Project: LEARN of Medina County starts unique partnership with Davis Tree Farm to teach English to employees

LIVERPOOL TWP. — Project: LEARN of Medina County recently started a first-of-its-kind partnership with Davis Tree Farm, in which the adult literacy nonprofit offers structured English to Speakers of Other Languages classes to the farm's employees. Chad Davis' parents started Davis Tree Farm more than 30 years ago. He said the company has used the H-2A program for around 15 years, which allows the business to hire non-immigrant workers from outside the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs. Many of the employees that are hired primarily speak Spanish and know varying levels of English. He said typically the company uses someone who knows English well to communicate with the other employees, but that can lead to miscommunication. To help address the issue, Davis eventually connected with Project: LEARN to provide English lessons to the company's 16 Spanish-speaking employees. "As far as in agriculture, the workforce is starting to decline, and other employers look to use programs like H-2A and other government programs to get employees to work for them," Davis said. "I think it's a good opportunity what Project: LEARN provides because we need the work. We need the help." Mihaela Stoia is the group's ESOL instructor, and she has taught them every Saturday at the Buckeye Library for the past few weeks. She said the lessons are specifically tailored to meet their needs, and they build upon what they learned the week before. The group will do things like listen and then answer questions, dissect words and phrases or have discussions. "I'm trying to infuse all the skills in English, listening, speaking, writing and reading, into tiny parts," she said. "(I) break them down during the lesson, so we have a better experience." The lessons will help them to communicate with their employer directly. Stoia said the classes are valuable because throughout the world, English is a commonly spoken language. "I, myself, come from Europe," she said. "I made this a dream of mine to learn English and to become a teacher. That was my purpose, so English is important, especially for this particular group that I have the honor to teach on Saturdays." Stoia said she hopes the program continues. The employees will likely continue their lessons until they leave Davis Tree Farm. "I think it's a really, really amazing collaboration," she said. "I would love to see this continue to expand and for everybody to get better." For more information on Project: LEARN's services, visit bit.ly/44Z1aS1. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.