English Language Learning

English Language Students

Free English lanuage tutoring and conversation classes for adults who live or work in Needham.

Info for Students

English Language Tutors

Volunteer tutors help students who are new to English: an enriching and satisfying experience.

Info for Tutors

Current Events

Events for our ELL Students and Tutors to enrich their learning.

Current ELL Events

English Language Students

Student Interest Form

Student Info

Who Can Participate in the Program?

Adults who live or work in Needham are welcome.
Fill out the Student Interest Form. We will contact you to match you with a tutor.
There is no cost – all tutoring is FREE
All levels of learners are welcome!

How Long do Students Meet with a Tutor?

We ask that students meet at least an hour weekly for at least nine months.
Of course you and your tutor can take vacations.

When and Where do Students and Tutors Meet?

Students meet weekly with tutors in the morning, afternoon, evening, or on weekends for about an hour.
Both in person and on Zoom
Space is available at Needham Community Council either outdoors or in the building
At the Needham Free Library

Websites for Learning

Try these on-line resources: ELL Learner Resources

Contact Info

Please email the ELL Program Manager, Julie Tovar, at

jtovar@needhamcouncil.org

Learning Opportunities

English Learning for All Levels

We offer all different types of learning for all different levels of learners. Find the one that works best for you! We are beginning our ELL groups and expanding our offerings. Contact the office if you are interested in joining one of the groups.

Individual Tutoring
Group Lessons
Conversation Groups
On-line or In person meetings
Special Events

Free Short Story Class on Zoom

Thursdays 9:30-10:45 am
Begins September 30
Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Preregistration is required

Would you like to improve your English by reading short stories and discussing them with an experienced teacher (Rick Perras) in a small, friendly class? This is the class for you! Great reading, writing, pronunciation and listening practice!

To sign up and pick up your free book, email jtovar@needhamcouncil.org or call 781-444-2415.

Note: Class may move to in-person at the Council, 570 Hillside Ave, Needham, when possible.

Contact Info

Please email the ELL Program Manager, Julie Tovar, at

jtovar@needhamcouncil.org or call 781-444-2415 for more information.

English Language Tutors

Tutor Interest Form

Tutor Info

How do I Become a Tutor?

Fill out the Tutor Interest Form to begin the process.
We will contact you to discuss the available opportunities
Tutors are required to complete training classes which take place over several evenings.
A CORI form is required.

What Makes an Effective Tutor?

Tutors DO NOT need to know the language of their student or have teaching experience.

Being flexible, welcoming, and open to other cultures is essential.
The training workshop provides a variety of techniques for teaching without the need for translation.
A good ELL tutor can speak English fluently, articulate clearly, and is familiar with American culture.
We support tutors with resources and training.

Different Tutor Opportunities

Individual Tutoring
Group Lessons
Conversation Groups
On-line or In person meetings
Special Events – field trips, cooking classes, knitting group

What’s the Time Commitment?

We ask that tutors and students participate for at least 9 months, meeting once a week.
Most meetings last for 1 to 1.5 hours.

When and Where do Students and Tutors Meet?

Students meet weekly with tutors in the morning, afternoon, evening, or on weekends for about an hour.
Both in person and on Zoom
Many students prefer to meet virtually
Space is available at Needham Community Council either outdoors or in the building
At the Needham Free Library

What do English Language Learners Want to Learn?

Most learners want to improve their listening comprehension and speaking skills to communicate better with co-workers, neighbors, school and medical personnel, on the phone, etc.
Many need to read and write better for everyday life or employment.
Many students want to become more familiar with American culture.
Some have a specific goal in mind, such as getting a job, a driver’s license, or a GED, becoming a U.S. citizen, or passing a college entrance test.

Other Resources

Websites Resources for Tutors

There are a number of on-line resources we recommend for tutors of all levels of students.

On-Line Resources for Tutors

Current ELL Events

Event Information

Walk & Talk for English Language Learners

Practice English while you get exercise and fresh air. All levels are welcome! This activity is for adults, but you are welcome to bring children along. In the event of rain, this event will be cancelled for that day.

We will walk for 40-60 minutes and return to our starting point.

September 23, October 7, and October 21
10 am
Meet at Accessible Reservoir Trail
500 Dedham Ave, Needham

No registration required, all are welcome

Welcome Week Mix and Mingle

In honor of Welcome Week, a national initiative for towns to show appreciation for all community members – over 20 tutors and learners joined us for an Open House for the English Language Program. This was an opportunity for English learners and tutors to chat and enjoy a delicious array of international desserts.

September 13
6:30 pm – 8 pm
Needham Community Council Tent

Current Hours

Office/Phones:
Monday - Friday	8:30 am – 4:00 pm

Thrift Donation Site:
Monday & Friday	10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Tuesday & Thursday	10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday	10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Thrift Shop:
Monday & Friday	10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Tuesday & Thursday	10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday	10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Food Pantry:

Accepting new customers and current customers by reservation only. Please call 781-444-2415 for details.

Council offices and all programs are closed on most major holidays. We follow the Needham Public School weather closings.

Joyce McCafferty

Joyce cannot believe she has lived in Needham for 10 years. It still seems like yesterday when the McCafferty family moved into town. Despite not having friends nor family here, the family has forged strong bonds of friendship with neighbors within this welcoming community and are proud to call Needham home.

Armed with a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Joyce’s career began in pharmaceuticals. Stay at home parenting temporarily interrupted her career trajectory. However, this detour pales in comparison with her current pursuit of a new career in healthcare as an EMT and ski patroller.

Previously active in ParentTalk, Joyce is excited at the opportunity to serve the larger community of Needham.

Andrea Wasserman

Andrea B. Wasserman is an innovative leader, effective strategist, and philanthropy expert. She consistently inspires clients to exceed their fundraising goals by focusing on smart development strategies and unleashing the right talent.

As Founder and President of the boutique organizational development firm ABW Partners (formerly Social Profit Ventures), Andrea has partnered with nearly 50 clients on customized engagements around the design and execution of exceptional advancement and fundraising programs. Andrea also delivers an expansive array of fundraising coaching, proficiency building, and learning opportunities from the c-suite and board level to development departments and cross-organization teams.

Before launching her firm in 2012, Andrea was the catalyst behind fundraising at various high-performing local, national, and international nonprofits. Charged with the responsibility of driving comprehensive and sustainable financial resource development, Andrea assumed pivotal roles at UJA Federation of New York, Wall Street Division; United Jewish Communities (first as the Director of National Young Leadership Cabinet and then Director of National Women’s Constituency); Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School; and BBYO International.

In concert with dynamic colleagues and stakeholders at these and other organizations, Andrea has successfully built cultures, systems, teams, and strategies that have yielded tens of millions of philanthropic dollars to foster vibrant communities worldwide.

Passionate about her family, friends, and community, Andrea resides in Needham with her husband Adam, son Zachary, and labradoodle Tucker. The Wassermans are members of Temple Beth Shalom in Needham.

Mary Richman

Mary, her husband Jeff and three kids (Noa, Patrick and Evie) have lived in Needham since they moved here from DC in 2007.

Mary graduated from the University of Virginia where she studied Finance and Marketing. She now works as a part-time consultant, providing marketing and financial analysis services for a few local companies.

Mary became involved in the Needham Community through her work at Parent Talk, first as their Fundraising Chair and then as a Co-President for 2 years.

Prior to being on the Council Board, Mary was familiar with the Council through her volunteer work as PTC Co-President at the Mitchell School.

Diane Retzky

Diane has over 20 years of experience in human resources and is responsible for all aspects of HR at New England Development where she has worked since 2008. She spearheads the company’s recruitment and retention initiatives and works closely with New England Development’s family of companies, including MarketPlace Development, Nantucket Island Resorts, and Newburyport Development, on their human resources needs.

Diane received a B.S. degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and her M.B.A. from Babson College.

Diane is a member of Society for Human Resource Management and a member of CREW Boston, New England’s leading network of professional women working in commercial real estate. 2021 will mark her seventh year on the Council Board.

Alrie McNiff Daniels

Alrie has more than two decades of nonprofit experience. Currently the senior communications officer at Tufts Health Plan Foundation, she previously worked at FSG, a mission-driven consulting firm; the American Cancer Society; and as a freelance writer/communications consultant.

Alrie's community and volunteer service includes fundraising for established nonprofit organizations, board roles on neighborhood associations, pro bono support for emerging nonprofits and numerous roles at her children’s schools. Alrie has produced school talent shows, managed logistics for school publications, coordinated teacher/staff appreciation events, and served as a room parent, classroom volunteer, Cub Scout den parent and Girl Scout leader. She also sat on the Board of Directors of the Library Foundation of Needham.

A native New Yorker, Alrie lived in Washington, DC; Alameda, CA; Chapel Hill, NC; Natick, MA; and Falls Church, VA during her husband’s Coast Guard career. They moved to Needham in 2003.

Andrew McCollum

Andrew is a Partner and Managing Director at Greenwich Associates, the global research-based consultancy. Andrew oversees the firm’s global Investment Management practice and is responsible for managing relationships with leading asset managers and investment consultants.

With over 20 years of consulting to the asset management industry, Andrew has experience advising clients on a variety of distribution, marketing and product issues. He has recently led advisory engagements on global growth assessments, entering the institutional market, brand equity analyses, product positioning and messaging, thought leadership program design and execution, and private equity fundraising. He has also authored studies on opportunities and threats in the Outsourced CIO market, trends in the ETF marketplace and developments in the defined contribution market. In addition, Andrew oversees the Firm’s work with institutional investors in North America and the subscription-based information service, Greenwich ACCESS™ for Asset Managers. He frequently delivers keynote presentations at industry conferences and is quoted in mainstream and industry publications.

Before joining the Firm in 2009, Andrew was a Managing Director at Chatham Partners and was responsible for managing the company’s research and consulting relationships with asset managers and defined contribution record-keepers. Prior to that, he worked in the Financial Services and Corporate Strategy Practices at CEB (Corporate Executive Board) advising firms on strategy development, strategic planning, M&A, and competitive intelligence, among other topics.

Andrew received his BA in Political Science from Cornell University and his MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. Andrew lives in Needham, Massachusetts with his wife and two daughters.

Jonathan Kappel

Jonathan is the Executive Director of Principal Gifts for Clark University.

Previous to working at Clark, Jonathan worked as a fundraising professional at the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee and Clark University where he has returned after 10 years. Jonathan received the Senn-Greenberg award for excellence in staff leadership from the Anti-Defamation League.

Jonathan and his wife, Carol, co-created the Ultimate Pink Drink fundraiser benefiting breast cancer research. He is also a past board member of the Needham Educational Foundation (NEF).

Lynn-Gotwals

Lynn Gotwals has been a Needham resident for 23 years. She and her husband raised their two daughters here.

Lynn is a teacher at the Mitchell School in Needham. Previously, she worked in project management for several nonprofit and for-profit organizations.

Lynn's previous volunteer work includes serving on the boards of the Needham Education Foundation, Needham Steps Up and the Outreach Committee at the Congregational Church of Needham. She began working with the Community Council as a Team Captain for the Ride for Food, an annual ride to benefit food pantries in the area.

Lynn has a B.A. from Smith College and a M.Ed. from Lesley University.

Linda Farley

Linda grew up in Needham; in 2000, she and her husband, Brian returned to Needham.

Linda has been active in Needham organizations including Newcomers, Parent Talk, and Needham Pool & Racquet Club. She’s also been involved in various school and youth sports activities through her 3 children who graduated from Needham High School.

Linda has been an HR professional for 30+ years including roles in high tech, consulting and healthcare; in 2018 Linda joined Needham Bank to lead its HR and Learning and Development team.

Linda is currently a volunteer for the Community Council/Dressing Well Foundation Karma Project.

Diane DerMarderosian

Diane was born and raised in Needham.

Diane graduated from Amherst College and then attended the Mount Sinai School of Medicine where she was selected to be part of the Humanities and Medicine Program. She completed her residency training in pediatrics at Brown University where she is the Pediatric Director of the Hasbro Partial Hospital Program, an integrated, family-based day program for children with complex medical and psychological issues. She is also an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Previously, Diane served as the Medical Director of the Hasbro Children’s Hospital Eating Disorders Program and worked for many years as a primary care pediatrician at a health center in Roxbury.

Diane serves on the Patient and Family Centered Care Steering Committee at Hasbro, the Medical Advisory Board for Reach Out and Read RI, and the Patient and Family Centered Care Advisory Council at BID-Needham.

Diane lives in Needham with her husband, Peter, and sons PJ and Armen.

Priscilla Dasse

Priscilla has donated her time by volunteering at the Needham Community Council thrift shop and food pantry since 2012.

Priscilla received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, R.N from Boston College, and her Masters in Public Health from Boston University.

Some accomplishments in Priscilla's career include working as: a U.S. Navy Lieutenant (1969-1972); a nurse epidemiologist at Boston City Hospital (1972-1974); an Associate Director at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston (1974-1991); a Trustee at Deaconess Glover Hospital ( 1991-1998), Senior Vice President at CRICO/Risk Management Foundation, Harvard Medical Institutions (1998-2001); Senior Faculty Investigator at the Institute of Health Policy, Partners and Massachusetts General Hospital (2002); Senior Vice President, Performance Improvement and Chief Quality Officer at Cambridge Health Alliance (2002-2012); and a consultant in patient safety at Partners Healthcare System (2012-2014).

2021 will mark Priscilla’s eighth year on the Board of the Needham Community Council.

Margie Margolis

Past-President

Margie and her husband Jerry have lived in Needham since 1971 where they raised their children and enjoy their 4 grandchildren.

Margie has been a Town Meeting Member since 1970, and also served for four years on the Needham Education Foundation. She served on the Future School Needs Committee for sixteen years.

Margie taught first grade for twenty-three years at Hillside School. There she helped coordinate teachers and students with collecting food and goods that were delivered to the Council Food Pantry on a monthly basis. “When I retired, I was eager to be a part of the Council Board to be a stronger force in the over-all operation and to serve in any way I was needed.”

2021 will mark Margie’s seventh year on the Needham Community Council Board. Until COVID-19 hit, she continued to help schedule food deliveries with the Needham schools, and helped with the “Back to School Project” which usually takes place in August at the Council.

John Frantz

Treasurer

Currently retired, John was previously employed by The Boston Consulting Group. There he provided consulting services to major corporations, held a senior internal financial management position, and led an Investment Committee with oversight responsibility for the firm’s U.S. retirement plans.

2021will mark John’s seventh year on the Needham Community Council Board. He also does work with the Carter Memorial United Methodists Church where he is the Chair of missions/outreach team. They pursue a range of initiatives to help a variety of local, national and internal services and charitable organizations, including the Needham Community Council. John is also a Chair of the endowment team, which oversees the church’s endowment funds.

When he is not working and volunteering John likes to run triathlons.

Kathleen Berner

Secretary

Kathleen is currently the Marketing Lead for Accenture in Boston & Hartford — a role she has held since May 2019.

Previously, Kathleen was the Senior Director of Services Marketing at Staples. She joined Staples in 2010 and held various leadership roles in marketing–driving stores, staples.com and salesforce performance. Prior to Staples, Kathleen started an in-house agency; managed customer service; and implemented an email program for the Upromise College Savings and Loyalty program. She also supported clients at Digitas in the online education, automotive and wireless industries.

Kathleen and her husband live in Needham with their three children. She has volunteered at The Council since 2016 as co-chair of the Annual Holiday Boutique.

In 2010, Kathleen managed fundraising for City of Hope’s Spirit of Life nominee. She currently serves on several committees for the Needham High School PTC and serves on the board of advisors at Research Institute for Learning & Development in Lexington.

Kathleen is a graduate of Tufts University and holds a master’s degree from the Boston College Carroll School of Management.

Lynn Alberding

Vice President

Lynn has donated her time by volunteering at the Needham Community Council as an ESL tutor since 2011. In 2012, she developed an assessment tool with which to gauge the needs of prospective ESL students. Using this tool, Lynn has met with hundreds of prospective ESL students and has worked to help make successful matches with volunteer tutors.

Since 2015, Lynn has worked as the Director of Development at Wondermore, a non-profit whose mission is to bring authors and illustrators into underserved Boston public schools for curriculum-aligned classroom visits.

Prior to joining Wondermore, Lynn was active in the PTC in the Needham public schools and with the Needham High School Athletic Boosters.

Lynn holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wesleyan University, and M.S. in Accounting and MBA from Northeastern University. Lynn worked as an equity analyst from 1997-2004, when she and her husband and their three children moved to Zurich, Switzerland.

Lynn's experience as a foreigner, learning a new language and customs, made a strong impression on her and served as the catalyst for volunteering in the Council’s ESL program. 2021 will mark Lynn’s seventh year on the Board of the Needham Community Council.

Robert Dermody

President

Robert J. Dermody was born and raised in Needham, MA. After graduating from Needham High School, he attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. Robert then pursued a Master of Architecture degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

Robert is very active in the Needham community as a Town Meeting Member, and with the Exchange Club. He also serves on the Design Review Board, and Community Preservation Committee.

Robert is a Professor of Architecture at Roger Williams University in Bristol Rhode Island, and is a licensed architect in Massachusetts. I

n his spare time, Bob is a volunteer docent with Boston By Foot, and a BayWatcher for the Coalition for Buzzards Bay. His grandmother, Frances K. Dermody, was the first Executive Director of the Needham Community Council, a position she held for 25 years.

Community Volunteer Resources

We are in the process of creating a community wide volunteer resource guide that will allow you and your family to find opportunities to help in Needham. Please check back again soon.