By Anthony Stanford –
If there ever were a reason for exuberance, Paola Havinga has a legitimate one. The Cuautla Morelos, Mexico native who came to the United States in 2008 recently passed the United States citizenship examination. She will take the oath to become a citizen at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Office in Chicago.
Last March, as time neared for her permanent resident card to expire, Paola spotted a flyer about the citizenship classes sponsored by the College of DuPage (COD) and held at the Aurora Public Library Eola Road Branch. The free course, given by COD instructors, helps adults to improve their English skills and prepares them to take the U.S. citizenship examination.
COD instructor Tara Henry spoke about the success of the citizenship classes and glowingly of her student said, “I have taught citizenship for COD since the Fall 2013. For the past five years all of my students who have taken the actual naturalization test have passed and become U.S. citizens. Havinga, just like the vast majority of my students, took these classes seriously, attending and participating in classes, studying outside of class, asking questions to better understand the material. She had the drive and desire to pass the test and understand U.S. history and government.”
With her family nearby and days before taking the oath, she talked about the citizenship class and expressed appreciation by saying, “There were lots of facts and names to memorize, and I can’t say enough about my COD citizenship instructor, Tara. She was incredible and did so much more than to just provide facts. The difference was that Tara also offered context and relatable history that was extremely helpful in preparing for the citizenship exam.”
Yiota Piraino, adult reference librarian, and citizenship-class organizer at the Eola Road Branch recently talked about the impact of the classes on library patrons and the collaboration with the COD by saying, “We’re very grateful to partner with the College of DuPage to offer English language and citizenship classes at the Eola Road Branch. There’s been increased interest in these topics and with the College of DuPage, we’re able to hold satellite classes right here in the library, reaching more people within the community.”
If you’re interested in preparing for the U.S. citizenship test, class started at the Eola Road Branch August 25 and will continue through December 8. Open enrollment ended October 13.
The next citizenship class will begin January 19, 2019, and go until May.
For additional information related to the classes, contact the Eola Road Branch at 630-264-3400 or the Santori Library at 630-264-4100.
Anthony Stanford is an author and Aurora Public Library Media Consultant.