ESL class helps former farmworker become citizen
Jesus Garcia
Press Release, Orleans/Niagara BOCES
LYNDONVILLE – English as a Second Language teachers Shelly and Jeff Smith recently saw one of their students achieve a dream. Their student, Jesus Garcia, became an American citizen.
Garcia is from Xoaxia, Mexico and came to the United States when he was 15 years old to pick apples with his parents at a local farm. He worked with them picking apples for a local farmer. He wanted to attend school, but his parents would not allow it.
At the age of 25 he found his way to the Yates Baptist Church in Lyndonville and started attending ESL classes there. The program is run by the Orleans/Niagara BOCES.
Recently with his teachers and his family – wife Janna and his sons Liam and Jamie – Garcia stood in front of the Honorable Judge Hugh B. Scott and was sworn in at a Naturalization Ceremony in Hamburg.
“We are so very proud of his accomplishments that he has made,” says Mrs. Smith. “It was amazing to observe.”
Garcia now is employed at Ontario Shores Construction working on metal roofs and pole barns.
