Anne of the Golden Heart

When the ESL Non-Credit Matriculation Project was presented to the Governing Board in late 1998, the person Dean Garlow, then our dept. chair, called upon to give the presentation was Anne Stadler, who, along with Jose Luis Ramirez, still manages the non-credit matriculation program, which attempts to provide as many portions of the credit matriculation programs aimed at retention and student success as possible.

Over the years, the allocation for the Non-Credit Matriculation has funded many needed positions and projects in our dept., the latest being the remodeling of our Fallbrook facilities.

Another program in our dept. that Anne founded--and still manages as a volunteer--is the INEA (Instituto Nacional de la Educacion para los Adultos) program. This is a Spanish adult ed program providing literacy, elementary, and middle-school level education (alfabetizacion, primaria, y secundaria) to the large Hispanic population in our district who need to learn how to read and write in their first language before moving on to learning English successfully with us. For the last seven years, Anne, along with Jose Luis, recruited qualified INEA teachers, a few of whom are our former ESL students. She also didn’t hesitate to hire someone who represents the culture of the people we serve. Her passion for doing the best job she could to help the poor and the underserved Hispanics in our district has resulted in the growth of the INEA program into a current year-round operation in locations throughout our district. If you open this semester’s class schedule book to page 175, you can see these 13 N ABED (Non-Credit Adult Basic Education) classes, each with two course titles--N ABED 201 and N ABED 202--because presumably in each classroom there are students working on the primaria materials and students completing the secundaria curriculum. It goes without saying that Anne’s effort to bring INEA to students in our district typifies what a community college is about.

INEA is a win-win for all. The college certainly appreciates the non-credit funding that these classes have been bringing from the state. The Mexican federal government, which provides INEA curriculum and free teaching materials, also appreciates Anne’s hard work. Two weeks ago, she and Jose Luis were invited to Mexico City to give a presentation on our INEA program to about 50 participants from the US and Mexico. The report was very well received. Last Thursday, Jose Luis, representing Anne, presented to a different group and received appreciation from the Mexican government. The press was present to document the successes of our INEA program and others in the US.

Speaking fluent Spanish and working full-time as our college’s EOP&S/CARE/CalWORKs Director, Anne still finds time to do volunteer work in Mexico, be it helping translate for medical workers or assisting burn victims. Anne’s lived life as a care giver. Because of that, I’ll always be a fan.