Mentoring USA Helps Teach English as a Second Language
By Matilda Raffa Cuomo and Holly Darling

The challenge schools and teachers face in educating classes full of students with a wide range of previous schooling and cultural backgrounds is not to be taken lightly. English Language Learners (ELLs), who represent over 140 different languages, may have grown up in the United States but speak a language other than English at home; they may arrive in the U.S. with limited formal schooling or they may have had strong academic backgrounds before coming to this country. The support of a caring adult mentor through Mentoring USA’s ESL Mentoring program will no doubt yield academic success, as well as a smoother transition both socially and emotionally for ELLs.

In September, Mentoring USA (MUSA) will begin ESL Mentoring to address the challenge of educating linguistically and culturally diverse students, the ELLs who comprise 15 percent of New York City public school students. One of the schools where MUSA will begin its pilot year of ESL Mentoring is PS 188 on the Lower East Side. PS 188 is District 1’s site for all children who have recently emigrated from Spanish-speaking countries. Led by a dynamic principal, Barbara Slatin, the school is heading in the direction of being a real community center, hoping to be open 7 days a week, to host college classes for parents, and to find funding for a full bilingual library.

The partnership between MUSA and PS 188 will be an exciting venture, as the school is already planning a program on Saturday mornings to address the math needs of new immigrants. When the math help ends, MUSA comes in with an hour of ESL Mentoring, to give the students one-to-one attention in English language learning.

A few blocks from PS 188, near the 2nd Avenue F train stop, is PS 20. Leonard Golubchick, Principal of PS 20, is enthusiastic about his partnership with MUSA. ESL Mentoring will take place on Wednesday afternoons after school.

At the other end of the city, on the campus of Manhattan College in Riverdale, is the Jonas Bronck Academy. Sonia Guevara, the ESL teacher at Jonas Bronck Academy, supports the small setting of the ESL program to facilitate the individual help the students need. The support of the principal allows the teachers and students to have access to all the necessary ESL materials.

As a child of immigrant parents, like my husband, Mario, and many others, I can relate to the need for mentoring English Language Learners in a special way. Many of us were not allowed to attend kindergarten. In my case, I was turned away from PS 137 in Brooklyn, when my mother, who spoke only Italian, was humiliated because she could not read the registration forms written in English. My mother was told to return the following year for first grade, which thankfully was required by law. Although children of immigrant parents are no longer turned away from kindergarten, many still suffer the consequences of having a non-English speaking parent. Well-trained mentors can help address many of the challenges faced by children of parents new to this country.

Mentoring USA’s ESL Mentoring will run its pilot year at PS 188, PS 20, the Jonas Bronck Academy, and will also have a presence in Brooklyn, at the Ditmas International Middle School and at the Sunset Park Recreation Center. To become a mentor and receive further information, please contact Holly Darling at (212) 253-1194 ext. 457.

Matilda Cuomo is the Founder and Chairperson of Mentoring USA. Holly Darling is the Director of ESL Mentoring.

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