Our Residents

Thanks to a state grant of $2.6 million, Springfield Housing Authority is expanding its highly successful adult education program.

The four-year grant from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will more than double the General Education Development preparation afternoon classes at the Deborah Barton Neighborhood Network Center at Sullivan Apartments.

Starting later this month, classes will be held each weekday, up from the current two days each week, from 1 to 4 p.m. There are also morning classes, which run weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

ESOL and computer instructor Nathan Bench heads up a class at the Deborah Barton Neighborhood Network Center.

The grant will also mean a second instructor to assist Sarah Carbone in teaching the classes that lead up to the GED tests that are equivalent to a high school diploma.

SHA Resident Services Director Pamela Wells hailed the collaborative grant as fantastic news for the city as well as the housing authority.

“It’s great news for us,” Wells said. “We always have waiting lists for our GED classes, so we know the need is great. This is another way to help residents meet their goals. That’s what it’s all about.

The grant is a partnership with SHA, Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical Community College, which is the lead agency. Classes are open to all, and will be held at the Barton Center at Sullivan, at the main campus at STCC, and at a third location at 310 State St.

Anyone wishing to take the GED classes can register at STCC’s Adult Education Center, which is in Building 27 on the campus, or call 413-755-4300.

At Sullivan, Carbone has begun working with STCC officials on the expansion. She expects the new instructor to be hired soon, and classes to begin just after that.

“We’re very excited about it,” she said. “We’re going to add computer curriculum in the GED classes. This will be a big change for us,” she said.

GED instructor Sarah Carbone and ESOL and computer instructor Nathan Bench in the classroom.

The classes have long been popular among SHA residents as well as others who join them. At a recent graduation ceremony, 15 students passed from their studies to receiving certificates from the state showing they have earned the equivalent of a high school diploma. Many go on to begin studies at STCC as well as HCC.

The Barton Center is also home to a popular English as a Second Language program as well as computer classes. Both are led by instructor Nathan Bench, who continues to teach even after classes are over, leading life discussions that dig down into more depth, helping participants to master English as they seek to improve their lives.

The scenario repeats itself at Riverview Apartments in the Brightwood Section of the city, though many of the students are older.

Bench also teaches computer literacy classes, both at the center at Sullivan Apartments as well as at Riverview Apartments in the Brightwood Section of the city, where many of the students are older.

Bench’s classes are as follows:

Sullivan – ESOL, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to noon, and computer class, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Riverview – Computer class, in the classroom at the Farris Mitchell Education and Development Center, Monday and Wednesday from 1 to 3 p.m.

To register for ESOL or computer classes, call Carbone at 785-4738.

Jonathan Marin and Carla Santiago of Robinson Gardens Apartments proudly hold their GED graduation certificates.

Both Carbone and Bench agree that teaching adults skills that will help them improve their lives is nothing short of inspiring.

“I love it,” Carbone said. “The students are very motivated. It’s a big deal to all of them to be back in school and learn the things that they may have struggled with in the past. Really, they teach me more than I teach them.”

Bench has a student in the ESOL classes who is from China, and who is livening up the lessons with an occasional lesson in his native language.

 “It’s great. I’m really enjoying teaching here. The students want to do well and they work very hard,” Bench said.