Yeah for Mom!

Some of you may now that my mom has been teaching ESL for many years now, and she is the director the the Family Literacy Program at the community college when I grew up. Today she was honored for all her hard work (along with 9 other people in the Lake County community). I can't tell you how excited and proud we are of her. She has worked long and hard and is finally receiving recognition for all the work she does. She was honored this morning at a breakfast. We wish we could have been there to cheer her on, but I think she knows that we were thinking of her this morning. Here is the article about her program.

Sari Oosta, family literacy coordinator at the College of Lake County, stands in the community room of the Round Lake Area Public Library after an outreach program for non-English speakers was taught to parents and their children.

Program coordinator helps students learn English, prepare for life ahead

By STEPHANIE N. LEHMAN
from LakeCountyJournal.com/news/forefronts

Early one recent morning, 10 women sat in a small classroom when the door opened and a tall woman walked into the room. Linda Hipp, the teacher in front of the class, stopped her lesson and addressed her students. She spoke slowly while she explained who the guest was.

“All the activities we do on Friday are from Sari. All the books we use are from Sari ... ,” Hipp said. “She’s the one behind the program to make sure everything runs properly.”

The program Hipp spoke of was a family literacy class that takes place at the Waukegan Adult Learning and Technology Center, a branch of the Waukegan Public Library. And the woman who walked into the classroom was Sari Oosta, who has been the family literacy coordinator at the College of Lake County since 2000.

The 10 women in the classroom that morning were involved in just one of a handful of classes that Oosta oversees. The 61-year-old has taught English-as-a-second-language classes at CLC the past 20 years, but the crux of her job stems from seven different ESL and adult-basic-education classes that she coordinates throughout the county.

What makes these classes different from most other ESL and ABE classes is twofold. First, the classes are free. Second, the classes are for parents – and their children.

“The purpose is integrating,” Oosta said. “What an example, to see Mom and Dad going to school. They do their homework together. The importance is the parent is the child’s first teacher.”

During ESL classes, children and parents have separate lessons two days a week and come together for activities on the third day. The grown-ups learn to read, write and speak English, while the little ones learn valuable tools – colors, shapes and the alphabet, for example – to prepare them for kindergarten, Oosta said.

ABE classes, for those who already speak English but lack a high school diploma, also teach children while the parents work on their basic reading, writing and math skills.

“The national statistics show the benefits of literacy programs,” Oosta said. “There are benefits for the parents; there are benefits for the children; and there are benefits for the community. When they’re older, [the children’s] drop-out rates are less, their crime rates are lower. Everyone benefits from family literacy programs.”

Why ESL?

Oosta always has been involved in education. She was a junior high teacher in Boston and then became a volunteer tutor in 1988.

Perhaps Oosta relates so well with her ESL students and literacy classes because she knows what it’s like to be in a foreign country. She lived in Germany with her husband, Gary, and her daughter, Susanne, for two years and had to learn German as a second language – GSL, if you will.

Her passion to help others learn English stems from that experience and her overall love of teaching.

“They make me feel so good,” Oosta said of her students. “I love teaching them, and I love working with the people. They give you back so much, and you know you’re doing something important.”

Oosta taught a literacy class in Wauconda last January. But the classes are just a portion of her work.

The instructor keeps a large database full of pre-test and post-test scores for every adult and child enrolled in her classes.

She is responsible for a teacher, child librarian, adult librarian, child-care supervisor and child-care workers at each of the seven county sites. She also sifts through dozens of e-mails a day.

And it’s not easy to keep classes funded.

Positive feedback

Getting to know ...

Sari Oosta

Occupation: Family literacy coordinator for the College of Lake County

Age: 61

Family: Husband, Gary; one daughter, Susanne Whited

Village of residence: Gurnee

Education: Bachelor’s degree in education from Eastern Michigan University and a master’s in American history from Salem State University

Hobbies: Gardening, reading and traveling

There is even a video link of the breakfast. It's short and mom's part is near the end. :)

http://ssm.nwherald.com/multimedia/videoplayer.php?id=20090226ForefrontsBreakfast