Adult schools set foreign-born students on the path to citizenship
Yesenia Quintanilla arrived in the United States for the first time from her native El Salvador in 1989 to live with her mother in Los Angeles. A decade later, she enrolled at Fresno Adult School to earn her high school diploma. The mother of two continued to pursue her education by enrolling in the school’s English as a Second Language program.
“That’s when one of the office assistants told me that I could get my citizenship, too,” she says.
Fresno Adult School offers a citizenship course for anyone interested in becoming a U.S. citizen.
Quintanilla was curious. She remembered seeing long lines of people waiting to cast their ballots in Los Angeles, and she longed to be a voter like them.
“Being a citizen, you can become anything. … It gives you a ticket to your dreams.”
Yesenia Quintanilla, Fresno Adult School graduate
“She told me what the next steps were to become a voter, so I said, ‘Send me information about the class,’ ” Quintanilla recalls.
Fresno Adult School’s citizenship course gives foreign-born individuals like Quintanilla an overview of American government and U.S. history. They also learn how to complete the 20-page application for citizenship and about the citizenship test and naturalization interview administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Like the Fresno program, Clovis Adult School in Clovis also offers a free, joint ESL-citizenship program.
Joann Beshansky, department chairwoman of the Clovis Adult School ESL Citizenship program, says that among the topics she covers is the election process.
“I help them understand that once you become a citizen, if you don’t vote, you’re violating your rights and your responsibility to the country,” she says. “It doesn’t matter who you vote for. You vote to have your voice heard.”
Beshansky also teaches students how to memorize key dates and facts in American history and the U.S. government.
“And I always tell them, now you can help your children with their social studies lessons,” she adds. “That’s important because it empowers them.”
Quintanilla says she frequently discussed what she learned in class with her children.
“I taught my son, and we would read together. Now, he knows about history,” she says.
Beshansky, a naturalized citizen since 2008 from the Philippines, says she often shares her personal experiences about the naturalization process. She even plays “interviewer” to help her students practice for their interview.
For three years, Quintanilla attended the citizenship class at her own pace, and even became a volunteer teaching assistant and translator.
Then in 2018, Quintanilla realized her dream to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. She now works in the Fresno Adult School’s front office.
“If I hadn’t had this class, I wouldn’t have passed that test because it’s hard,” she says. “Being a citizen, you can become anything. It can help you to get a better job and more opportunities so you can help your family. It gives you a ticket to your dreams.”
For more information, visit https://statecenteraec.org/.
Written by Gail Allyn Short.
| Regions | Classes |
|---|---|
| Central California | English as a Second Language – High School |
