Backstretch Education Fund helps immigrants learn English

On Saturday, Belmont Park will host the 145th running of the Grade 1 Belmont

Stakes, a $1 million race over 1 1/2 miles that will pit Kentucky Derby hero Orb

against his Preakness Stakes conqueror Oxbow. There won't be a Triple Crown in

the offing, but a dozen of their peers will take on the top two colts on what is

expected to be a rain-filled day. One of those is Freedom Child, who is coming

off an impressive performance over a sloppy track in the Peter Pan Stakes at

Belmont Park May 11.

Rain or shine, however, the Thoroughbreds that thrill the crowd in the

afternoon are tended to by the unsung heroes of the sport -- the grooms and

hotwalkers who rise with the dawn to check on their charges. Recent decades have

seen a shift in the backstretch worker population, and a majority now hail from

Latin American countries such as Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. Few of the

lower level workers are proficient in English, but initiatives such as the

Backstretch Education Fund (BEF) aim to provide English as a Second Language

(ESL) courses in conversation and literacy.  

The BEF was established in 2002 by photographer Lisa Ford, who got the idea

after spending some mornings taking pictures at the track. 

"I wanted to do something constructive that would offer an opportunity for

people to help themselves," Ford said. "In the beginning, it took the form of

vocational training, but we began to see that language skills were even more

important."

Since then, more than 3,000 workers have participated in the language

program. The BEF also opened "La Escuelita," a language lab and communications

center, at Belmont Park in 2009. Last year, the non-profit organization teamed

up with the Backstretch Employee Services Team (BEST) to create the Backstretch

Bistro, which is located near Gate 6 at Belmont Park. Open on weekend evenings,

the Bistro offers the workers a place to gather in a cafe atmosphere on the

racetrack grounds. Coffee, tea and pastries are served, and bilingual reading

materials and films are also available.

"We've had increased participation and a number of our graduates have gone on

to better jobs," Ford added. "There are a lot of people that want to improve

themselves, and this is a chance for them to do that."

On Mondays and Tuesdays when there is no live racing, the BEF holds

three-hour ESL classes on the grounds at Belmont Park. Classes are held in

20-week sessions. As many as 50 workers attend the Level 1 class in a room in

the track kitchen building. There are two higher levels of classes, and

placement depends on their English proficiency at the outset. Claudia Gronsbell,

who teaches the highest Level 3 class, spent 16 years in local school systems

prior to joining the BEF.

"Our students come from all different places," Gronsbell explained. "They

don't speak English and they're afraid of the environment beyond these walls.

One of the things we try to teach is that if you do learn English, you can go

from being a hotwalker to being a groom, and the trainers will see that and give

you more responsibility, and then you'll make more money."

Gronsbell is cognizant of the fact that her students have already spent hours

at work before they arrive in the classroom.

"It's very hard for them, because they wake up at 4:30 in the morning to go

to work, and then they come here," she offered. "But we do provide lunch. Once

students get to this level, they realize that they can go beyond -- the higher

the level, the more motivated they are to learn. Some of them come here with

only the equivalent of a fourth-grade education. We also have a literacy group

for those that had no schooling before they came here."

Those who have participated in the classes also learn to give back to the

community. Gronsbell's home sustained severe damage during Hurricane Sandy, and

several of her students rallied to hold a bake sale and gather additional

donations. The $500 raised by Humberto Sanchez, Ricardo Munoz, Ruanis Garcia,

Virginia Perez, Hermenegilda Tepalcinga, John Jairo Vasquez, Maria Robles and

Charlie Gomez was donated to the FEGS Comfort Long Beach Initiative.

"I was really touched," Gronsbell said.

The students in the Level 1 class have disparate educational achievements.

Classes for those beginners are taught by Aris Clemmons,  who is pursuing a

doctorate in applied linguistics at Columbia University. The California native

arrived in New York in December, and also teaches Spanish at a Brooklyn high

school. 

"Students come from varied levels of education that range from not being able

to write at all to having the equivalent of some high school in their native

language," Clemons explained. "Level 1 is really about building a vocabulary. I

give them assignments and try to circulate through the class to see who might

need more attention. The range (in this class) is really large, but it gets

smaller in the next two levels."

Students from the BEF classes will also be designing and painting a large

mural that will depict both their roots and future hopes. The idea behind the

project is to foster a greater sense of self esteem, which benefits both the

horse racing industry and the community at large.

Among the trainers whose workers have participated in the ESL classes offered

by the BEF is Tom Albertrani, who will saddle Freedom Child in the Belmont

Stakes.

"I only know a little (Spanish)," Albertrani admitted. "I'm lucky enough to

have two assistants who grew up speaking Spanish so that if I'm not able to

explain something, they can. I think it's a great program that they have that

opportunity offered to them to help learn the language. And it helps the

communication, which makes for a better working environment."

Freedom Child will get another crack at Orb Saturday, having finished second

to the eventual Kentucky Derby winner in a maiden race at Aqueduct last

November. The flashy chestnut will carry the yellow-and-black silks of West

Point Thoroughbreds and partners in the Belmont. Terry Finley, founder and

president of the ownership syndicate, has been a staunch supporter of the BEF.

"I'm a strong believer in education -- it's something that I'm passionate

about," Finley said. "Awareness and education are critical to society as a

whole, and the ability to communicate effectively opens the door to further

opportunity. It's a great cause."

For more information, visit

http://backstretcheducation.blogspot.com/.

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