Students on the Go: Volunteering/Community Activism

Field Trips &

Guest Speakers

Students On the Go: Volunteering/Community Activism

2 English Students Participate in Facilitator’s Course

4

Students on the Go: Touring the Fayetteville Publishing Co.

Script for The International Flag Event, December 10, 2002

Selected Flyers and Teaching Materials

Flag Bearers, Selection Letter

NC Court System, Tri-fold Flyer

Agricultural Field Trip, Tri-fold Flyer

Native American Resource Center, Tri-fold Flyer

North Carolina Legislative Building, Flyer

North Carolina State Capitol, Flyer

ESL Thanksgiving Party, Flyer

EEOC Guest Speaker Flyer

Airborne & Special Operations Museum Field Trip Flyer

Articles in Spanish from Acento Latino

Students On the Go

Volunteering/Community Activism (published in Spanish in Acento Latino)

For the first time in many days, it was cloudy. But the bad weather didn’t impede the group of 41 students and 8 teachers from the ESL/Civics Program at Fayetteville Technical Community College. They had a mission—and that mission was something that would help almost 1,000 families in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. These volunteers, ready to work, were going to help the 2001 Christmas Opportunity/Clearinghouse program to feed between 900 and 1,000 families with food donations collected during the Heart of Carolina food drive, a public service of WTVD-TV 11, Fayetteville Urban Ministries, the Salvation Army, the Food Bank of North Carolina, and other groups.

Teresa Rundlett and Rusty Long of Fayetteville Urban Ministries welcomed the FTCC volunteers. The students were out of their classes and since they were working as volunteers, the school could not count their hours of participation. However, the project was so important that the students freely gave their time and labor so that they could serve the community.

The students learned to sort, select, and pack food. First, they sorted the cans, bags, and boxes of food that were collected on Friday, the 7th of December. There were separate locations for the vegetables, dried beans, canned meats and stew, tuna, peanut butter, macaroni, spaghetti, tomato sauce, rice and other foods. There was a special place for individually packaged food; that was destined for the homeless. They also separated baby food to be given to those families with newborns.

After sorting the more than 40 boxes of food, the students learned how to make the basic bags for the 2001 Christmas Opportunity program. The volunteers were divided into four groups. The first group made double bags so that the bags would support more weight. The second group, the largest of all, formed an assembly line to fill the bags according to the written plan. The teachers and students formed the third group. Each one took a position by one of the pallets of food so that they could give the correct quantity of cans, boxes, or packages of food to the students who passed by. The last group received the filled bags, closed them, and placed them in bins of 20 to 22 bags each. After 2 hours, the students had made more than 160 bags and had sorted all of the remaining food, making the work much easier for the next group of volunteers. Teresa Rundlett was very pleased with all those who had participated. In two hours they had filled almost 20% of the bags. She exclaimed, “I never imagined a group could do so much work in so little time. A thousand thanks to everyone! The ESL students are marvelous!”

The next day, the students commented that it seemed that Americans eat a lot of canned foods. That may be true; however, the food that the program distributes needs to be food that can be kept for a long time. Canned food can last for years without spoiling.

Their curiosity extended to the peanut butter, a favorite food of many youth in this country, but not very popular in other countries. The Americans consider peanut butter one of the most economical foods, even though it is very nutritious and contains much protein.

The students realized that the job of a volunteer could be the same as a paid job. Both types of work utilize and employ the same abilities and skills that the students will use when they finish studying and get a job. They worked together cooperatively to reach a common goal. They followed oral and written instructions and followed a logical plan to expedite the work they were doing while maintaining a low level of errors. Due to the diversity of the students, (Hispanic, Korean, Czech, German, etc.) where English was the only common language, the students had to listen carefully to the instructions and, if they had any doubts about what to do, they had to ask questions in English as well.

The students learned new vocabulary—the names of some vegetables and foods that they didn’t know: artichoke hearts (no, there is no animal named artichoke), butter beans (not beans made from butter), and stew (not to be confused with soup). They also learned that Americans eat “grits”—a cereal made from corn and served hot. Grits are served in two basic styles: with butter, salt, and pepper or with butter, milk, and sugar.

The most important thing that the students learned was why no one dies from hunger in this country. Here even the poorest person always has something to eat. If the food isn’t provided by the government, it comes from religious, social, or private organizations that will never accept hunger as part of life in this country. It’s part of the American culture.

The students were very enthusiastic about this project. They saw that each person’s effort really can make a difference. There are many people, most of whom they will never meet, who had a far happier and more beautiful Christmas due to the efforts of these volunteers, those who stepped outside of the walls of their classrooms to put theory into practice and show that they are active members of the community—their new community.

English Students Participate in Facilitator’s Course

(Published in Spanish in Acento Latino, 12 Feb. 2002))

“Love can heal the world”, “Respect is very important”; these were the sentences that the students of English as a Second Language at Fayetteville Technical Community College used to explain the order of priority for the following words: love, health, respect, money, intelligence.

For two days, the students learned the basic techniques for facilitation under the tutelage of Michael Hines of Study Circles. The project, a partnership of the Human Relations Commission and of Fayetteville Technical Community College, seeks to incorporate diverse groups of minorities to discuss the problems of racism, discrimination, work, and social problems. Later, the group will formulate a series of recommendations that will be sent to different governmental entities.

The Study Circles program is a project dedicated to improving human relations among the different social and racial groups through the interaction of small groups who offer different points of view on diverse topics. The groups are composed of 10 to 15 people who express differing opinions without necessarily coming to a common agreement. The group is led by a facilitator who is charged with maintain the group’s focus on the topic of discussion.

For the students, participating actively in the community is not only a way to improve their English speaking skills, but also to fully understand what happens in the city and meet other people from other cultures.

One of the most difficult goals for a facilitator to reach is to maintain neutrality and not express personal opinions. For Lumir Pecina of the Czech Republic, this is one of the most difficult tasks because “(I) always have an opinion and an answer for something”. For Lucrecia Soares of Portugal, the most difficult part of being a facilitator is trying to ensure that all group members participate in an equitable manner in the established time frame.

Besides learning facilitation techniques, for the first time ever, the ESL (English as a Second Language) students elected representatives to the Student Government Association that now exists within their program. Lumir Pecina, one of the student representatives stated, “one of the first projects that the Student Government Association will work on is Study Circles”. The creation of the Student Government Association is part of the Basic Skills Program and its extra-curricular activities. The meetings for the SGA are held every Wednesday in the afternoon.

Students on the Go

Touring the Fayetteville Observer/Fayetteville Publishing Company

(Published in Spanish in Acento Latino)

The last day of the month of April was a busy day for the students of the ESL/Civics Program. For several months, the students had been reading the Fayetteville Observer at least once a week as part of their classroom experiences. They had been studying the different sections of the newspaper to learn how a newspaper is organized in the United States. So, it was only natural that on this day, after having studied about how newspapers influence our lives, the students traveled to the Fayetteville Observer to see how the newspaper is put together and to find out about jobs at the newspaper.

The students were met by two gentlemen, both former employees of the newspaper. Mr. Grisson Bain began his career with the newspaper in 1955 and continued to work there until 2000. Mr. Gene McMurray began his career with the newspaper in 1969 and worked until his retirement in 1990. Both gentlemen continue their association with the newspaper by serving as guides for tour groups. The men joked about their own lack of English skills when they learned that the students were from other countries and were learning English as a Second Language. Mr. Bain commented that he needed to take ESL because his first language is “Southern”. Mr. McMurray continued with the bantering by suggesting that the students probably understood more grammar than they did, so he hoped they wouldn’t be too critical of the English they heard while on the tour. From this exchange, the students saw that Americans often use humor to try to make others feel comfortable.

The students learned that the Fayetteville Observer is on of only 38 newspapers in the United States with a circulation of over 50,000 that is still owned by a family and not a corporation. The publisher of the newspaper is a native of Fayetteville and is a person committed to serving the community.

There are 467 full-time employees at the Fayetteville Observer and they work in a variety of departments. The newspaper began as a weekly newspaper in 1816 and then became a daily newspaper in 1896. The students learned these facts in a short video presentation that was shown in the employee training room of the newspaper.

Following the video, the students were divided into two groups for a guided tour of the newspaper plant. The tour began with a visit to the advertising department. In that department, workers accepted phone calls from people placing ads in the classified section of the newspaper. Others worked on computer screens creating the layout for the various advertisements that would appear in the newspaper that week as printed ads in the body of the newspaper or as separate flyers.

Then the students saw the newsroom where reporters worked on stories for publication. Some reporters worked on news stories—those stories based on fact. Others worked on stories for the different feature sections. Stories in those sections are tailored to human interests and are not based on cold facts, but rather on the lives and interests of people in the community.

The group also visited the pressroom. The Fayetteville Observer has a $15 million press that is capable of printing in full color on both sides of a sheet of newsprint. The press is housed in a section of a building that is 6 stories tall. Two of the stories are below ground, seated on an extremely thick concrete foundation that supports the weight of the press. Some of the rolls of paper for the press weigh over 75 lbs. each and have to be moved with special equipment.

At the conclusion of the tour, the students returned to the training room and asked questions. Tom Yool (Korea) asked whether someone needed to submit his/her own layout for advertising or if the newspaper did the entire layout. The students learned that advertisements are done both ways and it depends on the customer.

Slavka Pecinova (Czech Republic) asked if the newspaper supported particular political candidates. Mr. Bain stated that the newspaper tried to remain neutral, but that the individual personalities of the reporters show through on some of the articles that they write. While the newspaper tries to be factual in all of its news reporting, it does print opinions on the editorial page. That answer prompted Aysegul Julson (Turkey) to ask if everything in the newspaper is true. Mr. Bain reminded everyone that the reporters are human and they make mistakes. He wished that everything were true, but it just isn’t possible to always be correct.

After the field trip, the students returned to their classes to discuss their experiences. Some of the students had visited other newspapers before—but in their countries. This experience was interesting because the students had to put into practice the language and civics skills that they have been developing over these last several months of studying. The students agreed that the field trip was a great experience—and the next one will be even better. Read the next column of “Estudiantes en Camino” to learn more.

Script for

Charlie Grimes (Chairperson),

Roger Dostall and Janis Holden (Committee Members),

FTCC Diversity Committee

For

The International Flag Event, December 10, 2002

(Music: Declaration of Independence –

before Charlie speaks)

CHARLIE: Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen! We are gathered today to celebrate the diversity of the Fayetteville Technical Community College family -- a family composed of all of the students, faculty, staff, and administration of our great College. And what better time to do so than during a period when many of us are celebrating, or preparing to celebrate, holidays which focus on our individual beliefs and on the values which unite us.

Let me begin by welcoming and recognizing our President, Dr. Larry Norris and members of his Administrative Staff…

Let me next welcome the Chairman of our Board of Trustees, Mr. Harry Shaw, and those members present for today’s ceremony…

And, last but not least, let me welcome all of the students, faculty, and staff who have joined us today…

Today marks the 54th Anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document recognizes the principles of human dignity and encourages both the diversity and the unity of mankind. These are the very principles upon which our great Nation, the United States of America, was founded (over 226 years ago). In fact, the motto on the Great Seal of the United States is “E Pluribus Unum,” which is Latin for “Out of many, one.”

In recognition of that anniversary, and to honor the diversity of our family and of our Nation, the members of FTCC’s Diversity Committee, with the support of ourAdministration, the FTCC Foundation, (Incorporated,) and the College’s Student Government Association, as well as that of the English as a Second Language Student Government Association, have worked for over a year now to organize today’s event.

(Charlie moves to stage with Leasha)

ROGER: The flags that will be presented to the College today are the flags of the countries of birth of our students, faculty, and staff. Each flag thus represents the homeland of at least one member of the FTCC family. In some cases, a flag may represent a nation whose government is not friendly to the United States. It is important to remember, then, that flags represent not only governments, but people and their cultures and traditions. And all of us are and should be proud of not only our own culture and traditions, but of the many others from which our American culture and traditions derive. Each of the flags you see is recognized by our Government and by the United Nations.