CALC Newsletter
February-March Edition: Volume 3, Issue 5
Writer: Gabriela de Oliveira
Editor: Christine Cordio
The Pursuit for Perfect Attendence
One more month, one more chance to make it to the Perfect Attendance group. One more month of perseverance and focus on their studies. Thank you for your presence and dedication!
Perfect Attendance February:
Pablo Demera, Johanna Torres, Carla Melo, Reynand Eugene, Vesna Carville, Allenk Figueiredo, Marisete Miguel, Niara Nunes, Lydia Rivera, Junio Excellent, Fallone Lambert, Cheryl Ferriter, Cicero Franca, Delza Stucke, Miguel Lopez Ortiz, Desiree Hart, Jacob McCumber, Abiel Camacho, Kerlly Lopez, Rosa Quiles, Martin Matos, Selvin Medina, Ana Paula Sena, Moises Carneiro, Angelica Arroyo, Shabana Khan, Celia Oliveira, Gloria Barrera, Darlene Pinheiro, Samuel Damaceno, Jose DeJesus, Wilmar Guzman, Paula Villa, Silvana Medina, Milagros Gutierrez, Kely Cuxeva, Ricardo Enriquez, Milka Garcia, Yojani Barrera, Judite Brito, Ronald Jara, Hatixhe Memishaj.
Looking to the Future: A Series of Interviews with Former Students from CALC
Alumni Spotlight: Javier Guerra
By Gabriela de Oliveira on February 7, 2022
From Guatemala to the United States!
Javier Guerra has been living in the United States since 2005. He is currently enrolled in Deb’s Online ESOL class.
Javier’s early life in Guatemala was difficult. His father was not around and his mother couldn’t read or write so she didn’t have good job opportunities. They were living in poverty and he wasn’t getting a good education. Javier said, “... because of the poverty that we lived in, that forced me to emigrate to this blessed Nation and look for better life opportunities”. Here in the new country, Javier pursued the American dream like many others. Javier heard of Clinton Adult Learning Center from his friends. He became interested and decided to enroll. Javier studied here for almost 10 years. First as an ESL student and then he began studying for his GED.
Javier’s goal was to learn how to carry on a conversation in English and he has achieved that goal. Javier also attained U.S. Citizenship while he was enrolled in English classes. He left the classes because he needed to focus on his job. During his time away he took plumbing courses and became a licensed plumber in Massachusetts.
Now, Javier is happy to be back at CALC perfecting his English.
This program gave him a chance for a new career, but also left him with great memories. One of his favorite memories was when he gave a speech in front of an audience at the end of year graduation ceremony.
Javier’s advice to all students: “Never give up! At first, you think you will never understand the language but with effort and courage you can achieve it.”
Getting to Know Your Teacher!
Staff Spotlight: Lindy Imranyi
By Gabriela de Oliveira on February 11, 2022
Lindy Imranyi, a teacher at the CALC, was born and raised in a suburban New Jersey town. This is Lindy's first year at Clinton Adult Learning Center! Prior to that, she taught English online for children in China for 4 years. Right now, Lindy teaches a fun group of beginner ESL students in the morning. Lindy said “I was excited for the opportunity to teach adults! It is so meaningful to be part of the process of helping them increase their skills in English to achieve their individual goals.”
If the experience could be described with one word, Lindy would define it as encouraging. Lindy emphasized, “The students support each other in their learning and also let me know when I’ve been helpful to them with a “Good job, Teacher!” and a smile. The CALC is definitely one of my happy places!”
One of the things that drew Lindy into teaching was when she could help others to develop a new skill, she described “I love those “lightbulb moments” when someone grasps a skill and is so excited! Helping those connections happen is what drew me to teaching.” Welcome to CALC Lindy!
Technology Update at the CALC
By Michael McEachern on February 10, 2022
Thanks to the many donations and to federal funding, the Clinton Adult Learning Center has been outfitted with the latest technology. We would like to thank our local sponsors, which include the Nypro Foundation and the Greater Worcester Community Foundation for their generous donations. With this money, we've been able to provide all classrooms with the newest teaching tools, including large flat screens, document cameras, and computer devices. The CALC has also purchased enough Chromebooks to allow all students enrolled in the program to have access to a device during school hours.
Upon enrolling at the Clinton Adult Learning Center, each student is given an Educational G-Suite account, which includes their own email, Google Docs, Spreadsheets, and other learning tools. Students also have access to Google Classroom to manage assignments given by teachers, as well as the use of other apps such as Kahoot, Newsela, and Zoom. In addition, many classroom texts have an on-line component for students to use. The abundance of technology has been crucial during the last two years as classes have gone back and forth between remote and in-person learning. During this time students were able to sign-out Chromebooks for access to their remote classes.
Again, the Clinton Adult Learning Center would like to thank our Sponsors and grantors for the ability to purchase and integrate this technology into our program. The students have benefited immensely.
Test Center Schedule
HISET Exam: April 4, 2022
HISET Exam: April 6, 2022
HISET Exam: May 2, 2022
HISET Exam; May 4, 2022
This exam will take place during the evening in our building. To sign up go to hiset.ets.org. Good luck to those signed up!
GED Exam: April 5, 2022
GED Exam: April 7, 2022
GED Exam: May 3, 2022
GED Exam: May 5, 2022
This exam will take place during the morning in our building. To sign up go to ged.com. Good luck to those signed up!
Clinton Adult Learning Center
Email: clintonadulted@thecalc.org
Website: thecalc.org
Location: 150 School Street, Clinton, MA, USA
Phone: 978-365-4226
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCALC/
Twitter: @The_CALC