First Graduates from Delta Volunteer Tutor Program

The Delta Refugee and Immigration Assistance Office is excited and pleased to announce the first two students to complete the U.S. Citizenship course through the Volunteer Tutor Program: Fedor and Lydiya Baldynyuk. Congratulations are also in order for Onufriy and Nina Kozak, and Valentina Nuzhnaya, who subsequently have also completed the course. These have received a Certificate of Completion for the VTP US Citizenship cour4se. (Four more students are currently taking the course and will complete it shortly.)

This course is offered to those refugees to the United States who are over 60 years of age, who have been physically in America for over 4 years, and who desire to obtain legal U.S. Citizen status. Through workbooks, CDs, flash cards, field trips, videos and individualized in-home tutoring, these individuals learn basic history of America, how the U.S. government is set up, national leaders, holidays and customs, and English. As a matter of fact, all must learn the answers to 96 questions about the United States, its government, leaders, laws, and history, which questions are given in English and must be answered in English. Quite an accomplishment for these older folks!

Tutors, besides teaching this basic information, are charged with imparting a bit of the American spirit; and we are working to integrate these relatively new-comers more fully into our community. Field trips to City Hall, the LIbrary, and the Senior Center play an important part of the Citizenship course in that interaction with community leaders, officials, and old-timers helps us all become more comfortable with each other, language notwithstanding.

We would also like to express our thanks to those local Deltans who generously stepped forward, giving of their time and energies to be in-home Volunteers in the VTP: Shirley Beck, Jim Harris, Brian Schaffer, Linea John, and Fran Hallgren of Delta Junction, and also Kathy Haile and Luke Sinclair of Ft. Greely. The teaching of this Citizenship course takes about 2 hours a week for about 12 weeks, so we heartily thank them for their pariticipation in this special program. (Mary Leith-Dowling and Mary Torrell also volunteered to tutor, but we had more tutors than students and could not readily use them: Thanks anyway for your interest in helping.)

We would also like to thank Anatoliy Frolov, who is faithful and diligent in his duties as interpreter. And, of course, many thanks are due to the staff at the RAP office: Vera Gorban-Site Manager, Svetlana Kravet-Case Manager, Yelena Berezhkova-Case Manager, and Fran Hallgren-Coordinator VTP.

As we finish up this very first year of VTP, we are already looking forward to the next group of students and tutors. If you would like to become a tutor this fall, please contact Fran Hallgren at the Refugee/Immigration Assistance Office, 895-9830 (or at home 895-5532).