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May 15, 2008, the National Latino Education Institute in partnership with 12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas presented the 2008 Career Expo. Event Seminars included: The Art of Interviewing, Resume Review, Dynamic Networking, Benefits Package Analysis and The Electronic Job Search. |
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NLEI
IS TAKING THE LEAD IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT! |
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NLEI
led the Panel
on Strategies and Programs for Workforce
Development during the fifth annual
Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus
Foundation Conference “Presencia
Latina” scheduled at the Donald
E. Stephens Convention Center in
Rosemont, IL on Thursday, December
6th,2007.
Elba Aranda-Suh, Director of NLEI
who brought together a panel of
experts, to speak to the inclusion of Latinos in corporate America and get the community perspective at workforce development. |
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Panel included Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group , as well as information on Illinois’ job training and workforce programs from Roxanne Nava, Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and Lorena Gonzalez, Human Resources at MacNeal Hospital.
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CONSTRUCTION
OF THE NLEI PARKING LOT COMPLETE!! (updated
08/29/07) |
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Chicago, Illinois, August 27, 2007: NLEI created a partnership with leading corporations and political leaders to construct a much needed parking lot for Chicago-land students who attend NLEI to obtain job training and job placement in its near southwest-side facility. |
Elba Aranda-Suh, Director of NLEI was joined by 12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas, 1st District Representative Susana Mendoza, ComEd Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Frank Clark and President of Kenny Construction Jim Kenny in a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration on Monday in the McKinley Park neighborhood.
Lot dedicated to Trench - It’s President
The distinguished attendees joined NLEI in the unveiling and dedication of the beautifully landscaped 44-space parking lot in the name of Loretta, Rosenmayer, President, of Trench-It who donated most of the financial and resource support to this project.
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Literacy
Pathways Project Offers Students More Educational
Opportunities |
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Funded through the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago,
the first cycle of Literacy Pathways started back in April is
coming to an end with great success, with students
continuing to Advanced Literacy Pathways or to GED preparation
courses. At their graduation ceremony on June 13, students were
presented with certificates of completion. |
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The Literacy Pathways program draws students
from different levels of English as a Second Language classes
who have expressed their desires to continue their education,
but were not quite ready for the GED or other higher levels
of education. Therefore, these current ESL students happily
embraced the idea of a new bridge class to reach their goals.
“This pilot project turned out to be a great success.
Our students were given the opportunity to advance to their
further educational pursuits and I believe they succeeded. I
am very proud of every student,” stated Yelena Halstead,
ESL/Literacy Pathways Coordinator.
Literacy Pathways curriculum integrates specific life-skills
that are crucial for the ESL students in order to gain and maintain
economic independence in the United States. “The Literacy
Pathways classes provide students independence to be creative
and be able to express themselves at a higher level,”
expressed Instructor Dan Hanrahan. Dan provides a relaxed and
positive atmosphere that is conducive to learning. He encourages
and motivates students to participate and use the language;
students come out of his class with big smiles on their faces.
“My impression is that students appreciate that the focus
of the instruction is not only on grammar, but is a more challenging
course including introduction of specific terminology (educational
system, health care, and financial literacy), enhanced life
skills instruction and a lot more. It was particularly gratifying
to see students’ writing abilities blossom. I was impressed
with their personal stories and their ability to express them,”
Dan stated. Integrated into the curriculum is the IBM Reading
Companion that allows students to work on their reading and
pronunciation skills. |
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Julio
Sibri began Literacy Pathways in April with a
hunger for a class that would challenge him to move his
English to the next level. Analytical by nature and with
a talent for written expression, Julio found in the Literacy
Pathways course material that engaged him and offered
him the opportunity to especially develop his reading
comprehension and his writing skills. As Julio seeks to
eventually attend college, the ability to craft a well-written
essay is paramount. After several classes of academic
essay practice, Julio took the midterm exam, which contained
a significant essay writing section. |
Julio
demonstrated his knowledge of the academic essay form
and received a perfect score on the examination.
Julio can be very proud of his achievement. “I
feel much more comfortable with my speaking now. I am
happy that my coworkers and my customers (I work at Black
Bird restaurant) noticed my improvement.” Julio stated. The ability to craft a thesis and support
it with the examples and details is a valuable skill in
itself and will smooth his transition to GED preparation
class and secondary education. “When I was at regular
ESL classes, I only worked on English Grammar and in the
Literacy Pathways class, students come with already good
English skills and they work on improving their reading
and writing skills in order to obtain GED or go to a college.
I want to go to a college and I feel much closer to my
goal than I was before. Thank you Spanish Coalition for
giving me such an opportunity.”
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Citi
Foundation sponsors the Community Scholar Internship
Program |
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Jan Valenzio(left)
presents a check to NLEI Director Elba Aranda-Suh earmarked
for Citibank’s Community Scholar Internship Program.
The intern will assist NLEI in the coordination of Latinos
Investing in Financial Education (LIFE). |
BLC member Jan Valenzio
Vice
President of Human Resources, Citibank N.A.
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