On August 21, the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) for Employment Program held a graduation ceremony at the TRA-Brockton office.

It was a joyous celebration with music, singing, and food from Portugal, Cape Verde, Haiti and China.

Student speaker Ricardo Valcy thanked everyone involved, ending with heartfelt thanks to instructor Ruth O'Brien Denly.

"You have supplied fertile ground so we can see what we can provide," he said.

Noting that the group included an opthamologist, an engineer and a minister, Ruth said this class (which took the name "Eagle Class") was at a "very high level and those who were not made great strides. They went beyond helping each other."

As a way of "paying it forward," the class originated the idea of creating a website with community resources in different languages for new immigrants to the Brockton area. Their first meeting on this project was held on Sept. 4.

In October they met with Mark Frey, Executive Director of Community Connections in Brockton to discuss being interwoven into their website.

The graduates, ages 25 to 74, included: Victor Almeida, Williane Cameau, Senhorinha Da Silva, Egidio Da Veiga, Yu Fei, Amadeus Fernandes, Rose-Delly Paraison, Teresa Ribeiro, Madalena Tavares, Ricardo Valcy, Marie E. Valmond, Filomena Dos Anjos, Jose Monteiro and Donna Wei-Quigley.

To photo of the graduation and student photos of the group's last day of class, click here.

For Brockton Enterprise story and photos visit: http://www.enterprisenews.com/archive/x1739149504/Brockton-area-graduat….