Suffolk County Community College is an important resource for the Suffolk Cluster of Au Pair in America. 

On Friday evening Cindy Garruba and Kristi Halpern, two Community Counselors for Au Pair in America, attended the Suffolk County Community College ESL Graduation.  SCCC has a wonderful ESL program that has a multi-level program.  If a student passes all the levels, they are awarded with a certificate and an inspiring ceremony.  Twice a year SCCC ESL program holds this ceremony, in January and in May.  Each time, several au pairs graduate from the program.

Every au pair is required to earn 6 credits or 72 – 80 hours at the college level.  Host families contribute toward their education financially and support their attendance through scheduled time off and transportation to school.  One semester of ESL at SCCC satisfies this requirement and the au pairs learn so much.  The school has dedicated teachers, many options for classes and three campuses in Suffolk County.

Graduating this semester were Andresa Costa, Dayanna Davilla, and Caroline Martineli dos Santos.  Several of their au pair friends joined Cindy and Kristi in the audience to cheer on their fellow au pairs!  Many of the au pairs are signed up to start classes this month at SCCC.

 Basket Ball Game at SCCC

On Sunday, Cindy’s cluster attended a Boy’s Basketball game at SCCC on the Selden Campus.  The team played LaGuardia college and everyone enjoyed cheering on Suffolk’s team.  Kevin Foley, the Athletic Director of Suffolk County Community College noticed our lively group and stopped by to sit with us in the stands.  At half time, he invited us into the Alumni Room and gave each au pair a SCCC Athletic T-shirt.  The game was close but SCCC won and everyone was very excited.  As we excited the gym, the first few snowflakes of the season were falling.  Some of the au pairs had never experienced snow and that was a thrill, too.

Kevin Foley, Athletic Director of SCCC with the APIA Au Pairs