Giancarlo Sierra

Class of 2020
International Studies and Linguistics
Minnesota Literary Council

(he/him/his)

This summer, I partnered with the Minnesota Literary Council (MLC), an adult basic education organization with multiple sites in the Twin Cities. They offer students not only ESL classes but also GED and citizenship classes. MLC believes that literacy opens the path to many opportunities in life, education, and employment. Within their citizenship classes, teachers at MLC improve upon students’ reading and writing skills and teach American history, to prepare them for the respective portions of the naturalization interview.

My two main academic interests at Macalester are language acquisition and immigration law. I was torn between both decisions, but once I learned MLC offered citizenship classes alongside ESL, I knew I could combine both of my interests by partnering with them. For my first project, I updated MLC’s online citizenship training course. This involved researching immigration law to modify out-of-date information and attending classes to record instructors teaching. These videos were added to the online course to provide prospective instructors with visual examples of teaching exercises.

For my second project, I worked in collaboration with a second organization named Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB). I reached out to CUAPB to develop a brand-new curriculum on law enforcement confrontation for MLC. This curriculum will be used to teach ESL students about their rights when approached by law enforcement officers ranging from police to ICE. Refugee and immigrant students are vulnerable to civil rights violations by law enforcement given the current political climate. My goal was to provide a teaching resource for as many ESL students as possible to protect them should they ever be confronted by police.

While working with MLC, I also volunteered as a citizenship tutor in order to better understand how students learn for my projects. I learned so much about the naturalization process and enjoyed helping students on their path to citizenship. Partnering with MLC taught me so much about teaching and independence, so I may consider teaching as a possible career choice after I graduate from Macalester.