When park rangers Robert and Rachel are not protecting America’s National Parks, they are volunteer teachers at IIBA’s citizenship preparation class in San Francisco. “My wife Rachel had signed up to volunteer at IIBA and asked me to accompany her, as I had prior experience working with citizenship students. I had planned only to help a couple of times, but when I saw what a difference I could make, I haven’t stopped volunteering since.”
For the past two years, Robert and Rachel have played an important role in preparing IIBA’s students for their citizenship exams and interviews. “We truly recommend attending a naturalization oath ceremony and seeing the thousands of people who are becoming citizens each month. It is a powerful event to witness firsthand”.
They enjoy working with all groups of students, whether they are beginners who are learning the English alphabet or students who speak English fluently, but need assistance studying for the 100 questions on the citizenship exam. Robert and Rachel are more than instructors to their students. They help their students learn how to write checks, make doctor appointments, and navigate through different bureaucracies.
Robert and Rachel talk glowingly about the growth and confidence IIBA students gain from week to week. “Being able to see the fruit of the students’ labor is truly rewarding.”
