MCAEL Advisory Group Spotlight: Cindy Newland

February 22, 2022

Tell us a little about yourself and what was your entry point into Adult ESOL.

I am originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, but didn’t grow up there.  As a young child, I moved around the world with my family as diplomats. I have lived in Thailand, Venezuela, Mexico, Bolivia, and the United States.  I learned to speak Spanish while living in various Spanish-speaking countries.  After receiving my BBA in Business Management from Howard University I found my love of teaching English when I volunteered teaching ESOL to adults after work.  A few years later, after my first daughter was born, I decided to leave my job as a Senior Sales Manager at a large drug science organization and pursued teaching regularly. I taught every level from literacy to advanced. After teaching ESOL for close to 14 years, I became the program coordinator at Sheppard Pratt’s Linkages to Learning English Literacy Program.


Where are you now teaching (or working as an ESOL provider) (at what levels and for which organizations)?

I stopped teaching ESOL a couple of years ago when I started working as a full-time program coordinator. However, through my connections from teaching ESOL, I was offered the opportunity to help immigrant students gain their citizenship. In 2018, I began teaching citizenship classes for Montgomery County and have helped countless number of students become U.S. citizens.


What unexpected successes or previously unknown capabilities have you and the learners you serve experienced during the pandemic?

When the pandemic happened, we were forced to transition in person classes to virtual only.  I for one, wasn’t familiar with online platforms, but quickly learned how to use them. It was difficult for our teachers as well as learners to navigating classes online. I thought this was the end of our program. But to my surprise the opposite happened. Online registration and surveys were easier for our students to use. Our registration numbers almost doubled, our students and teachers love the convenience of online classes, and our approval ratings increased. Teaching virtually, at least in some part, is the future and we will continue to do so.


What role do you play in MAG [committees, roles]?

I am new to MAG. I am still learning my role, but I hope to work with others on my committee to find better ways to keep students engaged and motivated to attend class, educate them online, and help them achieve their personal goals.


What do you find most rewarding about your work?

The most rewarding part of my job is seeing how our ESOL classes touch and change the lives of our students. Hearing success stories from students how learning English has given them their confidence and independence back. They found financial independence with better paying jobs; social independence because they can write notes to teachers, ride the Metro, or connecting more with their community; and personal independence because they can buy groceries or speak with doctors without their children as interpreters. Learning English has improved lives and brought families closer together. Their successes are the reason I love my job.


What brings you joy outside of your professional life?

I enjoy reading mystery novels or watching a good Who Done It show on TV. I love dancing especially to salsa music.  I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes and I love traveling with my husband and two beautiful daughters.

Tell us a little about yourself and what was your entry point into Adult ESOL.
I am originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, but didn’t grow up there.  As a young child, I moved around the world with my family as diplomats. I have lived in Thailand, Venezuela, Mexico, Bolivia, and the United States.  I learned to speak Spanish while living in various Spanish-speaking countries.  After receiving my BBA in Business Management from Howard University I found my love of teaching English when I volunteered teaching ESOL to adults after work.  A few years later, after my first daughter was born, I decided to leave my job as a Senior Sales Manager at a large drug science organization and pursued teaching regularly. I taught every level from literacy to advanced. After teaching ESOL for close to 14 years, I became the program coordinator at Sheppard Pratt’s Linkages to Learning English Literacy Program.

Where are you now teaching (or working as an ESOL provider) (at what levels and for which organizations)?
I stopped teaching ESOL a couple of years ago when I started working as a full-time program coordinator. However, through my connections from teaching ESOL, I was offered the opportunity to help immigrant students gain their citizenship. In 2018, I began teaching citizenship classes for Montgomery County and have helped countless number of students become U.S. citizens.

What unexpected successes or previously unknown capabilities have you and the learners you serve experienced during the pandemic?
When the pandemic happened, we were forced to transition in person classes to virtual only.  I for one, wasn’t familiar with online platforms, but quickly learned how to use them. It was difficult for our teachers as well as learners to navigating classes online. I thought this was the end of our program. But to my surprise the opposite happened. Online registration and surveys were easier for our students to use. Our registration numbers almost doubled, our students and teachers love the convenience of online classes, and our approval ratings increased. Teaching virtually, at least in some part, is the future and we will continue to do so.

What role do you play in MAG [committees, roles]?
I am new to MAG. I am still learning my role, but I hope to work with others on my committee to find better ways to keep students engaged and motivated to attend class, educate them online, and help them achieve their personal goals.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?
The most rewarding part of my job is seeing how our ESOL classes touch and change the lives of our students. Hearing success stories from students how learning English has given them their confidence and independence back. They found financial independence with better paying jobs; social independence because they can write notes to teachers, ride the Metro, or connecting more with their community; and personal independence because they can buy groceries or speak with doctors without their children as interpreters. Learning English has improved lives and brought families closer together. Their successes are the reason I love my job.

What brings you joy outside of your professional life?
I enjoy reading mystery novels or watching a good Who Done It show on TV. I love dancing especially to salsa music.  I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes and I love traveling with my husband and two beautiful daughters.
 

Finding A Voice: Learning English in MoCo

By Dariana Guzman • October 29, 2026
As a child, I felt helpless watching my parents struggle to communicate in a language that was foreign to them. As I grew older, I took on the responsibility of helping them navigate those barriers — becoming a bridge between two languages and cultures. While doing so, I grew more comfortable in a world that was sometimes less familiar to them. I’m now a student at the University of Maryland, and this past summer, I found myself revisiting this experience from a new perspective. As a Digital Futures Institute Fellow with Montgomery Community Media, I had the amazing opportunity to learn and connect with local Montgomery County leaders and organizations focused on adult English language learning . What started as a news package became a chance for my team to explore how the county can help their residents overcome language barriers, an issue that was so deeply personal to me. Through this project, I connected with MCAEL. Learning about their efforts helped me better understand the network of dedicated people and community organizations working behind the scenes to make language education accessible to as many learners as possible. For me, this story is about more than learning to speak English. It is about the challenges that come with navigating an unfamiliar environment and the importance of feeling connected to your community. It is a story about belonging. I hope you enjoy watching it!  Dariana Guzman, Montgomery Community Media Digital Futures Institute Fellow and current MCAEL Digital Media Intern Posted with permission of Montgomery Community Media

Creating a Safe Space for Latina Women

By MCAEL • September 23, 2026
Like many immigrant families, we arrived in this country with many dreams, hopes, and goals for a better future. However, one of the first and most significant barriers I encountered was language. I began volunteering at my son’s school, where I met other women who were facing the same challenges I was — difficulties communicating, limited job opportunities, and a deep fear of speaking with their children’s teachers. Many of us were also afraid to visit the doctor because we could not fully understand what was being said. We felt frustrated, isolated, and, at times, invisible. These shared experiences inspired me to take action. I decided to create a safe space where Latina women could feel heard, supported, and empowered. In 2010, I had the opportunity to volunteer with GBCI, where I coordinated conversational English classes for a group of mothers. Then, in 2011, we began a partnership with Epworth United Methodist Church, offering morning English classes and expanding our work in collaboration with AABF. For more than 17 years, I have dedicated my life to motivating women to follow their dreams, to believe in themselves, and to recognize their own strength. Today, Mujer Fuerza y Coraje is a nonprofit organization committed to supporting women and their families through a variety of programs and resources. These include Welcome Baby, designed for pregnant women; Los Años Dorados, created for Spanish-speaking seniors; summer arts programs for children and youth; and English classes during the summer. In addition, we provide training sessions, educational and mental health programs, workshops on child abuse prevention, substance abuse prevention for youth, food distribution, and assistance in connecting families with essential community resources. Our mission is to continue expanding our programs supporting more families by providing tools like English as a Second Language classes, helping them access better job opportunities, and strengthening communication within their communities and their own families.  We are working together for a better future. Milagro Flores is the CEO, Founder, and Director of Mujer, Fuerza y Coraje. She’s lived in Montgomery County for 20 years.
Graphic promoting an Executive Director Spotlight featuring Gerard Etienne and his recent blog.

Executive Director Spotlight: It's Back-to-School for Adult Learners Too

By Gerard Etienne • August 25, 2026
I don’t remember my first day of high school very well, or even my first day in college, but I will never forget my first day of 8th grade or how I felt. My family and I had just arrived in the U.S. in late July, and while I had taken a year of English in the French school system, the only sentence I could say with a degree of confidence was “I don’t speak English”! I was enrolled at St. Michael’s in Silver Spring (a K-8 school that closed in 2012), and on that first day, I went up to the teacher before class started and told him, “I don’t speak English.” He said something back to me, but I didn’t understand what he said, and I went to sit back down. For the rest of that day, and many days after that, I did my best to figure out what to do, where to be, and how to navigate my day-to-day. To do my homework, I first had to use an English-French dictionary to translate it, then switch to a French-English dictionary to translate my thoughts to English. As difficult as that experience was, I realize that I was very lucky—I was young, I had a strong academic foundation, no financial responsibilities, no one to take care of, and I was immersed in English every day, all of which allowed me to learn the language relatively quickly. The situation for adults is very different. Many, if not most, have families to support, bills to pay, multiple responsibilities to manage, and have limited time to devote to taking English classes, all while navigating an increasingly challenging climate of immigration enforcement and economic uncertainty. Despite these challenges, thousands of adults across Montgomery County have the courage, perseverance, and determination to take classes year after year. They choose to invest in themselves even when doing so means fitting English around work schedules, childcare, transportation, and everything else life demands of them. I had the incredible advantage of being immersed in English every day and having most of my day devoted to learning. Most adults don’t have that luxury. As children go back to school this fall, it is worth remembering that thousands of adults are also heading to the classroom to improve their English, often after a full day of work or caring for their families. Their determination is remarkable and inspiring. We have the responsibility to make sure that every adult who wants to learn English has the opportunity, support, and access to do so.