I had been meaning to put together a program cook book of students' recipes for months and had come as far as gathering recipes from the learners in all six classes of our program, ABCD South Side Head Start in Roslindale. But I never found the time to edit, organize, and bind them into an attractive finished product. The project was put on a back burner until I started pursuing the idea of hosting Roslindale's first annual Adult Literacy Day through the Roslindale Adult Literacy Community Planning Group. A Taste of Culture was the name of the featured event at the Literacy Day; it also became the title for the compilation of student recipes completed in time for the event.

Community Needs
Our comprehensive community assessment had clearly indicated that providing additional free ESOL classes was Roslindale's greatest ABE need. Given the state's current economic recession, it was time to seek alternative funding sources to provide these classes. In order to move beyond the traditional public funding arena, we needed to target public awareness efforts beyond the circle of adult educators and human service providers and into the private business domain. We had already done some of the groundwork by recruiting business representatives from the community to participate in focus groups. Out of these representatives, a prominent business leader stepped forward to become an active member in our community planning group. Now we had a foothold in the private business domain, and with a day-long event devoted to raising awareness and funding for adult literacy, we could reach other businesses by inviting them to our celebration and by enlisting their support as well.

The group tossed around some ideas about what such a day would look like. Given the size of our community planning group, all were reluctant to bite off more than they could chew; ABCD South Side Head Start Adult ESOL is the only DOE-funded program in Roslin- dale with a community planning group of about eight to ten members. However, we somehow moved from the idea of a single event to a day full of events with one featured celebration, A Taste of Culture.

International food and entertainment were the big attractions at our event. The luncheon featured dishes provided by local restaurants and bakeries and a full menu of performances that showcased music and dance from Cape Verde, Venezuela, Albania, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean, representing the cultures of our students and their community. Other events that day included an exhibit of "Art as a Reflection of Culture" at the nearby gallery, a rhythm and blues band at the park in the center of Roslindale, and a slide show, lecture, and book signing by a popular local author at the Roslindale Branch Library. The day was jam-packed. A cookbook was frosting on the cake.

Learner Involvement
We started laying the groundwork for Roslindale Adult Literacy Day months before by marching in the Roslindale Day Parade. We needed to heighten our presence in the community, so people would know who we were when we asked them to participate in Roslindale Adult Literacy Day. Learners created banners they carried while marching along the parade route. One banner read, "We Are Roslindale Adult Learners of ESOL." Students signed their names and wrote their countries of origin on the banner. Another banner read, "We Are Waiting to Learn English in Roslindale." On this banner, the initials of all those on our wait list were written along with the countries represented. One additional sign read, "We Are the Graduates of the ABCD South Side Head Start Adult ESOL Program." Members of our alumni club marched with this banner. Others passed out bookmarks to onlookers and asked them to support English language classes in Roslindale.

The PR work intensified as the big day drew near. Reporters from the local papers came to our classes and asked students to volunteer to be interviewed about the program. Some learners found a one-on-one interview to be too intimidating, but enjoyed speaking in a group. Others viewed the one-on-one interview as a good opportunity to practice their speaking skills.

On the big day, learners took on various responsibilities They greeted guests, sold tickets and cookbooks, transported and served food from restaurants, set up food, and cleaned up after the activities.

The ESL of Cooking
Recipe writing was easily integrated into our ESOL curriculum, and this activity can be adapted to other classes as well. Lessons on "count" versus "non-count" nouns, giving directions (i.e., commands), and vocabulary for measurements, ingredients, cooking verbs, and tastes naturally evolved from this project. Recipes can also be a starting point for creative writing. Food, like language, serves as a window into our cultures. Certain dishes are served during specific holidays or times of the year, and we often associate them with different times or people in our lives. Teachers can ask learners to write about the food featured in a recipe they've shared. When do they eat this food? Who makes/made it for them? Why did they choose to share this particular recipe? Do they have any memories associated with this food? This project also tapped into the artistic talents of one of our students who illustrated the cover.

Art as a Reflection of Culture
Four of our learners displayed their artwork at the exhibit, including embroidered wall hangings depicting Mayan women in traditional dress, a beaded picture of a Syrian Saint, and various watercolors and embroidered linens. As with recipes, artwork can serve as a starting point for creative writing or a glimpse into one's cultural heritage. At the opening, our students who displayed their work were among those artists who spoke to gallery visitors. Speaking about their own creations gave learners confidence and comfort when conversing with native English speakers whom they had never met. In their dual roles as artists and students, our learners inadvertently served as program advocates. Their conversations with visitors to the gallery inevitably included talk about their ESL program. When Senator Marian Walsh walked into the gallery and started talking to one of our program representative-artists, I decided this was a very good omen and Roslindale Adult Literacy Day would be a hit.

Thank You Letters to Sponsors
A show of appreciation to sponsors and other supporters is much more meaningful when it comes from those who benefit directly. With this in mind, each learner was asked to write a thank-you letter to a sponsor or other contributor whose efforts helped to make Roslindale Adult Literacy Day a reality. Teachers laid out the basic structure of a thank- you letter and then instructed students to personalize it by writing a little bit about their backgrounds and how learning English would help them to reach their goals. These letters served as the basis for lessons on the components of writing that are outlined in the REEP writing rubric (i.e., content and vocabulary, organization and development, structure, mechanics, voice).

A week or so after the letters had been mailed, I waved my usual, "Good morning" to a local business owner. He waved back and came over to speak to me. He said he had received a thank-you letter from a student and then proceeded to compliment our program and the success of Roslindale Adult Literacy Day. Actually, I encountered this a number of times with other local business people. The learners' letters had made much more of a lasting impression than mine.

Lisa Garrone is the director of the ABCD Southside Head Start Program in Roslindale. She can be reached at garrone@bostonabcd.org