When Lara Caradimitropoulo, a fourth-year UVA student, began volunteering with Thomas Jefferson Adult Career Education (TJACE) in October 2021, she did not expect to find herself outside at IX park on a Tuesday night with her students and a guest speaker who was a fitness trainer, doing jumping jacks, running in place, and stretching. But these fun and immersive kinds of experiences are just what volunteers and TJACE students enjoy as a part of the program. “Watching everyone’s faces change and wondering what we were doing outside together was just hilarious. I have so many good memories, but I remember laughing so much that night,” reflects Lara.

“TJACE is an adult education program designed to serve the Charlottesville community in teaching English to immigrants and refugees (or English Speakers of Other Languages),” explains Zainab Razzaq, the Program Director of TJACE and the Head Program Director for Adult Education at Madison House. The program not only helps adults learn the English language, it also provides cultural knowledge about living in the US, functional skills, study skills for the citizenship or GED exams, and employment preparation, such as practice job interviews. A full list of the TJACE’s offerings and their schedule can be found here. 

“My role in a volunteer session is to assist the teacher with the lesson and provide more English exposure to the students overall” says UVA second-year student and volunteer Walker Watson on what a session looks like.

Lara also describes her role during a session. “I typically sit down at a table of students and work through activities and homework problems, coaching them towards an intuitive understanding of English,” says Lara. She elaborates, saying, “Recently, because my class is a higher level, we start with guiding questions about the weekend or something going on in the news, like the Superbowl, for example. They will write down the questions, write their answers, and then talk to a partner about it.” This way, adults are practicing vocabulary and phrases relevant to living in the United States. Following these introductions, the students work on a variety of problems, including passage reading, vocab matching, true/false, multiple choice, and group discussions. Currently, TJACE has 15 volunteers going to Piedmont Virginia Community College weekly for the sessions.

“This program provides the essential skill of communication to some of the most active participants in the Charlottesville community,” says Walker. In fact, he has run into several of his past students working in Charlottesville. “They are always thankful to be able to use their voices in new community roles.”

Lara notes that the program is beneficial for both UVA students and volunteers. It opened her eyes to the large immigrant community living in Charlottesville and has given her an opportunity to give back to the city and step off Grounds. “Charlottesville is much more than UVA. Working with the adults in the community and hearing about their lives, their jobs, and their experiences unrelated to UVA makes Charlottesville feel like a much different community,” she summarizes.

Zainab adds that volunteering with TJACE aligns with her professional aspirations. “I hopefully plan on working with the refugee community in the future,” says Zainab. “Coming from an immigrant background because of my parents, this is something personal to me as well. It’s a major adjustment shifting to a new country with an unfamiliar language and I'm sure any genuine help will provide these students some comfort.”

And, while TJACE students are able to learn about the language and culture of the United States, volunteers get exposed to cultural aspects of their students. Walker adds, “Following a classroom discussion about the best restaurants in the Charlottesville area, a student explained to me how one establishment makes their dishes in the exact same way she made them in Afghanistan. This conversation provided English practice to the student and taught me more about food culture in Afghanistan.”

Similarly, Zainab’s favorite memories involve hearing about the personal lives of her students. “I learn about their interests, where they work, or how many kids they have,” she explains. “It feels very genuine because you know they are there for a bigger reason than just themselves.”

Like Walker, Zainab also had a fun experience learning about students’ favorite dishes. “A couple of times they would bring food so everyone could try a dish from a different culture. Food was definitely a plus that I looked forward to!” exclaims Zainab. Through sharing memories and recipes or journeying to a nearby park like Lara did, volunteers and students are able to form close connections and have productive sessions.

Zainab encourages more UVA students to get involved with TJACE, reiterating, “A volunteer only needs to be fluent in English to assist the adult students, so if anyone is interested I encourage them to come out.”

To learn more about volunteer opportunities, visit the Madison House website.

By Cecilia Murphy