Center Name: CRI-HELP
Beginning Date: 5/26/09
Graduation Date: 6/30/09
Names of the four Instructors: Esteban Tellez, Maoli Yamaguchi, Lori Young; and Ashok Shah
We started with 16 students and one of the students was too advanced for this basic course and had indicated she would drop out. In the second session, we had 3 more students drop out due to the completion of their treatment at the Center. So, we had 12 students and ALL 12 graduated!!! We also had to substitute one of the instructors and a lot of credit goes to Esteban for teaching one class “solo”, despite this being his first teaching assignment – good job!
Overall, the course lectures and the lab time went smoothly. The students learned about basic computers and Lori had brought some additional computer hardware parts for demonstration, which piqued the students’ interests and expanded their knowledge of different terminology. The students also practiced their typing skills with Mavis Beacon, Windows basics (especially MS Word), and other features of navigating, transferring files, retrieving from recycle bin, etc. and also had exposure to the internet, which is always an exciting experience for most of them.
One of the major challenges for most students relates to a 500 word essay-writing titled “My Personal Plan for Success”, and its presentation before the class. The precursor involves creating an outline, a brain-storming discourse, which encompasses their past, present and their future, wherein the “computer course” would enhance their chances of success. Many students had a hard time initially, but the instructors and a few students, made it seem easier, by the end of the course. Besides the instructors, a couple of students, including Tony Jones, who had been very constructive with ideas for other students, made for a productive and conducive atmosphere with a spirit for co-operation and creativity in the classroom. Two of the students, Monalisa Cruz and Jose (Bobby Perez, had shown a lot of enthusiasm and excitement, who made good impressions on the instructors. A couple of them Bryant Bracy and Tim Durden who were a little weak, showed a tremendous amount of promise and dedication to the task at hand.
It was interesting to have these students, formulate their ideas and their past into words for the essays and the presentations. Words may often be poor “messengers”, for many of these students who had poor vocabulary, poor grammar and also lacked organizational skills. Nonetheless, their MESSAGE was not lost, when these students presented their papers. One could see that they had put their “heart and soul” into these essays. One could see the “sparkle in their eyes” and their body language and gestures showed confidence and hope for the future, which seemed brighter than their dimming past of bad choices. Once the students started believing in themselves, the “baby-steps” were already in the works for their progress. These inherent challenges, made it more exciting for many instructors, some who stayed beyond class time, or assisted during break times, to assist the students to structure their thoughts and also complete their essays. The instructors were instrumental in giving positive feedback to the presentations, and also with nuances for developing eye-contact with the audience, controlling the pitch and tone of delivery, etc. This was one of the valuable experiences, the students gained besides the basic computer course. The thoughts reminiscence of the verse from the poem “IF” by Rudyard Kipling:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same
The Cri-Help staff was very friendly and co-operative and made our jobs easier. Last, but not the least, besides the Director of CDD, I would commend all the instructors for their efforts, dedication and true professionalism to help these students accomplish their first major success in years and embark upon a future full of promises and hope.
Tags: Business, CA, California, CEO, Crossing the Digital Divide, Director, Education, English, Executive, Kathleen Kimmel, Kathleen Patton, Los Angeles, Rollyo, Training, UCLA
