Update
In February, English 1 on 1 accomplished many priorities on our agenda. First, our Volunteer Committee saw a continued upward trend in new volunteers, almost on a weekly basis! Our Volunteer Committee President, Rishi Cherian, interviewed around seven new volunteers in February alone, bringing E101 to a total of 34 hard-working and passionate individuals. To our volunteers: you make our organization’s work a great success.
Our Media and Outreach Committee continued to upload beautiful and exciting content to our Instagram and Twitter. We have been posting about volunteer openings and shouting out other organizations. Check out our Instagram and Twitter pages to see the latest! Our YouTube Content Creators released a new video on Restaurant Vocabulary that goes over a basic English conversation to have in an American restaurant as you are ordering and enjoying your food. If you have not already, follow our hyperlinked socials, and subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
This month, we had an exciting, insightful podcast interview with Saadia Khan, podcast hostess of Immigrantly and a proud Pakistani-immigrant. The episode can be found on our Spotify page, so go ahead and give it a listen! In March, we will be continuing to expand our podcast. We will be interviewing E101’s very own to throw light on the experiences volunteers have gained through English 1 on 1.
As for other new ventures, we have solidified our partnership with the Kakuma Vocational Center and will now be teaching around 25 students. We would like to give a big thanks to the organization for all the hard work they have put in to coordinate with the refugees in Africa and keep us updated. We cannot wait to begin teaching our new students and see their English-learning journeys unfold!
Volunteer Spotlight
This month’s English 1 on 1 volunteer shoutout goes to Melisa! During the holidays in December, Melisa began working as a lesson creator at E1O1. Since then, she has created numerous beginner and advanced lessons to grow the organization’s curriculum and benefit our students. And if that wasn’t enough, Melisa also became our first Tik Tok Content Creator! Over February and March, the Media and Outreach Committee extended E1O1’s social media platform to TikTok. TikTok allows us to promote our mission and various volunteer opportunities through a different medium: short, entertaining videos. Melisa immediately expressed interest in the platform and has spearheaded E101’s shift to the new media. She is also working with other members of the Media and Outreach Committee to reach out to other organizations on Instagram!
Creating lessons requires a significant amount of work and creativity. Melisa has done this with ease, having made vocabulary and grammar lists, homework assignment questions, test questions, and reading comprehension questions. She also jump-started our progress on advanced lessons for our more experienced students. These include video and news article analysis. Melisa’s excellent work points to one of E101’s guiding principles: improving our students’ understanding of the English language and helping them speedily reach mastery of our curriculum.
The Board is constantly amazed at the hours that our volunteers dedicate, and we could not be prouder. As we continue to reach milestones within English 1 on 1, we are thrilled to keep growing as a community.
Words of the Month
Word #1:
Resilience
/rəˈzilyəns/
Noun
- The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness
- The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity
For many states in the U.S., the month of March marks the one-year anniversary of
statewide lockdown due to COVID-19. At this time last year, we became exposed to many
problems that we never knew we would have to face. Shortages on the now “essential” items such as face-masks, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper are just a few of the many challenges we had to overcome. One year later, people are adapting to the new norm - some are even taking advantage of it. English 1 on 1, for example, recognized the need for online teaching platforms, and now our organization is getting more students and volunteers by the day. Some people only focus on the negative side of new challenges, while others adapt and overcome them. Now is a perfect opportunity to improve yourself. Learn to cook, try a new sport, read a new book. Whatever you do, just know that this is a once-in-a-lifetime
experience, so make the most out of it!
Word #2:
Recovery
/rəˈkəv(ə)rē/
Noun
- A return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength
- The action or process of regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost
After almost a year of statewide lockdown, vaccines are being made and widely distributed, and we are finally seeing signs of the life we were used to seeing. Restaurants are slowly reopening, kids are going back to school, and parks are filled with people again. These scenes seem so familiar yet so strange – sometimes it almost feels like we were never in a lockdown because this past year has gone by so quickly. With that being said, what do
you miss the most about life before the quarantine?
Crossword Puzzle Review Game
Instructions
- Complete the crossword puzzle by filling out every box.
- Read the numbered clues to figure out what word goes with that clue.
- Each completed row/column should form a word that matches the clue.
- Answers will be revealed next month!
- Have fun!
