Frank J Bosak Learning Academy, Inc.

Our Goal:
'To advocate, promote, and facilitate the success of
literacy in a multi-cultural community'

Our Vision:
To foster literacy in a multi-cultural community through the Frank J. Bosak Learning Academy, which will help provide an additional workforce to stimulate business development in the Stamford Community.

Our Mission:
The Frank J. Bosak Learning Academy aims to serve its multi-cultural community in various ways. To serve as the link between the diverse ethnic Stamford community and the rest of the community of Fairfield County.

Our main concentration of efforts are taking place in the Greater Stamford Area. We strive to encourage literacy of all multi-cultural communities and
to provide the essential skills for personal and professional growth.

We will serve as active and visible advocates. Also to actively promote literacy and cultural interaction among the different ethnic groups which live and work throughout the state of Connecticut.

The Learning Academy will act as a community resource for the Stamford community, as well as the larger communities in which we live and work, through English language courses, informational seminars and
job coaching services.

Description:
The Frank J. Bosak Learning Academy, Inc. the ('Academy') is organized and operated for charitable and educational purposes. The Academy provides important not-for-profit literacy and skill training services to the (principally Hispanic) immigrant community in and around Stamford, Connecticut. Through its current and planned activities, described in detail below, the Academy seeks to become a community resource dedicated to the personal and professional growth of Stamford's ethnic minorities.

Activity 1. Since it was organized, the Academy has been providing English as a Second Language ('ESL') courses to the immigrant population in and around Fairfield County, Connecticut. The Academy provides these courses in two ten week sessions, one beginning in the fall (usually in September or October) and the second in late winter or early spring (usually in January or February). The classes meet once a week for two and a half hours. A team of ten volunteers prepare the curriculum, select the proper textbooks, design lesson plans and teach the classes. The classes are currently taught St. Benedicts, Our Lady of Montserrat Church.

The ESL courses help new immigrants transition into the community and develop skills that are vital to their future personal and professional success. We hope to expand its program to include a third ten week session during the summer and expect to provide classes at various locations as the services are needed.

Activity 2. Beginning in the fall of 2003, the Academy began providing specialized tutorial classes for advanced ESL students. For example, the Academy provides intensive ESL training to students preparing to take the Graduate Equivalency Degree exam. The tutorial classes are held in ten week sessions that coincide with the general ESL classes described above.

These courses improve the personal and professional development of their students. Currently, these courses are conducted at the same locations as the general ESL classes described above.

Activity 3. Since its formation, the Academy has developed and facilitated informal community seminars with local leaders, organizations and agencies to introduce new immigrants to the services and resources already available in the community. These seminars have focused on issues affecting the ethnic community, such as immigration, health care, employment, employment training and other economic issues. The seminars are conducted in the same locations where the Academy provides its ESL courses, discussed above, by Academy volunteers and members of the presenting organizations and agencies. They are held on approximately a monthly basis and are free of charge.

Activity 4. The Academy is in the process of developing educational materials for immigrant families with disabled children. The Academy expects to develop workshops and informational sessions for parents, conducted in their native language, and to publish native language brochures and pamphlets regarding the special needs of disabled children. The Academy is also working to develop appropriate extracurricular activities for the children, including programs that promote the inclusion of disabled children with non-disabled children. The Academy is working with other organizations already dedicated to these issues to develop the activities.

At present, few native language resources are available families with disabled children. The resources that are available are not sufficient to address the needs of the immigrant population, particularly with respect to autism. The Academy has begun incorporating programs to address these issues into the playgroups offered for children whose parents are attending ESL classes. The Academy expects the programs will be conducted by its volunteers together with volunteers from other organizations organized to address similar issues.

Activity 5. The Academy expects to make individual ESL tutorial programs available to provide more individualized attention to students to address their specific needs. The 'language exchange' tutorials will be designed for students hoping to practice their conversational skills. The individual attention will also provide an opportunity to discuss writing, reading and comprehension issues.

Activity 6. The Academy expects to offer courses for members of the community interested in learning Spanish. The classes will be targeted to individuals that work with Spanish speakers, such as business owners, job developers, counselors and teachers. The classes will be offered under the same schedule and at the same locations as the Academy's ESL courses, described above.

Activity 7. The Academy expects to offer specialized tutorial classes for advanced ESL students that focus on job training and development. For example, these classes are expected to address resume preparation, working with common computer programs and job interviewing skills. The classes are expected to be held during the same terms as the ESL courses discussed above. The programs will be developed in cooperation with other organizations addressing similar issues.

Activity 8. The Academy expects to open a Hispanic Community Center to serve as a centralized location where the Latino community may meet to receive information regarding community resources and assistance. Once open, the Community Center would also be the location for the Academy's educational activities, described above. The Academy hopes to open the Community Center by 2009.

History:
OUR HISTORY
In the last few years, Stamford has had an increasing number of immigrant families and individuals migrate into our city. As a result, we have had an increase in our city's workforce that is composed of many that do not speak the English language very well or at all.

As small business owners, we felt a responsibility to educate our fellow community members regarding the importance of literacy and education. So we began an English as a Second Language (ESL) tutorial class of 20 students in 2000 in our local church. During this time, we began to experience such an outcry for these services, and quickly began to offer ESL classes from one night a week to four nights.

In 2001, we established the Frank J. Bosak Learning Academy. We had a common goal: to promote literacy and education in the Lower Fairfield County, and to organize and represent its interest before the public and private sectors.

Since we began in 2000, with the collaboration of seven volunteer teachers, we have been able to service over 400 people in our community, this includes, Stamford's West Side, East Side, and the South End; Norwalk, Darien, Greenwich, and Bridgeport.

In 2001, we were endorsed by the Literacy Coalition and in 2002, we developed a collaboration with organizations such as, CTE, Inc. and ARC, Inc. In 2003, we established a collaboration with ARI, Inc., Adecco Inc., The Ferguson Library, and the Stamford Chamber of Commerce. We provide ESL classes to CTE, Inc., ARC of Greenwich,Inc.(Padres Abriendo Puertas), and Adecco Inc. clients and were recently awarded contracts to provide ESL based job training for Proctor & Gamble (Clairol-Stamford) and ESL based special needs training to families for ARI, Inc.
Through these relationships, we are now able to offer through a referral system, health, financial, and legal services, child care, and services for adults and children with disabilities. We are currently using classroom spaces located in St. Benedict's Our Lady of Montserrat Church in Stamford.
In 2003, we applied for a 501{C}3 Non-Profit Status and was granted this status in 2005 (retroactive from 2003).
In 2004, we began collaborating with the Eastside Partnership to assist in developing a program of language and training for the day-laborers in Stamford.

OUR FUTURE
With our co-collaboration with ARC, Inc., we have found that there is a need for a place where the Hispanic community can unite; we would name it, 'Frank's Place'. Our facility would be modeled after Gilda's House which is a cancer resource center that allow families to discuss illnesses, treatment and aftercare while working through their life threatening illnesses. The premise for our cultural clubhouse would be to continue promoting education, literacy, social service seminars, job training and counseling.

In addition to our language and education component, our goal is to develop a program with a focus in assisting immigrant families that have children with disabilities, particularly children that suffer from autism. This program would include workshops and informational sessions for the parents in their native language and extracurricular activities developed for their children. These would be activities that promote the inclusion of children with disabilities with 'typical' children.

Contact people:

Kristella Garcia, Vice-President / Co-founder, (phone), (email) Gerald (Jerry) R. Bosak Jr., President / Co-founder, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (203) 325-3360

Address:

PO Box 1301, Atlantic Street Stamford, CT 06904

Web Site: None specified

Directions:

Sites where Volunteer work is needed: Yerwood Center, 90 Fairfield Avenue,Stamford,CT

Miscellaneous Information

Does your agency have weekend volunteer opportunities?
	Yes
Does your agency have evening volunteer opportunities?
	Yes
Does your agecny accept court ordered communituy service volunteers?
	Yes
Does your agency accept and coordinate group projects for corporate volunteers?
	Yes
Does your agency accept and coordinate group projects for youth volunteers?
	Yes
Does your agency accept youth volunteers ages 8-13 with adult supervision?
	No
Does your agency accept youth volunteers ages 14-18?
	Yes

Last updated on June 8, 2009