Volunteers, students teach English to immigrants 4/26/07

Loyola senior Amy Lueck and Pawel Kawula, Chicago resident and Polish immigrant, are hunched over a Newsweek article on the discovery of a new fish fossil, which supports Darwin's theory of evolution. On Sheridan Road, just north of Carmen's pizzeria in the headquarters of Loyola Community Literacy Center, the two meet every Thursday and work together to improve Kawula's English skills such as pronunciation, vocabulary, reading and writing.

"Is this fish still alive?" Lueck said.

"Yes," Kawula said. "No, wait. I'm kidding. It was like 275 million years old."

"Maybe he was just that old," Lueck said.

"Maybe he went to sleep," Kawula said.

With a mixture of humor and hard work, the pair finishes the article. Lueck guides Kawula through words he doesn't know by asking him to sound them out. She also asks him to define certain words in the text and quizzes him to test his comprehension of the article. Next, Kawula writes sentences responding to the article.

LCLC has been a model of Jesuit values at work in the community since its opening in 1992. Students lead by giving back to the community, while experiencing the cultures of the people they are helping.

"More than anything else at Loyola, this has ingrained Jesuit values," senior Jeremy Elston said. "We're helping real people in need in Rogers Park with hands-on real life work."

Students can volunteer at the center or receive course credit for tutoring in the English department or in the honors program. At present, there are about 40 volunteers and about 15 for-credit students; most work one or two nights a week.

"Students at the center are motivated to serve others," said Professor Jackie Heckman, the current director of the LCLC. "It changes their lives to see that someone else now has a better chance in society because of what they've done."

After an orientation session, the students are paired with a learner and develop their own plan for teaching English as a second language. The students recieve advice, feedback and suggestions from Manager Dan O'Malley and Assistant Manager Andrew Bonvicini.

"At the beginning of the semester, a tutor assesses the immediate needs and interests of the learner," Bonvicini, an English graduate student and past tutor explained. It works as a collaborative partnership. The principle lessons I learned from tutoring were patience and sacrifice. Someone is depending on you to be here. You realize that the world is not always about you, which is an important Jesuit value."

The diversity of the Rogers Park community is represented at LCLC. Bonvicini estimated that the center has participants from Poland, Guatemala, Somalia, Vietnam, China, Bulgaria, Mexico, Ethiopia, Taiwan and Latvia.

"It's a really cool experience because you're helping someone and learning about the culture of the people you're helping," freshman volunteer Amelia Pisapia said.

Tutoring at LCLC is a way for students to be a part of the community while giving their time to help others.

"It's important for us to have contact with the community that we live in," senior Tess Paige said. "It helps Rogers Park merge with the Loyola community. It also teaches you a lot about yourself at the same time."

Many people come to LCLC looking for help with their English skills.

"We offer this service free to the community," Bonvicine said. "Learners don't pay a dime. They might not be able to afford it otherwise."

In the future, Bonvicini and Heckman hope to see the center expand to accommodate more tutors and more learners. They also have hopes to improve the computer facilities of the center to better enable learners and tutors to use the Internet during their sessions. These improvements are contingent upon funding, which is provided by the College of Arts and Sciences and donations.

Kawula and Lueck will wrap up their night together by telling each other stories about the weekend. The two have worked together since the fall. Telling stories is part of their friendship as well as a way of improving Kawula's English skills.

"I can communicate easily because of her," Kawula said as he and Lueck took a break from work. "I don't have to take anyone with me to translate. I want to learn."