CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Improve your literacy this year, by taking one of the many free courses offered here in Corpus Christi.
Whether English is your second language and you want to start perfecting it, or you never got to finish your high school diploma, there are resources available at the Garcia Arts & Education Center to start working on furthering your education.
Best of all, it's free.
“Right now, we have 32 students that are enrolled here and what it is is they took a preliminary test, we call the intake test and they were placed at this level,” said Criselda Leal, director of the Corpus Christi Literacy Council.
Leal says Mondays and Wednesdays the Center hosts GED classes.
And Tuesdays and Thursdays they offer English courses.
Especially encouraged to attend are individuals whose first language isn't English.
“The primary goal is learning to read and other goals are stated like getting a better job, helping my children with their homework, getting my GED, going to college,” said Leal
English courses require 90 hours to complete, and individuals can attend as many classes as they can, working at their own pace.
The classes are interactive and learning materials are provided by the center, they simply ask for a $20 donation if possible.
“A vocabulary program, they'll be able to utilize the board it has pictures, they have books that we've checked out from the library,” said Leal.
For this semester, English learning classes are at capacity. But Leal says instructors offer one-on-one tutoring if anyone requests it.
There are several locations in the Corpus Christi area that offer the free classes.
For more information you can visit: https://crossroads.esc2.net/ or https://www.esc2.net/