Texas Border Business
By Amanda Sotelo
Learning English has been a lifelong dream for Yolanda Cortez, who came to the United States from Mexico in 1985, and thanks to a new partnership between her employer – the city of Pharr, and South Texas College Continuing Education- she has claimed 2026 as the year she learns the language.
Enrolled in the English as a Second Language (ESL) beginner course provided by the city of Pharr and instructed by STC, she is one of nearly 30 Pharr employees, from various departments, who are completing either a beginner, intermediate or advanced ESL course.
“I’m so grateful for Pharr, our mayor and STC for giving us this opportunity,” she said. “Learning English has always been a dream. I’ve learned it here and there, even my daughters have tried teaching me, but something always takes priority.”
It was one meeting recently that provided Cortez the motivation to try again.
“I went to a city meeting and I didn’t understand anything, no matter how much I wanted to,” said Cortez. “I promised myself there would never be another meeting that I didn’t understand. This has been my motivation.”
The ESL courses are conducted Wednesdays and Thursdays through April 9 for two hours in the morning at the Jose “Pepe” Salinas Memorial Recreation Center in Pharr.
In addition to free ESL courses, each student was provided a backpack by their employer, complete with textbooks, notebooks and school supplies to help each one succeed.
STC Program Coordinator for Continuing Education Xenia Munoz said the process to begin this partnership began in October of last year with student assessments and placement to ensure each student enrolled in the appropriate class.
“We’re so excited to be working with the city of Pharr,” said Munoz. “This is a great collaboration that will benefit their employees and allow them to be successful, meet goals and advance within their field or continue their education.”
Students enrolled in STC’s ESL courses learn everything from the alphabet, days of the week and how to tell time to nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verbs.
One of those students is Ruben Sarinana, who handles custodial and maintenance work at the Pharr Police Department. He is currently enrolled in the intermediate ESL course.
“For me, these classes are extremely important,” said the 57-year-old. “I don’t know a lot of English and sometimes I don’t know how to answer questions at work or give directions. This is going to help me overcome a lot of those challenges. I want to surprise my supervisors and show them that I’m worthy of growth within my job. Thank you, Pharr for giving me, us, this opportunity. It’s not lost on me that this is rare.”
Valerie Rivera, Workforce Development manager for city of Pharr Human Resources, said that the city is always looking for new professional development opportunities for their employees and ensuring they can support them with the resources and materials they need to be successful.
“We want our employees to grow, and collaborations, like the one with STC, allow us to provide trainings like ESL that allow them to move forward and move up,” she said. “With STC, we hold a positive working partnership, and we know that this is the first of many STC trainings or courses that we will offer. We appreciate everything they’ve offered us, and I hope they know this is going to change lives.”
Lives, like Cortez’s and Sarinana’s, are being changed.
“The beauty of all of this is that now I’ll be able to understand, speak, read and write in English. My dream is coming true,” said Cortez.
Sarinana shares the same sentiment.
“This is going to be a wonderful surprise for my family,” he said. “I just told them I was taking a training. I didn’t tell them I was going to be learning English. They’re going to be so excited and happy.”
For more information on STC’s ESL courses through the college’s Continuing Education Department, visit southtexascollege.edu/cpit/courses/personal/esl/.
Information source: STC
