Mr. UT and Jane’s Story

Mr. Ut and Jane met in TCH’s Level 5/6 ELA class.  Mr. Ut is a retired teacher and an immigrant from Vietnam. Jane is a Ukrainian parolee who fled the war with her husband and 7 year old daughter. Both of them are warm, friendly people with particular skills in English. Mr. Ut is excellent with grammar and writing, and Jane is a sparkling conversationalist

For the past year and a half,  Ukrainians have been the predominant language group in classes and for a good while, Mr. Ut was the only Vietnamese person in this class.  There is a lot of emphasis on conversation and group activities in class, and Jane always made sure that Mr. Ut was included in her group. She said he reminded her of her grandfather.

Mr. Ut normally got a ride to class in the morning from his daughter, who then went to work, and he would take the bus home afterwards.  Eventually, Jane discovered this and began giving him a ride home. Later, I found that they had begun having lunch on Fridays (a non-class day), and that Mr. Ut had introduced Jane to a variety of Asian foods she hadn’t eaten before.  Here is picture of them at one of their lunches. 

TCH provides a lot of services that can be captured with numbers and outcomes, but my favorite thing about this place is the way people connect across cultures, languages, and ages.  People find safety, support, and friendship here.