Testimonials

Dear Sonia,

Happy belated New Year! I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you very exciting news. I was accepted to the University of Utah’s Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. I got the news yesterday and it is still a feeling I am processing with so much joy. I wanted to express how grateful I am for your belief in my potential, support, and encouragement. The Columbus Adult Education Center is doing amazing work for our community, which I’ve greatly enjoyed, and I can’t wait to see the more we can do as I embark on this new journey. There is not enough to express how grateful I am to know you and to count on you as a mentor. Considering I will be at the U, please count on me if you need anything.

With heartfelt gratitude,
Kimberly Gamarra

I’ve noticed that this program helps give students added confidence in interacting with their peers. My student is in high school and has difficulty with pronunciation and comprehension of high-level words, and I know that affects her confidence. I love helping her work on these things so that she can not be fearful of meeting new people and making friends.

The program has added value to my life because I’m helping someone develop a very important skill that will benefit them for the rest of their life.

I have been with Columbus for a few months, with the opportunity to do English mentoring. Overall, the experience has been very beneficial, as it has helped me to teach, but also to be able to accommodate for a student’s certain needs. While there were some bumps in the road, I feel like we’ve overcome them, and that my student is learning much. I’ve started to see an even greater love for writing since working with her, which has brought a smile to my face.

My mother and I joined The Columbus School staff sometime around 2018. We wanted to have an opportunity to do service. I have met wonderful staff and students through the Columbus School. I started out working in the computer lab with the Reading Horizon program. I was born with cerebral palsy consequently, it is difficult for me to find service opportunities that I am physically able to do. I spent years teaching adults with disabilities in California. The Columbus School has given me a chance to meet and teach adults as a volunteer, the school has given me a way to teach and interact with people of all ages and cultures. We grow close to each other and learn things from each other as we share our life experiences and learn together.

When we had to start teaching on zoom because of the pandemic, I started doing reading with the students. The opportunity to teach on zoom expanded the reach of the school. Now we not only teach local students but people that are across the world. Everyone appreciates that this valuable service is done for free. It is a wonderful way for people to continue their education. Their new language and reading skills have the potential to open up new job opportunities for our student population.

Dear President Nelson. First of all a respectful and warm greeting. This is for the purpose of explaining my English language study opportunities. I am from Venezuela and have participated in various English language institutes. Now I enjoy Columbus in which I do not pay anything and I learn English little by little in a comfortable, pleasant and central place, with teachers who strive to teach us. I pray that these facilities can be maintained for said Institute.

Hello
This is Neli from El Salvador.

I’m English Student from Columbus center.

I enjoy my English class and learn a little more every time. The Columbus center is very important for immigrants from different countries.

My name is Pook Carson. I am on the Board of Directors of the Columbus Adult Education Center. I am also a learner and educator. As a professor, I admire the mission of the Center and what we have accomplished despite the hardships caused by COVID. The Center currently serves students from a wide variety of ethnicities in Utah and throughout the world.

We have great volunteers who devote their heart and soul to improving others’ lives by helping them learn English and other life skills such as sewing and computer literacy. We also provide advice on getting U.S. citizenship and employment. In addition, the Center has been working with the Utah Food Bank to provide lunch to anyone who is in need. Beyond food, the Center provides clothes and other items to support its students and their families. On a personal level and on behalf of the Thai community in Utah, I appreciate the opportunity that the Center has given us to offer Thai language curriculum and classes to the public.

These and the other programs offered by the Center are all very valuable contributions to the community of which I am very proud to be a part. I hope you also see the value of these activities and the critical role the Center plays in the lives of many new arrivals to the U.S. as they work to build their own American Dream. With the support of the Church, I am certain that the Center can continue to help refugee and immigrant communities and do even more to improve the lives of our neighbors in Utah and throughout the world.

Sincerely,

Pook Carson, PhD

Professor, Salt Lake Community College and University of Utah.