José René “Pepe” Ramírez Rangel

Pepe came to the United States in 1993 and lived in Tennessee and Virginia before settling in Atlanta in 1997.  In 2003, he read about English for Successful Living in a Spanish language newspaper and decided to enroll.  He has been taking English class in the program ever since.

“I work in construction, so I don’t have a lot of opportunity to speak English on the job,” says Pepe.  “It’s not just me.  People who work in some other places don’t get to practice either.  That’s why the class is so important.”  Pepe entered the program at the beginning, and moved steadily through all the levels.  He says that learning to communicate effectively in English has made life easier for him.  “It helps when you do things like go to the store.  I also help other people that I see too.  It’s nice to help others when they need it.”  After graduating from all the classes, Pepe and some of the other students found themselves without a higher level class to take, so they asked for an advanced conversation class.  They got it.  “In the conversation class we talk about history and the news and things like that.  Sometimes we talk about our problems.  I learn things about Georgia too, and that’s important to know because I live here.” 

“He is the most helpful person in the world,” says program manager Izabel Blankenship.  “When I do student orientation, Pepe comes early and helps me.  For graduation, he brings lots of boxes of all kinds of juice for everybody.  He is very hard-working.  He is a dream student.”  

For the first time in the last seven years, Pepe is taking time off from English classes, but not to stay home and relax.  He is taking GED classes.  Although he graduated from high school in his home state of Hidalgo, Mexico, he wants to have a high school diploma from the US.  While GED classes are offered in Spanish, thanks to his years of perseverance and determination, Pepe is able to take the test in English – just like his fellow Americans.