Volunteer of the Year: 2021

Karen: LSS 2021 Volunteer of the Year

The English classrooms at the Center for New Americans rely heavily on the support and expertise of volunteers. Volunteers aid the teacher in classroom management (both online and in person), assist one-on-one tutoring, lead classroom and small group activities, and provide support to the teachers in numerous ways.

Each year the Education Program has the opportunity to honor one of our hardworking volunteers and nominate them for the Distinguished Volunteer of the Year Award for LSS of SD. This past week, our nominee, Karen Kraus, was recognized at the 2021 Distinguished Volunteer of the Year.

Here’s her nomination:
Karen Kraus started volunteering at the LSS Center for New Americans on 12/14/2016. Since her first day she has provided 460 hours of ESL classroom help for our adult Refugee and Immigrant students.

She has worked with all the English class levels and has also tutored one-to-one a student who had no prior literacy with the challenging task of learning to decode. Karen has been an amazing volunteer – flexible and consistent – in supporting the Education Program at LSS.

When the pandemic closed our in-person classrooms, she reached out to her assigned teacher to see how she could still help. While volunteers typically work once a week for two hours, she joined the online students in Zoom every day until other volunteers could be trained. At the training meetings, she was able to speak with the other volunteers, answering their questions about how it felt to assist in Zoom. She encouraged them to jump in and continue to help out even if they could not see the student due to technology challenges. She spoke about how the students still needed their volunteers more than ever in the Zoom Classrooms.

Karen brings amazing qualities and skills to our English Language Classes at LSS. Patient, insightful and collaborative – Karen communicates clearly and effectively with true beginners. She is a talented co-teacher in any classroom and a treasured partner in the team effort that is equipping our adult English learners with knowledge of the language, literacy and the content they need to communicate and succeed as new residents of South Dakota.

Here are a few of Karen’s insights about volunteering at LSS Center for New Americans.

What are some of your favorite memories from working with a student/in class?
I especially have enjoyed the following experiences:

o Assisting a student who just sounded out a word and seeing the big smile on their face!

o I love it when a joke is shared and understood even through our language barriers!

o The students call all of us “Teacher.” I can tell it is a term of honor by the way they say it.

What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering at CNA?
For me, it feels like an honor to be a small part of an English Language Learners’ journey. I strongly encourage anyone who might be interested to give this a try. The classroom teachers will first ask you to observe, then will give you direction on how to work directly with students. It’s a chance to meet people from other cultures, right here in Sioux Falls. I learn so much. It’s fun, it’s interesting, and it allows me to volunteer in a meaningful way.

Would YOU like to join our team as a classroom volunteer?
Contact diana.streleck@lsssd.org
Apply Here
https://lsssd.org/what-we-do/center-for-new-americans/volunteerapplication.html

Written by Heather Glidewell | LSS Center for New Americans | Adult ESL Instructor
300 East 6th Street, Suite 100 | Sioux Falls, SD 57103
1-866-242-2447 toll free | 605-731-2059 fax

Volunteering Via the Internet ~ Hello Zoom Classroom! Part C

Students and teachers at the Center for New Americans rely on the help and support of classroom volunteers.  When our classes went online last spring, we had to find innovative ways to bring the volunteers back into the classroom.  Volunteers that were used to the traditional classroom have now become efficient and comfortable with the virtual online classroom.

This is the last in a series of three interviews.  This week I talked with Volunteer Karen.  She has been a volunteer since the 2016.

First, how did you hear about the Center for New Americans?

I learned about the wonderful services provided by Center for New Americans years ago when my church sponsored a refugee family.  When I retired in 2016, I was looking for a meaningful volunteer opportunity.  I have always enjoyed meeting people from other cultures, and volunteering as a teacher’s aide for English Language Learners sounded interesting.

Why did you want to get involved?

In January 2016, I started volunteering once a week as a teacher’s aide in a Level 1 class and a Level 3 class. The classroom teachers provide the lesson.  As an aide, I help reinforce the teacher’s lesson.  I really enjoy it!  Sometimes I’m in the larger classroom. At other times, I take a small group of students to review a specific lesson.

What are some of your favorite memories from working with a student/in class?

I especially have enjoyed the following experiences:

• Assisting a student who just sounded out a word and seeing the big smile on their face!

• I love it when a joke is shared and understood even through our language barriers!

• The students call all of us “Teacher.” I can tell it is a term of honor by the way they say it.

How has Covid changed the way you volunteer and how are you adapting?

When the pandemic required moving classes to Zoom, I started volunteering several days a week.  I needed something meaningful to do while hunkering down at home. It’s been a lot of fun, and it helped me avoid feeling isolated during the pandemic.  I’ve learned more about how to teach English, and I’ve gotten better acquainted with the students and the teachers. I can’t recommend this enough!

What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering at CNA?

For me, it feels like an honor to be a small part of an English Language Learners’ journey.  I strongly encourage anyone who might be interested to give this a try.  The classroom teachers will first ask you to observe, then will give you direction on how to work directly with students.  It’s a chance to meet people from other cultures, right here in Sioux Falls. I learn so much. It’s fun, it’s interesting, and it allows me to volunteer in a meaningful way.

Want to be a classroom volunteer?

Contact diana.streleck@lsssd.org

Apply Here

https://lsssd.org/what-we-do/center-for-new-americans/volunteerapplication.html

Written by Heather Glidewell | LSS Center for New Americans | Adult ESL Instructor

300 East 6th Street, Suite 100 | Sioux Falls, SD 57103

1-866-242-2447 toll free | 605-731-2059 fax