Sep 3, 2008 8:07 pm US/Pacific
Teaching the Language of the American Dream
Jefferson Award Winner: Marcy Jackson
OAKLAND (CBS 5) ―
"I would like to order chicken and Coke, please," Ru Chen tells the server at a busy Oakland cafe.
Ordering lunch in English is second nature for her now. But when she immigrated to the Bay Area from China three years ago, she struggled to adapt.
"I call my friends every night," she explains tearfully. "And they said, 'Ok, if you don't feel comfortable, come back.'"
She said The English Center changed her outlook.
"I need to learn English, I need to start my new life right away," she says.
Marcy Jackson co-founded The English Center for Women 31 years ago with four colleagues. At the time, she was teaching English to foreign students.
"Women were underrepresented, so we thought, we were young and entrepreneurial, and thought, 'We could do something about this!'" Marcy says.
The English Center now teaches women and men, and trains new immigrants in reading, writing, American culture and job skills. It's outgrown its first home at Mills College.. and now holds classes at Oakland's Jack London Square.
Over the years, the English Center has taught five thousand students from more than 75 countries. Marcy says every year more than 80 percent of the graduates get jobs.
"I'm constantly surprised," says Marcy. "My own vision for what people can do is expanded."
Silvia San Miguel now works in the Oakland city administrator's office, linking new immigrants to city services. But when she arrived from Mexico in 1993, she felt paralyzed with fear.
"I just didn't want to go anywhere," Silvia says. "I didn't want anybody talking to me. Even on the phone. I didn't want to answer the phone because maybe someone spoke English. I didn't know what to say."
Silvia says the English Center made her feel like she wasn't alone.
She explains, "We all share that feeling, you know, we want to learn, it's not as easy as we thought it would be. But we're all trying really hard and support each other."
Yelena Glikman barely spoke English when she arrived from Russia in 1989, but she credits Marcy's nonprofit for giving her the confidence to pursue her dream to open a Russian language school in Berkeley.
"It's happened. Never think that it can happen like this," Yelena says.
Marcy adds, "Giving someone the ability to see a future that'll benefit them and their families is very powerful. It's constantly inspiring."
For equipping thousands of immigrants for their new life in America, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Marcy Jackson.
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