Our Level 4A class prepares students for college.  In the words of one of the graduates: “Through three [and a half] months of studying, I considered that I got a progress on the writing skills, knew more about American cultures and learned some real college skills.”  Almost a dozen of our students will be enrolled in community college classes in January, while others are waiting on acceptance notice to graduate level programs.

Our Level 4B class prepares students for entering the American workforce, either through a job training program or directly into a livable wage job utilizing professional skills acquired in their home country and English and soft skills finessed in AACA’s Next Steps Transitional English Program (Next STEP).  Several of these students are already accepted into Job Training programs at AACA and elsewhere, while others are already working in their field here in the US, hoping to be able to achieve promotions or better jobs with their enhanced skills.

Our graduation / holiday party on 12/23 included all 6 classes (at 4 levels) of the Next STEP program receiving certificates of completion acknowledging their successes at the level they were studying.  Two of the graduating students addressed the crowd to inform the “underclassmen” of the specifics of each of their classes, hoping thereby to inform the lower level students of the choices they have when they get to level 4.

Following the formal graduation ceremony, a holiday party ensued with delicious food brought by all students organized by the student council.  After enjoying the food, some sharing around holiday traditions occurred in one classroom, where students had fun learning about the Hanukkah dreidel, hearing a recital and brief explanation of “‘Twas the night before Christmas…” and singing some of the popular holiday songs in English, and, in one case in their own languages as well.  Following that, some students had fun continuing to finesse their English skills with a Scrabble game.

Our new Next STEP cycle will start on January 17th.

For more pictures taken at the graduation ceremony and Christmas party, please visit our Facebook Page.

This video was produced for our very successful 2011 gala and features many notable businessmen, politicians and educators.

Daniel Rodriguez and Benjamin Desire were so motivated that they secured positions, as Weatherization Technicians with Green Beginnings, before they graduated.  Javier Torres is now the Lead Facility Technician at Dave & Busters in Braintree, MA.

Sabahudin Dervisevic performed so well during his internship with Shore East Plaza, that Weston Associates hired him as a facilities technicians splitting his time between two residential properties.

Stop by the Boston Public Library and you can meet Gregory Stewartson, who was hired to maintain all those wonderful bookshelves, reading rooms, and other common areas.  Skip over to the Liberty Hotel and say hello to Mourad El Anbi in the hotel’s engineering department.

Mayceo Branch has been accepted in to the Plumber’s Union and will also start working for Rebuild Boston as a construction worker on their latest project in the Grove Hall Area of Dorchester.

The remaining graduates, Vinh Troung, Mohamed Dalil, and Monique Barrows are hard at work completing their internships at the Harbor Point Apartments in Dorchester, MA.  They are attending job search class, interviews, and networking events.  With their excellent references, great training, drive and dedication I am positive that we will be reporting their employment very soon.

To learn more about our B.E.E.M.S. program and employer partners, click here.

Over the course of 13 weeks, these students have received intensive training in banking procedures, policies and services, customer service, cross sales, cash handling, professional development and English for the retail banking industry. Students also received nearly 30 hours of direct training from the bank employees from major banks in the area.

The students were all excited to graduate and are looking forward to obtaining new employment in the industry!

One student wrote “During the training, I learned a lot of knowledge about banking. I met a lot of professional bankers from Greater Boston that you introduced to us. All the things the program did for us were very helpful.” Anonymous, graduate of the 2011 CBF class.

Good job everyone, wish you all the best and luck in your job search!

Welcome to AACA!

In addition to providing the best workforce development programs and social services to new immigrants and economically disadvantaged people in our community, AACA would love to keep in touch with our supporters and clients like YOU, and keep you updated on our latest movements!  Here at AACA, we have made huge progress this month in connecting with you through our Facebook and Twitter channels. If you haven’t checked us out on our social media pages yet, there has never been a better time to do so!

We have been delighted to see many of our BEEMS, PACE, ESOL, Next Step and CBF graduates establishing successful careers and continuing to pursue their American dream after their educations at AACA. As we all know, it is always difficult to take the initial step toward changes in life but as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Therefore, by taking your first steps through an education at AACA, you’ve also taken your first steps toward a better life. Educate, Empower and Employ, these three E’s are our motto as well as our greatest gift to our community.

If you have any questions with our workforce development, immigrations services or ESOL classes, feel free to call us or drop by at our office!

Stay tuned for more updates from AACA:)

Asian American Civic Association is hosting the City of Malden’s newly elected Mayor Gary Christenson as part of its Fall 2011 Community Forum series on  Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011 at 12 – 1 p.m.

Being the upcoming mayor of a diverse community interwoven with various cultures and vibrant traditions, Christenson looks forward to improving communication among residents to realize a future of limitless opportunities in the city ofMalden.

For RSVP and more information, please contact 617-426-9492 ext. 312, or rsvp@aaca-boston.org.