Refugee students in the city school district are getting a chance to improve their English language skills this summer.
Six students from the Rochester Early College International High School are at Nazareth College to polish up their English and get a taste of college life.
Ferma Tsiba is a 10th grader from the Congo. She says English is her favorite subject because she gets to hear her classmates share their thoughts.
"We always have fun on sharing things, and sometimes say jokes and talk, " said Tsiba.
Mohamud Mohamed is a 10th grader from Kenya. He said his favorite subjects are math, science, and English even though learning the English language can be challenging at times.
"Math is so easy to me and I can figure it out. But English sometimes is a little bit difficult," Mohamed said. "And science every time I understand the teachers and students."
Linda Grossman is the Director of the American Language Institute at Nazareth. She said many of the refugee students had no formal education before coming to Rochester.
"Students who live in refugee camps can come to the United States with no formal education and have to start their education at the high school level," Grossman said. "So you can imagine the challenge of someone who's never been in a school room before in their lives. Everything's new, everything's new," said Grossman.
This is the first year for the partnership between the Rochester City School District's Early College International High School & Nazareth. The three week program is funded through a grant with the city school district.