A Mexican menu brought an aroma of fresh tamales and the smell of warm pozole (hominy soup) to the room as the ESL club, English as a second language club, launched the ESL and Beyond Project on April 30 at the TTC campus.
The ESL and Beyond Project will assist students with transitioning to credit programs and provide opportunities to earn certificates and degrees.
The ESL club has been very active on campus all year with volunteering, fundraising and strong student advocacy, creating this student-led initiative that honors the successes of many ESL students completing their certificate program.
“Anybody who works in the ESL department knows that our students are so hardworking and so incredibly talented and have so much to offer. But what we find is that many of our students don’t think that higher education is a possibility for them. Not because they don’t have the ability, but because they don’t have the information or the guidance or the connection to the larger campus community,” LBCC ESL professor and club advisor Pricilla Caraveo said.
The idea for this program came from Elizabeth Ruiz, the ESL club president, and will be a student-led initiative that will be operated by the ESL Club, offering more leadership opportunities for students.
“If you don’t know about Elizabeth, she immigrated here from Mexico. She didn’t speak a word of English. She never thought that she could get an education in the United States. It never crossed her mind that that was a possibility for her. But she enrolled in ESL classes. And she figured out what resources were available. And now she’s graduating this spring from Long Beach City College,” Caraveo said.
LBCC President of the English as a Second Language (ESL) club, Elizabeth Ruiz, shares her journey at the ESL and Beyond Project launch celebration luncheon on April 30 at TTC. The project will offer scholarships, book grants, school supplies, and computers for program participants who do not receive funding like other programs at LBCC. (Maximus Rago)
Mentorship and guidance will be the focus of the initiative, making sure that students are encouraged to move forward into taking on more challenges in their education at any age.
“With the right support, they (ESL students) can continue their education beyond and successfully complete credit courses, degrees, and even transfer to a university,” said Ruiz.
ESL students are on a path to read, write, and speak in English as their second, third, or fourth language.
“I am a living example of that, as there are many other ESL students that I’m sure have achieved their academic goals, however, many students face significant challenges, especially financial ones,” said Ruiz.
Ruiz explains that because ESL students do not receive financial aid, these barriers often delay their progress and make students remain in the program longer.
Students often have more than one job and enroll part-time creating extra challenges that students face in addition to all of the other academic and financial concerns about education.
“They (ESL and Beyond Project) are trying to create these services to make sure that the students get help for their future. I mean, teaching someone English isn’t enough. There’s a lot more intricacies to getting around the U.S.,” said Sergei Grimm, an ESL club member.
The catered lunch buffet was donated by Gerardo and Arecelia Reynoso, owners of Te Quiero Mucho Tamales, a local favorite owned by LBCC Alumni.
“This is a beautiful contribution with the ESL and Beyond launching. They (Te Quiero Mucho) donated everything for free. And when they heard that this is for the community, they said, oh, my gosh, we want to help and we want to be part of the community. So they are wonderful people that’s helping us a lot,” said Eloina Aguirre, ESL club Inter Club Council (ICC) representative.
“We’re just a business, we do catering, we do pop-ups and events, special events like this and we wanted them to reach out to us to see if we could do the catering for this event,” said Gerardo.
Lesli Calderon, a member of the EOPS (Extended Opportunity Programs and Services) team working on Calworks program, presents opportunities for parents in university at the celebration on April 28 at TTC. (Maximus Rago)
Spanish was not the only language heard during the event, you could hear Thai, Khmer, Japanese and Russian with English translations to help students communicate with one another while laughing and smiling to make a very positive vibe.
For some students, the ESL community is home and a center for all things family as many are a long way from their mother countries and LBCC is their connection to all things in life, including family.
“Because we treat everybody as equal. We don’t have nobody is the director, nobody is the helper, we are all a team and we are trying to help everybody to discover their strengths and gifts,” said Aguirre.
Sergei Grimm moved to the USA three years ago and had never learned the language before, but can already speak other languages.
“I’m Russian-Ukrainian… First, my job was with Armenian people and we speak Russian and Ukrainians because they know both languages. My grandpa, like they are from Germany and I learned Deutsch there,” said Grimm.
The English as a Second Language Department at Long Beach City College prepares students to develop the skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening in order to reach their academic and vocational goals, according to the school website.
Both the ESL Department and services are only available at the TTC currently and concerns about access to extended services were discussed and shared at the event by Maureen Mason, ESL department head and professor of American Sign Language (ASL) and Linguistics.
“Services are not available on both campuses, and that’s something that should be an effort to have available,” said Mason during our interview.
Five ESL Club students and club members were awarded the first $300 ESL and Beyond Project Scholarships for 2025-2026 year with funds from Dr. Mike Munoz’s office.
“We are grateful that Dr. Munoz has already supported ESL students by granting awards, and we are excited that he supports our program and will continue each semester. The resources will help remove barriers and allow students to focus on their education,” said Ruiz.
“We watch how many of the people we see growing, like they were so shy behind their shell, but now, they’re writing and they have self-confidence and they are looking for Us (ESL Club) and say, how can they be part of you,” said Aguirre.
The ESL Club meets on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at TTC room DD-107 with the next one on May 14.
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