Give Now!
The English as a Second Language (ESL) Fund for Excellence
About the Fund
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, has been providing English as a Second Language (ESL) courses for more than 35 years. By increasing English language proficiency, the ESL Program hopes to combat poverty and improve life skills and work readiness for students who primarily speak another language. In an eight-week, 40-hour ESL course, students learn English reading, writing, listening and speaking in the context of work and everyday life.
Impact
Implementing these innovative programs allows our students to efficiently and seamlessly improve their English skills and work toward other career and educational goals. YOUR support ensures that we can keep these students a top priority by providing them with innovative initiatives like:
- ESL to GED Assistance – The ESL Program serves many students from other countries who have not finished high school or whose diplomas are not recognized in the United States. After taking ESL courses, these students often transition to courses that will enable them to get their GED. This process can • be difficult and costly. Supporting these students means they can achieve the degree they need to be successful.
- STEP Academy for ESL Students – Highly-educated and skilled immigrants with college degrees and/or certifications come to HACC for guidance on how to gain employment in their fields of study. Unfortunately, these students find that the re-credentialing process in the U.S. can be long and expensive. HACC’s STEP Academy curriculum can help these students become properly credentialed in the U.S.
- Career Pathways Programming – Apprenticeship programs are constantly expanding, but ESL students sometimes require additional language support with vocation-specific language training. Providing those students with English language support in their career fields will help them secure and retain jobs.
- Virtual ESL Curriculum Enhancements and Instructor Professional Development to Implement – Current ESL curriculum trends include augmented and virtual reality. Our instructors have been exploring free versions of these technological tools and piloting a few, but additional funding would allow us to be more purposeful in adding these enhancements to our programs.
Learning a new language can be difficult, but with HACC’s commitment to providing supportive and innovative ESL courses, the process can be much easier. YOU can assist these students in their journey to learn English.
For more information, please contact the HACC Foundation at foundation@hacc.edu.