Meet Virginia!
Virginia joined our Community English Class with very few digital skills. When the pandemic began, Virginia’s husband bought her a tablet so she could attend our classes online. Mariana, our Outreach Support Worker, patiently guided Virginia through step by step instructions and taught her about Zoom, cameras, microphones, and all the necessary tech in Spanish.
With Mariana’s support, Virginia was able to attend our online classes during the Winter term, where she developed both English language and digital literacy skills. By the Spring term, she was more comfortable with various Zoom functions and was able to be more engaged, participating and communicating her ideas with growing confidence.
Virginia began stepping up to read and answer questions in class. She was also able to sign into Zoom on her own and navigate the controls, no longer dependent on Mariana’s help, and began doing more homework online on her own. For our June speaking presentation on Canada (“What do you like or love about Canada?”), Virginia was able to send Mariana pictures and a video of herself to share online with the whole class. Virginia showed us pictures of herself enjoying mountains, rivers, and parks around BC. She also shared some artwork from her two year old grandson. She was able to express her love for Canada and for Vancouver. We are so proud of Virginia’s achievements in her digital and English skills!
Being part of a PIRS Community English Class brings more than English language and digital literacy skills – participants become part of a community that supports and encourages newfound confidence.
If you would like to support the expansion of PIRS literacy programming, and support even more women like Virginia in growing skills and confidence, consider becoming a donor to PIRS!