LINC Students Gain Work Experience by Giving Back
CLB 1, 3 and 4 students learning vocabulary together before they go to volunteer.
CLB 1 students at MCC packing Hygiene Kits.
In the past few months some of the LINC classes explored warehouse work in Canada by volunteering at two local agencies: Material Resources at MCC Center and the Archway Community Services Food Bank Warehouse.
At MCC, the classes volunteered together making Hygiene Kits for global distribution.
The evening CLB Lit-1 class teamed up with the CLB 3-4 cohort to study site-specific vocabulary together in preparation for the group project. One CLB 4 student said he liked teaming up with the level 1 class because he got to “make new friends.”
MCC Materials Warehouse and Community Engagement Co-ordinator Dana Howarth conducted the tour and instructed the group at different stations. She reports that, “Packing Hygiene Kits with the ESL class was a tangible response to a simulation called Forced to Flee. We (MCC) ran the simulation with the teachers at Archway to help them better understand what some of their students, or fellow colleagues have lived through. The compassionate response brought 60 students to the Material Resources Warehouse where students could pack over 60 Hygiene kits. While packing, students practiced their English-speaking skills by sharing their own experiences receiving Humanitarian Aid from MCC. They did a wonderful job, and all wrote beautiful thank you cards. It is always a pleasure to host classes from Archway and I look forward to many more years of visits!”
Some students recognized the relief kits from their own past experiences. Ella, a level 3 student from Ukraine, shared that her family once received a relief kit. She explained that “MCC is doing a very important job for the whole world and especially for my native Ukraine. I am happy to make these kits to give back.”
At the Archway Food Bank Warehouse learners practiced problem solving, organizing, collaboration and communication about product placement and quality control. Warehouse Manager Lynden Pennell noticed that “all students who come out are so eager to help showing their hard-working abilities when they volunteer at the Food Bank Warehouse. We learn fast that some have used equipment such as a pallet Jack & really want to do this in a work placement.”
Reflecting on their experience, many students shared that volunteering at the Food Bank Warehouse was “fun” and that they liked “working with their classmates on a team.” One student added that the English she learned was “practical” because it was part of the job.
LINC students learn about volunteering as an effective way to practice their English, gain Canadian work experience and grow their network. For many newcomers, volunteering with their English class is their first experience working in Canada; the first of many determined steps towards employment in their new community.
Post written by Karla Hiltermann and edited by Kendra Thompson.