By Grace Thornton, SBC WMU BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (SBC WMU) – Peggy Meeks said Cross Walk to Life, the Christian Women’s Job Corps site she leads in Las Cruces, New Mexico, has one common need — English classes. “Our group really is non-English-speaking people,” she said. “They’re comfortable in our smaller setting, whereas so many of them can’t go sign up for something at the community college — it frightens them. We want to take them as far as we can so then they have the confidence to move on.” One big tool in that process is a new curriculum that Cross Walk to Life implemented this past school year. “The other curriculum we were using, people weren’t advancing,” Meeks said. “We had a new volunteer who is a retired ESL teacher come in and say, ‘There’s much better curriculum out there than what you’re using.’” Since Cross Walk to Life made the switch, students are advancing and gaining confidence, Meeks said. And thanks to a grant from the WMU Foundation, they’ll be able to broaden their class offerings even more. “The grant allows us to purchase four levels,” Meeks said. In addition to the grant given to Cross Walk to Life, the WMU Foundation gave seven other grants to CWJC sites, which offer women the … [Read more...]