{"id":2449928,"date":"2019-10-16T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=314438"},"modified":"2019-10-16T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T11:00:00","slug":"roaring-fork-valley-nonprofit-aims-to-build-community-through-english-literacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/roaring-fork-valley-nonprofit-aims-to-build-community-through-english-literacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Roaring Fork Valley nonprofit aims to build community through English literacy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last January, Snowmass local Donnie Ryan met Josefina Jimenez for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely adore her and admire everything about her,\u201d Ryan said of Jimenez. \u201cHer work ethic, her success in business, her commitment as a mom, wife and daughter \u2026 she definitely seems to be a rock in her family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan and Jimenez aren\u2019t coworkers, relatives, or friends of friends. Instead, the women know each other through their almost weekly meetings as an English in Action teacher-student duo.<\/p>\n

At each one-hour session in Aspen, Ryan helps Jimenez, a native Spanish speaker, to improve her English.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to speak more English and to be able to communicate more with my clients,\u201d said Jimenez, who has lived in Glenwood Springs and operated her own cleaning company in Aspen for the past 12 years. \u201cI want to learn because I can use (English) for everything, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more than 20 years, English in Action volunteers like Ryan have worked across the Roaring Fork Valley to help non-native English speakers like Jimenez learn the language for free, aiming to bridge any existing cultural divides.<\/p>\n

In 2008, English in Action officially became its own independent nonprofit under current executive director Lara Beaulieu, who says there continues to be a high need for the literacy program across the valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen so many doors open for some of our students,\u201d Beaulieu said. \u201cI love the magic that happens when people with different backgrounds connect with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, 368 students worked with 248 English in Action volunteer tutors who donated more than 5,500 hours of their time, according to the nonprofit website.<\/p>\n

This year, Beaulieu said there are 150 students on a waiting list to be matched with volunteers, and the valley nonprofit is looking to sustainably continue its mission of helping immigrants or non-native English speakers better integrate into their communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked with a lot of nonprofits, but I think English in Action stands out because it really takes care of its volunteers and students,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so happy with this program, too, because I am learning a lot,\u201d Jimenez added.<\/p>\n

On the outside deck of the Pitkin County Public Library on Oct. 14, Jimenez and Ryan talked about what it\u2019s been like to work together and learn about each other in the past year.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike in any relationship, building repertoire is so important,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not about just teaching English. It\u2019s about giving people the opportunity to tell their stories and celebrate their lives in a new way.\u201d<\/p>\n

To do just that for Jimenez, Ryan said she encourages Jimenez to work with the English language in a way that helps her reach her specific goals and explore her personal interests, whether that means learning how to respond to texts from clients or better understand a book on parenting. Ryan said she even helped Jimenez design business cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so happy. Donnie is an amazing teacher,\u201d Jimenez said, smiling at Ryan. \u201cMy English is not perfect, but she helps me with so many of my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Saturday, both Ryan and Jimenez plan to meet again not for a lesson, but to attend English in Action\u2019s annual Fiesta de Tamales community dinner and fundraiser at Basalt High School.<\/p>\n

Ryan plans to attend as a volunteer and Jimenez plans to bring her family. Both women said they hope to meet more English in Action students and volunteers there, and to invite more people to become part of the literacy program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell everyone I know to consider being a tutor or a student,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cIt is fun, exciting, free and offers great opportunities to build community and to create relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

mvincent@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last January, Snowmass local Donnie Ryan met Josefina Jimenez for the first time. \u201cI absolutely adore her and admire everything about her,\u201d Ryan said of Jimenez. \u201cHer work ethic, her success in business, her commitment as a mom, wife and daughter \u2026 she definitely seems to be a rock in her family.\u201d Ryan and Jimenez […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2449928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 14:15:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2449928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2449928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2449928\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2449928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2449928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2449928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}