By Don Krim
Jóvenes Adelante is excited to introduce our newest board member and our developing and expanding English Language Tutoring Program. Leah Haeber, one of two active Canadian board members, holds the title Director of EFL Programming, created especially for her. Since before joining the board, Leah has been working hard to establish a strong English Language Tutoring Program for our students on a scaleable and achievable level. A chance encounter eavesdropping over coffee led to this amazing collaboration!
For the past six months, Leah has been assessing student proficiency levels and student needs. What she has discovered is that there is a huge need for native English-speaking volunteers to work one-on-one or in small groups to help our students improve listening, speaking, pronunciation, and conversation skills. English classes are held in-person or online. Students range in level from beginning to advanced; however, there is a strong need for tutors willing to work with beginning students.
Leah has been an English as a Second Language Instructor for 22 years. She has extensive experience in language instruction, curriculum design, and teacher training. She has an MA in Education and TESOL from Alliant International University in San Diego, California, as well as an MA in Peace and Justice Studies from the University of San Diego. She served in Peace Corps Response in Costa Rica from 2015 to 2016 where she worked as a curriculum writer for the Ministry of Public Education. She has also been a teacher trainer, curriculum writer, and instructor in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico. Leah strongly believes that language learning should be enjoyable and memorable. She teaches her classes using a variety of simple games to ensure that students relax, learn, and have fun.
One of our first English language tutor volunteers with decades of EFL experience herself was apprehensive about teaching a beginning student. As a result, Leah created a beginning English resources folder on a Google drive that she then shared with the tutor. The tutor has been using the resources and has now fallen in love with teaching beginners—“something I thought I would never do!!”
Tutoring a JA student can be one of the most rewarding experiences you might have. Fulfilling an English requirement—however tailored to career needs—is something all JA students need to accomplish. Like financially sponsoring or mentoring a student, tutoring provides a direct entry into the lives of our amazing students. Wish to volunteer? We are looking to expand our volunteer tutoring team. Leah says: “We ask for a three-month commitment, and it is not necessary to have experience tutoring English. Our students are happy to have volunteer English tutors from their fields of study as well.” If you are interested in volunteering to join Jovenes Adelante’s tutoring team, please reach out to Leah at esl_program@jovenesadelante.org.