One of the most popular and life altering opportunities our students seek is US Citizenship. Literacy Source’s Citizenship Program supports adults in accomplishing this goal.

There are three facets to our Citizenship program:

1) Legal Services: Literacy Source is accredited, through the US Department of Justice, to provide high-quality immigration legal assistance to low-income individuals. Thanks to funding from the City of Seattle’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA), we provide free assistance with completing the N400 and N600 forms. We also help our clients with the fee waivers and, as needed, with disability waivers.  

2) Citizenship Instruction: Our citizenship classes are available to any person living permanently in the Seattle area regardless of income. Taught by Ruth Diaz (staff-member) and Leslie Handley (long-time-volunteer), highly skilled adult ELL teachers, and facilitated by several class volunteers, these classes cover everything one would need to know for the naturalization interview. 

3) Case Management: As you might imagine, things come up for people as they are participating in the legal services and citizenship instruction portions of our program. In partnership with Judy Kuguru, the Case Manager for Literacy Source as a whole, we provide support and referrals for other immigration or general issues as they arrive for our participants.  

Volunteers are critical to the success of every part of this program: Trained attorneys or representatives can assist with the legal services. Other skilled volunteers can serve as classroom assistants or teachers, as well as tutors and mock interviewers. And any volunteer working with a student at Literacy Source who finds that student needing immigration case management assistance can reach out to me, Cory Ihrig Goldhaber at [email protected].

Thanks for taking the time to learn about Literacy Source’s Citizenship Program! Ready to volunteer as a citizenship tutor or mock interviewer? Read on for information on an upcoming training or, contact [email protected]

By Cory Ihrig Goldhaber, Citizenship Program Manager

"But seriously, who? Because while it is Hispanic Heritage Month, the notion of a multiracial, multinational, pan-ethnic identity called 'Hispanic' is a relatively recent — and somewhat haphazard invention — in the United States. So, in this episode, we're digging into how the term got created and why it continues to both unite and bewilder." 

As we celebrate citizenship, one of the incredible achievements our students work towards, we also want to recognize the complexity of identity and heritage as becoming a U.S. national is just one new piece of identity. In the podcast, the hosts, Shereen Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby are in conversation with G. Cristina Mora, the author of Making Hispanics: How Activists, Bureaucrats, and Media Constructed a New American, and Yarimar Bonilla a professor of Puerto Rican studies at Hunter College. They explore the conversation around what changes when we are not forced to check by premade boxes to describe our racial identity and so much more.  

Listen to the full podcast here! 

Woudalat Beyene, from Ethiopia.

Elena Solorzano, from El Salvador.

Are you new to conducting mock interviews? Have you done a ton and noticed you are ready for a refresher course? Or are you tutoring a citizenship student and wanting to revisit how mock interviews can help you work with your student to be ready for the final citizenship interview? If you said yes, then this training is for you!

Please complete this form to sign-up for the Citizenship Mock Interview online training on:

Weds. November 17th from 7 - 8pm. 

1. U.S. Naturalization Interview (16 mins)   

2. In the Citizenship Toolkit: please review Pages 12 - 31 in this document

Questions? Contact Caroline or Cory 

Do you ever feel like you have too much content to cover in the time available for a lesson? This is a challenge that all teachers and tutors face at some point. When you can’t teach it all, how do you decide what to keep and cut? I’d like to share a tool I use to help me decide. It’s called “Need to know, Nice to know, and Where to go”.

Let’s start with a non-ESL example where you’re teaching students how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (PB&J). There is so much to teach! The ingredients, the different brands of peanut butter, crunchy v. creamy, nutritional content, recipe instructions, utensils, even some history…George Washington Carver’s contribution to peanut farming. Where do you start? Where do you stop? This is where the “Need-Nice-Where” tool can help. Begin by asking yourself 3 key questions. What do students need to know to be able to make a PB&J? What would be nice for them to know but not essential? Where can they go for more information? Your answers will help you sort the content.

Here’s how I answer it.

The tool can also be applied in other ways. For example, not to a lesson plan but to answer a student’s question. How big or small of an answer do you give? Here’s an example from Literacy Source’s Conversation class which I teach. In a recent session, a student asked: “Teacher, which one is correct -- “let’s start” or “let’s get started”?

There are many ways to answer the question from simple to more in-depth. We know the two phrases mean the same thing, and both are worded correctly. We also know that “let’s get started” is probably more commonly used. And a synonym is “let’s begin.” We know “get” can be used as a stand-alone verb with various meanings and also combined with prepositions to form phrasal verbs with a wide range of meanings. There is so much we can say about this! Where do we start? Where do we stop? Applying the tool, I sorted the possible answers, then picked the “need to know” one below.

Maybe you would pick a different combination of answers. In either instance, it’s always a good idea to check the student’s comprehension of the answer you give and to be open to a follow-up question.

The “Need to know, Nice to know, and Where to go” tool has served me well over the years. I hope it can do the same for you.

Try this next example on your own. What is your answer? How did you decide?

A student asks: “Teacher, which one is correct – “how are you?” or “how’s it going?”

Be sure to save the date for trivia night: November 30, 2021. The trivia night is free for volunteers to attend!

Saturday, October 23, 2021, (Online, free)

Enjoy this grand cultural festival extravaganza showcasing the beautiful art, culture, tradition and heritage of India, with your family and friends, from the comfort of your home. Happy Diwali to everyone! Let this festival of lights bring happiness, health, prosperity and peace to everyone.

Monday, October 25, 2021 5:30 pm: (Elliott Bay Book Company, free)

PeaceTrees is honored to welcome bestselling author, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai as the keynote speaker for our 26th Anniversary Celebration! Quế Mai’s international bestselling book, The Mountains Sing (Algonquin) is a multigenerational novel that follows the Tran family. This illuminating story is set against the backdrop of the Vietnam war and touches on messages of peace, reconciliation, and hope.

October 25th-31st, (West Seattle Junction, free)

Now in our tenth year, the Junction’s Harvest Festival has become a favorite event for West Seattle. The Harvest Festival is good community fun! Quickly becoming a West Seattle beloved fall event, Harvest Fest will look different this year, but that won’t stop the community from donning costumes (kids, adults, and pets welcome!) for a full week of Harvest-y fun. The West Seattle Junction can’t close down California Ave for this fantastic fall festival, so your downtown is bringing Harvest Fest to you.

Our next New Volunteer Orientation (via Zoom) will be on November 3rd at either 1pm or 7pm. Potential volunteers are invited to register online here. 

Miss any of our past volunteer newsletters? You can access archived newsletters at the bottom of the Volunteer Resources of our webpage.

Literacy Source recognizes the inherent dignity, equality, and value of every person and strives to create and maintain a learning community that is respectful and welcoming. To foster and maintain a safe and inclusive community of respect, openness, understanding, and civility, it is crucial that students, volunteers, and staff are aware of their rights and options when confronting a discriminatory or bias-related incident. To read more, click here.