As part of its ongoing mission to serve its surrounding community and address unmet needs in the local educational ecosystem, SJC Brooklyn has partnered again with the Tzu Chi Foundation to bring its SAT prep program to recently arrived immigrants who are learning English as a new language.
After successful programs in Flushing and Manhattan, this year’s collaboration brings the program to Sunset Park, where the Tzu Chi Foundation recently opened up a new branch to serve the rapidly growing Chinese-speaking community.
Programs such as this are part of SJC Brooklyn’s heritage – since its founding a century ago, the College has provided thousands of first-generation college students the tools and knowledge they need to thrive in college.
“Through my work with the Tzu Chi youth group, I learned that there were a large number of recently arrived Chinese-speaking students that were having a hard time learning the English language,” said Peter Lin, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at SJC Brooklyn. “These shortcomings were apparent in their grades and their college entrance exams; these students have the ability to succeed but need additional help to reach their potential.”
Programs such as this are part of SJC Brooklyn’s heritage – since its founding a century ago, the College has provided thousands of first-generation college students the tools and knowledge they need to thrive in college. Likewise, the College’s ACES program, with its unique experience in serving multicultural learners, was able to identify TESOL-certified instructors trained specifically to help students for whom English is a second language.
With the help of the Department of Marketing and Communications at SJC Brooklyn, a targeted SAT program focused on the reading and critical writing sections of the SAT exam was recently launched at the Tzu Chi center in Sunset Park. Classes will run for 90 minutes a session, once each week over the next two months to familiarize participating students with the format of the test and to develop their English-language skills.
We are grateful to St. Joseph’s College for providing this program so that these students can work towards a brighter future and fulfill their dreams!
“The Tzu Chi Foundation is proud to partner once again with SJC Brooklyn to prepare students in our communities for the SAT at a reasonable cost,” said Ni Yun of the Tzu Chi Foundation. “Feedback from former students has shown that this has been a valuable program for students to develop their skills and receive personal support from their tutors. We are grateful to St. Joseph’s College for providing this program so that these students can work towards a brighter future and fulfill their dreams!”
