Executive Director's Blog: Not “Just” English Classes

June 17, 2025

This past Saturday, I was invited to speak at the Jewish Social Service Agency (JSSA)’s Learning English Together graduation ceremony – and what a wonderful event it was! 


The first thing that surprised me was the number of people in attendance: there were over 320 attendees, of which 146 were proud graduates. Even more impressive is the fact that there were another 150 graduates who did not attend the ceremony! But what stood out even more was how important this ceremony clearly was to so many of the learners. As a guest speaker, I joined the entrance procession and lined up with the graduates. The pride and excitement were palpable, not just among the learners, but among the instructors as well. Almost everyone was dressed up for the occasion. This was the first clue that these weren’t “just” English classes to the graduates—this was a meaningful milestone, a real achievement. 


As the ceremony progressed and certificates were awarded, several learners gave speeches. I found myself nearly in tears as I listened to them describe what learning English had meant in their lives. It would be easy to reduce ESOL classes to simply language instruction for immigrants—but these classes are so much more than that. 



They are a gateway to connection, self-expression, better jobs, and more education. They foster belonging, friendships, relationships, and a kind of freedom that only language can provide. For many learners, these classes are truly life-changing, as many of the student speakers described. And the fact that these classes were so meaningful to them is a testament to the care and quality of instruction that JSSA and its instructors have provided. 


As each speaker shared their story, I thought back to my own English-learning journey. I could relate strongly to their experiences: the feeling of isolation, the frustration of not being able to say the simplest things, the fear of picking up the phone, the avoidance and anxiety around engaging with others. And the feeling of sometimes being reduced to “someone who doesn’t speak English” – as if that’s all there was to me. Learning English is a way out of those limitations. It gives learners the chance to grow, to build relationships, and to show who they really are. 


Congratulations to the graduates! 

MCAEL on TV

By Emma Starr • February 18, 2026
MCAEL Executive Director Gerard Etienne sat down with Cheryl Hawkins of MMCTV’s Solutions to discuss all things MCAEL. Learn out about what MCAEL does, why it’s important, and Gerard’s own experiences as an English language learner. Watch the full 30-minute program by clicking the link above!

Nuestro Compromiso con Nuestra Comunidad

By MCAEL • February 11, 2026
En la Coalición de Montgomery para la Alfabetización en Inglés para Adultos (Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy, MCAEL), nuestra misión está arraigada en el fortalecimiento de nuestra comunidad mediante el apoyo a los estudiantes adultos de inglés y los programas que los atienden. En momentos de intenso temor e incertidumbre, es importante que expresemos con claridad nuestros valores y nuestro compromiso con las personas a las que servimos. Los informes profundamente preocupantes sobre las medidas de control de la inmigración en Minnesota y en otros lugares del país han suscitado, como es comprensible, una gran inquietud en las comunidades de inmigrantes y no inmigrantes de todo el país. Por consiguiente, es comprensible que muchos residentes de Maryland, y del condado de Montgomery en particular, se sientan preocupados ante la posibilidad de que aumenten las actividades de control de la inmigración en nuestra zona. Esta incertidumbre genera miedo, ansiedad y una sensación de vulnerabilidad que afecta a la vida cotidiana, la estabilidad familiar y la disposición a solicitar servicios educativos y comunitarios. Vemos y sentimos el impacto de este clima cada día a través de nuestros socios de coalición, instructores, estudiantes, voluntarios y dentro de nuestro propio círculo de amigos y familiares. Cuando se presenta a los inmigrantes de manera generalizada e inexacta como delincuentes o como una carga para los sistemas públicos, el daño va mucho más allá de la retórica. Puede socavar la confianza, erosionar el bienestar colectivo y debilitar el tejido social de nuestra comunidad. No debemos permitirlo. Es importante reiterar los hechos que están bien establecidos y respaldados por investigaciones exhaustivas realizadas por instituciones académicas acreditadas, organismos gubernamentales y organizaciones políticas de todo el espectro ideológico. Se ha demostrado de manera sistemática que los inmigrantes, incluidos los indocumentados, cometen menos delitos que los ciudadanos nacidos en Estados Unidos, aportan miles de millones de dólares en impuestos locales, estatales y federales, y desempeñan un papel vital en la fuerza laboral y la creación de pequeñas empresas. Estos hallazgos no son simples opiniones: están respaldados por décadas de pruebas creíbles. La MCAEL apoya las políticas y valores que fomentan la confianza entre las comunidades y las instituciones locales y que son esenciales para la seguridad pública, la salud pública y el acceso a la educación. Estamos agradecidos de vivir en un condado que reconoce estos principios y trabaja para defenderlos. MCAEL apoya a nuestros estudiantes, nuestros socios, nuestros vecinos, nuestras familias y nuestra comunidad. Afirmamos el derecho de todas las personas a ser tratadas con justicia, dignidad, compasión y respeto, independientemente de su situación migratoria, habilidades lingüísticas u origen étnico, y a sentirse seguras en sus propios hogares, en sus vecindarios y en su vida cotidiana. Mantenemos nuestro compromiso de apoyar a los estudiantes adultos y a los programas que los atienden, así como con trabajar junto a nuestros socios para reforzar la resiliencia, la confianza y las oportunidades en todo el condado de Montgomery.

ለማህበረሰባችን ያለን ቁርጠኝነት

By MCAEL • February 11, 2026
በ MCAEL ተልዕኮአችን ጎልማሳ የእንግሊዝኛ ቋንቋ ተማሪዎችን እና እነሱን የሚያገለግሉ ፕሮግራሞችን በመደገፍ ማህበረሰባችንን የማጠናከር ሂደት ላይ የተመሰረተ ነው። ከፍተኛ ፍርሃት እና እርግጠኛ ያለመሆን ሁኔታ በሚፈጠሩበት ጊዜያቶች ላይ፣ ስለ እሴቶቻችን እና ለምናገለግላቸው ሰዎች ስላለን ቁርጠኝነት በግልጽ መናገር ለእኛ አስፈላጊ ነው። በሚኒሶታ እና በሌሎች የሀገሪቱ ክፍሎች እየተከናወኑ ያሉትን የኢሚግሬሽን ህግ ማስከበር እርምጃዎችን የሚገልጹ እጅግ አሳሳቢ ሪፖርቶች፣ በመላው ሀገሪቱ በሚገኙ ስደተኛ እና ስደተኛ ባልሆኑ ማህበረሰቦች ውስጥ ከፍተኛ ስጋትን መፍጠራቸው ግልጽ የሆነ ነገር ነው። ስለሆነም፣ በሜሪላንድ በተለይም በሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ የሚኖሩ በርካታ ነዋሪዎች በአካባቢያችን የኢሚግሬሽን ህግ የማስከበር እንቅስቃሴዎች ሊጨምሩ ይችላሉ የሚል ስጋት ውስጥ መግባታቸው ተገቢ ነው። ይህ እርግጠኛ አለመሆን ሁኔታ የዕለት ተዕለት ኑሮን፣ የቤተሰብ መረጋጋትን፣ እንዲሁም ትምህርት እና የማህበረሰብ አገልግሎቶችን የመፈለግ ፍላጎትን የሚጎዳ ፍርሃት፣ ጭንቀት እና የመጋለጥ ስሜትን ይፈጥራል። የዚህን ሁኔታ ተፅዕኖ በየቀኑ የቅንጅት አጋሮቻችን፣ በአስተማሪዎች፣ በተማሪዎች፣ በበጎ ፈቃደኞች፣ እንዲሁም በጓደኞቻችን እና በቤተሰቦቻችን ዘንድ እናያለን፣ ይሰማናልም። ስደተኞች በጅምላ እና ባልተገባ ሁኔታ እንደ ወንጀለኛ ወይም እንደ መንግስት ሸክም ተደርገው ሲቆጠሩ ጊዜ፣ ጉዳቱ ከቃላት ባለፈ የከፋ ይሆናል። ይህም መተማመንን ሊያናጋ፣ የማህበረሰቡን ደህንነት ሊሸረሽር እና የማህበረሰባችንን ማህበራዊ ትስስር ሊያዳክም ይችላል። ይህ እንዲሆን መፍቀድ የለብንም። በታዋቂ የትምህርት ተቋማት፣ በመንግስት መሥሪያ ቤቶች እና በተለያዩ የፖሊሲ ድርጅቶች በሰፊ ጥናት የተደገፉ እና በደንብ የታወቁ እውነታዎችን በድጋሚ መግለጹ አስፈላጊ ነው። ሰነድ የሌላቸውን ጨምሮ ስደተኞች፣ በአሜሪካ ከተወለዱ ዜጎች ያነሰ ወንጀል እንደሚፈጽሙ፣ በቢሊዮን የሚቆጠር ዶላር ለአካባቢ፣ ለክልል እና ለፌዴራል ግብር እንደሚያበረክቱ፣ እንዲሁም በሥራ ኋይል እና አነስተኛ ንግዶችን በመፍጠር ረገድ ወሳኝ ሚና እንደሚጫወቱ በተደጋጋሚ ተረጋግጧል። እነዚህ ግኝቶች የግል አመለካከቶች አይደሉም፤ ለበርካታ አስርት ዓመታት በቆዩ አስተማማኝ ማስረጃዎች የተደገፉ ናቸው። MCAEL በማህበረሰቦች እና በአካባቢ ተቋማት መካከል መተማመንን የሚያጎለብቱ፣ እንዲሁም ለህዝብ ደህንነት፣ ለጤና እና ለትምህርት ተደራሽነት አስፈላጊ የሆኑ ፖሊሲዎችን እና እሴቶችን ይደግፋል። እነዚህን መርሆች በሚገነዘብ እና እነሱን ለማስከበር በሚሰራ ካውንቲ ውስጥ በመኖራችን ደስተኞች ነን። MCAEL ከተማሪዎቻችን፣ ከአጋሮቻችን፣ ከጎረቤቶቻችን፣ ከቤተሰቦቻችን እና ከማህበረሰባችን ጎን ይቆማል። ማንኛውም ሰው የኢሚግሬሽን ሁኔታው፣ የቋንቋ ችሎታው ወይም ብሔሩ ሳይለይ በፍትሃዊነት፣ በክብር፣ በርህራሄ እና በአክብሮት የመስተናገድ፣ እንዲሁም በቤቱ፣ በአካባቢው እና በዕለት ተዕለት ህይወቱ ደህንነቱ የተጠበቀ ሆኖ የመሰማት መብት እንዳለው እናረጋግጣለን። አዋቂ ተማሪዎችን እና እነሱን የሚያገለግሉ ፕሮግራሞችን ለመደገፍ፣ እንዲሁም በመላው የሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ ጽናትን፣ መተማመንን እና እድሎችን ለማጠናከር ከአጋሮቻችን ጋር በጋራ ለመስራት ያለንን ቁርጠኝነት እናረጋግጣለን።