ESL@TSD or ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING!
(Newcomers Learn with Us…We Learn from Newcomers @Temple Shalom Dallas)
Our member-tutors told us what is like to be an ESL Tutor:
What is it like to work with refugees?…
It is very rewarding to be a part of these refugees’ stories. They are here for a better life and learning English is a huge hurdle. Nothing makes me happier than to see the light bulb go off or for them to finally have the confidence to speak or ask a question. I see improvement weekly and feel like what we are doing has a great impact on their lives.
What do I need to be a good tutor?… I have never been a teacher but I am learning on the job. I realize whatever I can teach them is more than they have now as far as language. All you need is a good lesson plan handed to you and the desire to help others. Patience and a sense of humor helps too. Just being there every week shows them we care and want to help.
Please send an email to esl@templehalomdallas.org for details and to sign up! We work virtually with refugee students using an online curriculum, with a great group of volunteer teachers! Join us in this effort to help make a difference in the lives of families new to America, and reaching for their dreams!
FROM THE CLASSROOM AND (INTO) THE GARDEN!
Our ELL Program is a 2024 Hias Leadership Pathways Award Recipient
Temple Shalom has been the recipient of two generous mini-grants from the Gilbert & Eleanor Krause Family Immigration Initiative for Immigration & Refugee Justice of the Union for Reform Judaism. This support has enabled us to build an online ELL program serving asylum seekers, immigrants and refugees. Our most recent grant is helping us to bring out students and their families into our garden!
As an excerpt from our grant proposal states:
…Research demonstrates the profound healing effect of nature as a therapeutic mechanism for efficacy, resilience and renewal. Using a garden-centered ESL curriculum and nature-based healing approach, we want to share this outdoor resource for those refugees impacted by the traumatic events of their lives.
Through the harvest and communal acts of food cultivation and cooking, we intend to create community and grow feelings of purpose and hope – growing resilience using the combined strands of English learning and the garden’s cycle of planting, tending, and growing.
Education Initiative Resources
SUPPORTING PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NEED THROUGH PTA MEMBERSHIP