Learning language and the American culture
OCEAN CITY — The adults who attend the English as a Second Language classes at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church learn more than communication skills. Through their conversations with the volunteer teachers, the students learn about American culture.
In turn, the volunteers learn about the students and in so doing, gain perspective about them and their home countries.
The ESL program at St. Peter’s has been going on for more than 20 years. It takes place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday at the church at Eighth Street and Central Avenue.
The next set of classes begins Sept. 15.
Adults at all levels of English, from beginner to advanced, are welcome. The classes and materials are free. There is no registration required. “Just come,” their church fliers say.
Dr. Constance Jenkins Pritchard, “Connie” for short, is the lead instructor for the program, having taught for 14 years. She was one of three recipients of the Martin Luther King Community Service Awards from the city this past February because of her ESL work.
Pritchard said she volunteers for the ESL program because of students such as Natasha Rusakova and Amando Hernandez, and because of her fellow volunteers.
“It’s just really amazing. The teachers are committed colleagues who care about immigrants the same as I do. And they really are very devoted, but it’s all about people like Natasha,” she said, looking at the Russian immigrant sitting close by. “That’s the real reason.”
Fellow volunteer Karen Morella has been involved in the ESL program for two to three years. She admires the fact people come to the United States from other countries and want to improve themselves.
“I think it’s terrific. It’s also the fact that when you talk to people, whether it’s Natasha or whether it’s somebody from Mexico or any of our other countries, you realize how fortunate you are that you didn’t have to move to the United States to get the opportunities that we don’t even realize we have.”
Morella noted Natasha left Russia “to come here because she’s hoping for a better life than what she had.
“It’s like, wow, you know what? I’m so fortunate. My family’s so fortunate. If I can help her help herself, I think, you know, I’ve won.”
Susie Godfrey has been an ESL teacher since 2019.
“Somebody that was involved in this from the church actually used to come visit my mother on Sundays after church. And when my mother died, she said, ‘Why don’t you come do this on Tuesday night?’” Godfrey agreed.
“It’s very rewarding. When you’re sitting there talking to someone and you see the light bulb go on — they’re struggling and they’re trying so hard, and then suddenly, they get it,” she said. “It’s just really rewarding to be able to help somebody like that because they don’t have to be here. They want to be here.
“They want to be able to advance their life in America,” Godfrey said. “And when you hear some of the stories of how they got here … you know, we don’t know what we’ve got.”
Pritchard made a point that they do not ask to hear the immigrants’ stories. They only ask for their name and a phone number to text them, minimal things “because we’re very careful about privacy,” but the immigrants often share their stories.
St. Peter’s Pastor Erik Hall believes in the importance of the ESL classes at the church.
“We try to be a great community partner, a great neighbor, and try to serve tangible needs in the community. And we see this as certainly one of those,” he said. The teachers, he added, “are fantastic, committed, compassionate, knowledgeable.
“We just have the utmost respect for our teachers and we celebrate them and let them know as often as we can what a great job they do and what a great ministry that they have,” he said.
The classes average 10 to 15 students because the ESL program likes a good ratio of students to teachers. “We usually have anywhere from eight to 10 teachers so people get a lot of individual attention,” Pritchard said.
Rusakova has been coming for one to two years; Hernandez has been coming for six and now works at the church.
“I like to visit these classes because the teachers give me a lot of information about life in America,” Rusakova said. “When I came here, I lived with my family and I spoke in Russian with my family. But now I am living alone and I need to communicate with people in English.”
She has been in the country for 10 years and became a citizen in 2018. She lived in Egg Harbor Township with family before moving to Ocean City.
“When I knew that there was there is an English lesson for everyone, I was happy because I am living nearby,” she said. Rusakova worked with Morella.
“I read with my teacher and I know more about life in America and tradition, and Americans,” she said. One interesting lesson was trying to write haiku, the Japanese poetry featuring three lines with five syllables in the first and third lines and seven syllables in the second line.
“It was a very interesting lesson and another lesson was when the teacher tells us about the nature of America, about life in America,” Rusakova said. “I appreciate all the teachers.”
“I became a citizen and now I need to speak more English,” she said.
Pritchard remembered that Rusakova saw the American flag in the classroom and wanted to learn the Pledge of Allegiance.
Hernandez has been living in Ocean City for more than 20 years, but for much of it still spoke Spanish. As time went on he realized he needed to expand his knowledge.
“I need to speak English for work, for what I buy for lunch and I buy dinner, for breakfast, for everything,” he said.
He thanked the teachers and Pastor Hall for the opportunity to work at the church, and said the more that he does that the more he wants to improve his English. Most of the time he speaks with his family he only speaks Spanish and he watches TV in Spanish.
“I try to speak more English now,” he said.
“This country is the best for opportunities for people,” Hernandez said.
“From a practical standpoint,” Pastor Hall said, “one of the benefits of a class like this, as Amando said, is learning English to be able to work, to do better work here.” He pointed out that Hernandez has been working for almost four years at the church and is now responsible for some 40,000 square feet of facilities.
“He’s constantly having conversations with other staff, with congregation members, with contractors sometimes,” the pastor said. “And so he does an excellent job, and he’s one of the staff people that our congregation looks and says, ‘what a great person, what a great worker.’ It’s just such a pleasure to have him.”
A frightening time
Pritchard noted that there has been a change in the demographics of the students since the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) crackdown on undocumented immigrants when the Trump Administration came into office.
“We have seen very few Spanish speakers,” she said. “After ICE made its first appearance in February 2025 here in Ocean City, they were gone,” she said. “We texted them to make sure you’ve got enough food. Do you feel safe? Are you in a place where you have adequate living? We texted them and kept up with them during that. We would offer to come pick them up, because many of them walk.
But there’s fear, you know? And I think that still exists.”
Another current student is from Haiti. The Trump Administration ended temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of Haitian asylum seekers.
“She was here in the process of seeking asylum … and all of that was suddenly taken away,” Pritchard said. “That meant she lost her job, lost her visa and will have to go back home.” The church set her up through a lawyer to start the process so she can try to remain in the country.
Highlights
Pritchard said the kind of things that make her happy about her volunteer work at St. Peter’s is having someone, who may not have spoken in the classes, actually speak up, or come back to the classes after being away for months, showing that initiative to learn.
Godfrey noted there was a Chinese student who didn’t speak any English so it was quite isolating for her. Fortunately, another ESL student at the time was Japanese and she spoke some Chinese.
“So she had a connection there,” Godfrey said. “They were giggling and it was just like a real highlight for me, just seeing how they could join in and bring out her personality” after not being able to communicate.
Pritchard said the church goes beyond the ESL classes for students, such as ensuring the students had food during the COVID-19 pandemic. St. Peter’s houses a food cupboard for the greater community.
“There’s a good group of church members who care about, ask about and contribute toward different pieces for our students in a human sense,” she said.
– STORY and PHOTO by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
At top, Teachers and students in the English as a Second Language class at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Ocean City gather for a group portrait. From left are student Natasha Rusakova, head instructor Dr. Constance “Connie” Jenkins Pritchard, student Amando Hernandez, teachers Susie Godfrey and Karen Morella, and St. Peter’s Pastor Erik Hall.
