A Look Inside Red Hook ESL’s Community Festival
On Sunday, October 16, Red Hook ESL and Culture Connect, two of Bard’s very own TLS projects, hosted a Community Festival, bringing so much light to the participants. Red Hook ESL has provided free English classes to immigrant communities in Red Hook and surrounding areas for over 20 years. They worked in partnership with Culture Connect, which provides free academic support to elementary school students whose families do not speak English at home.
Maddox O'Rourke ’24, a junior at Bard pursuing politics and human rights, has worked with Red Hook ESL since his first year. He led the Community Festival in collaboration with Hannah, Zaina, and Samantha from Culture Connect. Maddox describes the role of student ambition in contributing to the success of the festival: “The event was entirely based on student-led civic engagement; we planned the event, designed flyers, and posted information throughout community gathering places like local businesses, Latin markets, and public libraries in Saugerties, Red Hook, Tivoli, Kingston, and Rhinebeck.” This level of community outreach was made possible by the passionate students who are behind it all, like Maddox.
The festival was an outdoor open house, offering food and games for people of all ages. Paul Marienthal, dean for social action and director of TLS, brought some delicious homemade chili and cornbread as well! The afternoon was spent getting to know the families, as many parents were able to learn more about the English program. Not only was this a beautiful opportunity to spread the word about the program, but in an even larger sense, it demonstrated the lack of a barrier between Bard and the surrounding community.
There are countless ways to become civically engaged at Bard, and luckily, Red Hook ESL is now looking for more people to join! This is truly an inspiring project to get involved with, as Maddox says: “In reality, we are people in the same community sharing our experiences and helping each other reach our goals. I think that encapsulates true civic engagement as well.”
If you are interested in this opportunity, please email [email protected] or [email protected] for more information!
Post Date: 10-21-2022