![]() We work to be very consistent,” Plagenz explained. “I think feel cared about, and they feel like they are being held accountable. Plagenz credits the strong relationship between the program’s providers and participants to ESLAsC staff’s level of investment and the program’s emphasis on hiring staff who are passionate about the work they do. This bridge between afterschool and the classroom really helps our tutors know what our kids are learning during the day.” “But just as important is our relationship with the parents, our school staff, students’ teachers, our tutors, everyone. “Our relationships with our kids are paramount, that is our most important thing,” Plagenz said. ![]() The program’s staff, including their site specialists and tutors, take time out of each week to be in the schools that their students attend. One thing that we valued in the ESLAsC program was their multi-tiered approach to support their students in and out of school. Usually they are the ones that come to us and say they want the afterschool program, but we still go through that six month to a year process of evaluation.” “We look at what barriers there are and evaluate things like, are there going to be transportation issues? Are there other afterschool options? What age group does the community want us to serve? We will meet with family members, local social organizations or cultural organizations, and include them in planning. “Our model today is that we work with the district and the apartment complexes where the families reside and do an in-depth evaluation on the need of the community,” Plagenz said. ESLAsC hired local community members and elders, as well as instituted greater oversight of their programs, which includes six months to a year’s worth of research on a community needs assessment. There wasn’t a lot of community building or relationship building to get the trust of the communities.”Īccording to Plagenz, ESLAsC responded by adjusting their model. “So we started off really big and had to whittle back down because there wasn’t a lot of structure, or oversight-a little bit of too big and too fast. There was a lot of distrust initially,” explained Plagenz. “In Columbus, there have been a lot of organizations that will go to low-income or immigrant communities and try to get them to sign up for afterschool programming but then not offer any programming. However, starting out fast wasn’t the best course of action for ESLAsC. ![]() With a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grant, the college was able to open seven sites located within low-income housing communities in Columbus. However, becoming such an integral resource took a lot of trust building and self-evaluation.ĮSLAsC began after adult participants in the Columbus State Community College’s Basic English classes voiced a need for similar opportunities for the youth in the community. Responding to the high concentration of immigrant populations in the city, ESLAsC-which serves 100 percent English language learners, most of whom are from low-income families- provides necessary supports for these families. In preparation for our issue brief, we caught up with Florence Plagenz, supervisor of ESLAsC, to hear a bit more about their programs.Ĭolumbus, Ohio, is home to an estimated 45,000 Somalis and an estimated 44,000 Latinos. ![]() As the award winner, ESLAsC was featured in our new issue brief “ Afterschool providing key literacy supports to English language learner students,” highlighted in a program profile, and received $10,000, which enabled them to provide summer programming to 120 youth this summer. This year we were happy to announce the Columbus State Community College’s ESL Afterschool Communities (ESLAsC) as the winner of the Dollar General Afterschool Literacy Award. ![]()
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