By Stacie N. Galang
PEABODY — Eleven students are getting paid to help others and themselves.
Through a program called ELL Street, the English language learners from Peabody High School get the chance to practice their speaking and writing skills through community projects and prepare for entry into the work force while earning $8 an hour for a nine-hour work week.
ELL Street is funded by $30,000 in stimulus grant money, said Linda Saris, director of Salem CyberSpace, who's overseeing the Peabody program.
Salem CyberSpace is a nonprofit technology program administered through the North Shore Community Action Program and is receiving its stimulus money through the North Shore Workforce Investment Board.
Already, the students completed a project translating brochures on NSCAP's weatherization program, passed the information out from a table at the Liberty Tree Mall and helped people apply for the help.
"It's been a good experience being in this group," sophomore Crismil Vicente said. "We helped people fill out the forms and everything else."
Junior Carlos Blanco said he learned about weatherization and ways to save money on ever-increasing energy bills.
"It's good to help people," freshman Angela Baez said.
Sophomore Esi Coro said the work on weatherization introduced her to new words.
"I'm learning new things," she said.
Yesterday, the students embarked on their next project, helping Haven From Hunger. They toured the Wallis Street food pantry and soup kitchen to familiarize themselves with Haven's work and brainstormed ways to pitch in.
"I think it's a good experience to help others," junior Cassandra Reynoso said.
Haven co-coordinator Paula Diaz told the students about how the food pantry operates and answered their questions after the tour. She said the nonprofit has seen an increase in the number of people accessing the pantry for food.
"Times are just really, really tough," she said.
As a group, the students decided to host a dance to collect canned food and monetary donations for Haven From Hunger.
"We came up with the idea to bring food or money," freshman Wismel Gomez said.
They also agreed to help prepare tonight's dinner.
Saris said the students spent the weeks leading up to yesterday's tour researching their project and visited the Greater Boston Food Bank.
"Our hope is through this program they will be more confident speaking English," she said.
By the time the program ends, the students will have r�©sum�©s and interviewing skills, Saris said. She is also pairing each student with a professional in the field the student hopes to enter.
Funding for ELL Street began in October and will continue through April. Peabody High foreign language teacher Emilia Korkaris and graphic designer Ana Duarte are also supervising the students.
