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Volume 13, Issue #3. Published on February 28, 2005
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Academy for New Americans
New charter school helps ease the transistion for new immigrants.
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May Moua
Asian Pacific Review
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During mid-August 2004, Fresno Unified School District opened a new charter school, Academy for New Americans for the newly arrival Hmong refugees from Thailand and new immigrants.
This school is a Kindergarten to 12th school, since its inception the school now has over 400 students and continues to grow.
The school is specially designed for the newly arrived refugees and immigrants who have little to no educational backgrounds, whom would be academically challenged if placed in mainstream schools. Despite the over-crowded classrooms, the students come to school everyday with bright smiley faces and are eager to learn everyday.
Aside from the many hours of schooling and academic lesson plans, the school recently implemented a mentoring program to help ease transitional concerns, tutoring, guidance and acculturation. The mentoring program offers help in all academic areas, yet also incorporates enrichment activities as well.
In addition, mentors help as role models for the students and provide guidance to their needs, work in groups and individual one-on-one English conversational development. The program along with the school has attracted many individuals who recently started volunteering as mentors.
Volunteers are recruited from California State University, Fresno clubs and organizations, service learning courses, linguistic courses, and from Fresno City College clubs and organizations, and even local high school students.
The mentoring program has been a successful program and will continue to allow interested individuals and groups to volunteer as mentors.
Lessons in the mentoring program vary between fun activities to reading to the class. Calendars and well thought-out planned lessons are made easily to help assist mentors to teach classes.
Some of the most fun activities are arts and craft. Unlike mainstream school students these students have had little exposure to creativity and hands-on projects, thus they enjoy simple watercolor art or making paper film TVs. Nevertheless, all lessons are created to help mentors to build better relationship with the students.
"What makes the mentoring most challenging is the language barrier but yet the students and mentors have tons of fun just being able to work together," said one worker.
Interested individuals, clubs and organizations, schools and service learning courses are welcome to contact the school for further volunteering, and community service opportunities.
School information can be found on the website link
http://www.fresno.k12.ca.us/schools/s172/index.html or directly at (559) 253-6528.
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