Citizenship Classes Take A New Twist!

A very successful summer Citizenship Tutoring Program (CTP) launched in May and wrapped up its final session on July 1st at International House. This new initiative blended International House’s longstanding English tutoring program with the summer series of citizenship classes. The result was a hybrid program that enabled students to cover more material in less time with the help of dedicated volunteer tutors.

Each year, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) welcomes approximately 680,000 new citizens during naturalization ceremonies across the United States and around the world. International House’s six-week citizenship class prepares immigrants and refugees eligible for U.S. citizenship for the USCIS exam. The classes cover major areas of the exam, as well as preparation for the interview. Students review U.S. history, American government and civics, with emphasis on the responsibilities of United States citizenship, such as voting and civic participation. One session includes a dialogue with a local immigration attorney, creating an opportunity for students to ask questions about the exam process and general content.

A certain level of English fluency is necessary in order to pass the USCIS exam. This summer, International House offered a new twist on our traditional classes. Trained tutors were assigned to each student in the class. The tutors met with their students for an hour before the group sessions and offered personalized help with vocabulary and key concepts that would be covered in that day’s class.

While volunteering as a citizenship tutor can be most rewarding, it also comes with challenges. Local entrepreneur and International House CTP tutor Janet Haack learned a valuable lesson working with a person who is not yet fluent in English. “In my first session with Silvia, I spent an hour getting to know her, but it wasn’t until the second session that she said she had been in the U.S. for twenty nine years! I have since discovered that it is not unusual for immigrants to not learn English until many years after arriving in the U.S. “

Janet had another surprise when Silvia told her that her citizenship exam was moved up to an earlier date than expected. “This meant I had a total of only three sessions with her instead of five,” Janet explains. “She is a smart lady and learned the material in the book but just couldn’t communicate it very well, either in speaking or writing, so we worked very hard on her English language skills.”

After thirty years of living in America, Silvia went on to finally become an American citizen on June 26, 2012. “I’m really happy for her because she was so afraid, but I knew she could do it and we are all so proud of her!” exclaims Silvia’s daughter, Jasmine who will be graduating from high school in January 2013.

For more information about citizenship classes at International House, contact Gail Johnson at gjohnson@ihclt.org or 704.333.8099.