Grant Awarded for New ESL School in Easton

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Easton has been awarded a $5,000 grant to support a new program offering free English classes to speakers of other languages.

The funding was announced March 4 in Salisbury at the annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Easton, comprising 40 worshiping communities on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The money comes from the diocese’s Church Initiatives fund.

Angeline Sturgis (right) and Mark Churchwell (left) teaching the weekly ESL class held at Trinity Cathedral

“We are thrilled to receive this financial support for our Easton English School at Trinity Cathedral,” said Angeline Sturgis, one of the program’s co-founders. “It will allow us to buy a wide variety of teaching aids to help our students improve their language skills.”  Items to be purchased with grant funds include textbooks, online subscriptions, a projector and a whiteboard.

For the past five months, Sturgis and co-founder Mark Churchwell have been teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) classes once a week to non-native English speakers inside Miller Hall, the building behind Trinity Cathedral on Goldsborough Street in Easton. Classes take place every Wednesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and draw 20 to 25 students weekly.

“We cover all levels and aspects of English language acquisition, including reading, writing, speaking and listening,” Churchwell said. “Students are separated into groups according to their proficiency levels.”

The goal is to provide a program convenient for English language learners, especially those who work and have limited free time – hence the one-a-week evening format with sessions lasting 90 minutes. Classes are open to teenagers as well as adults.

Both Sturgis and Churchwell are retired teachers with extensive experience teaching English as a second language. Churchwell taught Spanish in public schools for 40 years, including 25 in Montgomery County, Md. Sturgis recently retired from a public school district in New Jersey where she taught English language learners from kindergarten to third grade. She also established a family literacy support group for her Latino families and lectured widely on the impact that group had on the children’s success in higher education.

Mark Churchwell and Angeline Sturgist teaching English classes in Miller Hall.

“When I moved to Talbot County, I realized there was a definite need for accessible English language classes,” Sturgis said. “It is a joy to be working with these grateful, hardworking people. We look forward to more and more students enrolling as the program expands.”

Most of Trinity’s English learners speak Spanish, although the class has included Ukrainians as well and is available to speakers of any language.  The weekly program allows students to join any time and welcomes new students. Registration is easy—new students can simply send an email to [email protected].