Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Can you speak English??????

If you went to,or followed the news from Assembly 2010, you know of the involvement of United Methodist Women in Immigration Issues. Now, I don't want to go into the problems of illegal immigration.Personally, I feel that illegal is illegal.
What I want to write about today is ELL. Teaching English to immigrants who want to learn English in order to become productive CITIZENS of this country.
My grandparents came to this country speaking NO ENGLISH, only German. My grandfather worked hard as a factory laborer, learned English, became a citizen and raised a family with my grandmother. My grandmother never learned to read or write in any language, even though she lived to be over 100.
If she had settled in Kansas City, Missouri, she could have attended English classes at Della Lamb and learned to read and write. Even in 1917!!!!My Gram's long life would have been enhanced by education!
Why am I writing this? Well, state funding for Della Lamb's ELL has been axed. Zap. Gone. Kaput. Nada.
But, we are not crying over what we don't have. We want volunteers, with teaching experience to come forward and keep this great program going.
Contact Judy Akers at Della Lamb.org and offer your services.

O God. We live in a very special country. We love and celebrate our heritage here and we appreciate our diversity. We know that you love us and want us to work for the benefit all of your children.
Give us the strenght to accept the challenges that we face.

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