Our Story
Background: Although The Boston Higher Education Resource Center (HERC) was founded as a youth organization, the organization has always believed in the value of educating the entire family. In 2000, this belief was transformed into an active mission when the Boston HERC first began its ESOL and computer literacy classes in Spanish for adults. The first ESOL class was launched with a group of twelve students and a single volunteer teacher. Since then, that class has gradually developed into a vibrant, learner-centered program serving over one hundred students annually through six class levels, dozens of volunteer teachers, tutors, and assistants, and two full-time staff. Located inside Congregación León de Judá, a 900 member Latino church in Roxbury, Boston HERC has never experienced a lack of student participation from either church or community members.
Our Mission and Philosophy
Mission: Through teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, we strive to empower members of Boston’s immigrant community by providing a space in which they are instructionally, emotionally, and spiritually encouraged to improve their English language communication skills.
Our Teaching/Learning Philosophy: Our adult students are individuals who bring a wealth of life experience and strengths to our classrooms. They are also individuals with immediate needs and long-term goals. As a teaching team, we serve as facilitators as we teach, drawing upon those experiences and strengths to help students meet their goals.
Our classrooms serve as a place of learning, strengthening, empowering, and healing.
Specific ways we hope to empower and equip our students:
- Giving students the power of decision in their own learning experience
- Providing a safe place where they can practice and take risks
- Building confidence in language skill ability
- Increasing actual language fluency
- Providing a space for real life issues to be explored and discussed
- Encouraging students to put their goals and plans to arrive at them in writing
- Building study skills and encouraging critical thinking
Ultimately, this ministry is definitely about far more than just transferring a set of language skills from teacher to student!
