Fall 2024 Update from Las Casas

Fall 2024 Update

Welcome Students!

This semester is off to a great start! On September 10th we welcomed 200 eager English Learners to the halls of Cristo Rey de la Salle High School. This semester we have 100 returning students and are thrilled to welcomed 100 brand new students. It was so joyful to see our halls bustling with activity and hear the laughter from our classrooms once again!

We are experiencing unprecedented demand for our English classes, and again have a long waitlist of students that we hope to accommodate as our year progresses. Our program continues to thrive, in part, because Las Casas is unique - we offer classes for the lowest level learners in our community AND offer our classes at night and in the neighborhood where the majority of our students live and work.

Creating a Safe Space

Las Casas welcomes, supports, and empowers one of the most vulnerable populations in our community: immigrant newcomers.

The incendiary rhetoric from extremists in our political arena seeks to divide us and paints immigrants as a threat. This has made our work even more critical. Las Casas understands the importance of creating a safe and secure environment that treats our students with the kindness, respect and dignity they deserve.

We are honored and privileged to serve these students who come to class each evening with a desire to learn English and find community. They understand that English language acquisition is a critical first step to fully immersing in their new country - English language builds their capacity to become active and engaged participants in our broader community.

Please consider supporting our work with a donation. We depend our the support of our community to keep our program strong and only charge our students a small fraction of our overall costs. Donate Here —we appreciate all gifts of any size!

Join us for our OPEN HOUSE on October 10th

Join us on Thursday, Oct 10th for the Las Casas Open House! This special event will be held from 7 to 8:15 PM at Cristo Rey de la Salle High School and is an opportunity for our friends and supporters to experience our classes in action, meet some of our students and volunteer teachers, and get an update on the progress of our programs. You will also meet our Las Casas administrative team.

Light refreshments and food will be served. For more information and to RSVP please contact Sally at sally@lascasasoakland.org. Please let us know by October 7th if you can attend!

The Magic in the Classroom

Our classes are interactive and student-focused. The majority of learning is done in partners and small groups to maximize speaking practice and learning success. We also place an emphasis on creating a classroom culture of respect, establishing a routine and setting clear expectations. It's important for our students to feel comfortable and gain confidence using English both in and out of the classroom.

In our classes these first few weeks you could hear the laughter coming from the Introduction class busy with a “Ball-Toss” exercise, focusing on the alphabet. Sounds of rattling dice were heard from the Beginning Low students, who were engaged in “Getting-To- Know You” board games. The Beginning High class was up practicing commands and body parts through a game of “Simon Says”. And our Intermediate classes were engaged in conversations in a Question Question Trade exercise. Hearing the hum and the laughter coming from the classrooms, we know we are off to a great year.

Volunteer Highlight!

Fred Patterson has been a volunteer Teacher at Las Casas for over 7 years, and can be found happily at work lead teaching 2 nights/week in our literacy level class. Introduction is our lowest level class - many students have had no schooling at all before Las Casas and speak very little or no English. One of his current students couldn’t write her name when she started, but has learned to read and write (as well as speak English) since she started in our class last year. Fred finds it "very satisfying to help these students and watch them advance to higher levels in the school, better equipped to face challenges in the community."

Outside of Las Casas, Fred has had numerous careers, ranging from law enforcement and the Army to energy research and teaching. Most recently, Fred was the computer teacher at Crocker Highlands elementary school in Oakland.

Fred has been inspired by our students and feels a strong connection to his Introduction classes. "Our students have very full lives with most getting up early, working a full day, possibly taking care of the family, and finally coming to Las Casas at the end of a very long day. They want to be here."

Fred is a wonderful asset to Las Casas! We are grateful for his ongoing commitment and dedication to our students.

Cristo Rey de la Salle - a School that Works!

Las Casas is grateful to Cristo Rey de la Salle, who shares its classrooms with us 3 nights/week -- ensuring that we have the space to serve our 300 English language learners each year. Cristo Rey De La Salle is a Catholic high school in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood that has a unique model. Cristo Rey combines rigorous academics with real-world work experience, preparing their students for success in college and beyond.

Beginning in 9th grade, all students work one day per week in a corporate placement where they develop real-world work skills, build relationships with mentors, and test out possible future professions. Cristo Rey is proud to share that for the 3rd year in a row, 100% of their seniors were accepted to a 4-year university and last year's graduating class earned over $8 million in scholarships!

Cristo Rey is working hard to build bright futures for young people in the East Bay. What an amazing community!

To learn about become a Corporate Work Study partner email: anguyen@cristoreydelasalle.org

To learn more about enrolling your student email: icortez@cristoreydelasalle.org

Our Teachers Make it all Happen

Our amazing volunteer teachers and assistants power our program and Las Casas ensures they are supported. We provide our dedicated teachers with training and development throughout the school year. Earlier this month, we gathered for our Fall Kickoff Meeting. It's an opportunity to reconnect, share ideas, and meet as teaching teams to help jumpstart the new semester. Later this month, we'll offer a Staff Workshop with fresh ideas for the ESL classroom.

This year we have welcomed 16 new volunteers, and counting. We currently have a total of 55 teachers and assistants! 16 have been with us over 5 years, many are former classroom teachers, a number are recently ESL certified, and two are completing their Student Teaching/Practicum course for their TESOL Certification at UC Berkeley Extension with veteran Las Casas "mentor" teachers!

Our volunteers are diverse -- we have high school students completing community service hours, retired folks, and working professionals who want to give back to their community. Some of our teachers were also former ESL students themselves! These teachers serve as a great inspiration to our students and demonstrate first hand what is possible!

As always, please forward this update to family and friends who might be interested in learning more about our work. And please consider donating - all gifts are tax deductible! For more information on how to get involved, email us at: info@lascasasoakland.org or visit our website: www.lascasasoakland.org.

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Las Casas is a Sponsored Ministry of the

Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose.

Las Casas | lascasasoakland.org

info@lascasasoakland.org | 510-842-3070