. It will be warmer today. We will see how many come because the morning will still be very cold. 🙂

Thank you for reading. God Bless