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Students
| "To be extremely honest I have made several attempts to get my GED, but for one reason or another I've been unenthused about doing it. It took doing my daughter's homework with her to show me how much I'd forgotten." — Ruth, GED student, Staten Island |
MICHAEL
Michael grew up in Jamaica, Queens. He works as a super in the building where he and his family live. In high school Michael was not a strong student, but he was a gifted athlete whose coaches believed he would go to college on a scholarship. In the eleventh grade his father got seriously ill, and Michael left school.
Michael came to the CUNY Adult Literacy/GED Program to prepare for the GED test. An assessment showed that he wasn't ready for the GED-level class yet, and he was placed in a BE class. Since he started three months ago, he has learned to use a computer for Internet searches and e-mail exchanges, made presentations about U.S. history, and learned how to organize and edit his essays. At the end of this term, Michael's teacher expects to promote him to the GED class.
ROSIE
Rosie grew up in Red Hook, Brooklyn, the oldest child in a family of six. As a teenager she missed a lot of school. Her mother often asked her to stay home and help with the childcare and housework. By the time Rosie reached high school, she couldn't keep up with the rest of the class. She had difficulty reading, but she kept it a secret. Instead of seeking help from her teachers, Rosie pretended to read assignments and often "forgot" her books at home. In the tenth grade, she dropped out of school and got married.
Five years later, Rosie has decided to enroll in a BE class. She wants to help her daughter with schoolwork and set a good example for her. "I want my daughter's life to be better than mine," Rosie says.
PIERRE
Pierre is a native of Haiti who has been in the U.S. for ten years. He drives a taxi and lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn with his family. When he came to New York, Pierre didn't understand English. Now he understands everything, but he would like to speak more clearly, and improve his reading in English. In Haiti, Pierre was a good student. He was sent to a school for electricians. He would like to work as an electrician in New York, but without a high school diploma, he can't get the job he wants.
When Pierre came to Adult Literacy/GED Program, he was placed in an advanced ESOL class, with a content and skill-building curriculum that will eventually help him on the GED test. In this class, he is practicing his English pronunciation and grammar, reading and writing about the history of U.S. immigration, and improving his questioning and note-taking skills by interacting with guest speakers who are knowledgeable about immigration laws and policies. "As a kid in school," Pierre says, "I memorized many things. In this program, I have to think, and I like that."
LUCIA
Lucia came to Corona, Queens from Honduras five years ago — not to learn English, but to take care of her grandchildren while her daughter worked. Now Lucia studies three mornings a week in a Level One ESOL class. She is learning basic vocabulary and grammatical structures, working on her listening comprehension and English pronunciation, and reading and writing short texts related to her life and experiences.
In addition, Lucia and her classmates are taking class trips to places of interest in the city, visiting Web sites, and taking part in structured conversations in which they share their knowledge and ideas about life in New York City. Like her classmates, who come from eight different countries, Lucia wants to improve her English in order to help her family in practical ways, such as shopping, asking for directions, taking phone messages, and understanding what her grandchildren are doing in school.