Volunteer at the English Learning Center

A little about us

The English Learning Center (ELC) was started by Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in 1981 as The Language Project (renamed in 1990), a way to serve the new Southeast Asian immigrants and refugees living in the neighborhood. In 2004, a non-profit (later called Our Saviour's Community Services) was established, fully separate from the church, which included the ELC and Our Saviour's Housing programs. In 2010, the ELC expanded, offering both morning and evening classes and in 2020 went completely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since fall 2021, we have been running dual programs - both online and in person classes, in the morning and evening.

We are also a proud, long-time community partner member of the Minneapolis Public Schools Adult Education consortium.

Our staff is small. We have three Program Assistants (AM and PM) who focus on student enrollment, testing and support; a full-time Lead Teacher and two part-time Lead Teachers who offer ongoing curriculum development and classroom support to all volunteer teachers; and a Program Director who handles all long-term planning and other immediate needs of the program, including arranging for coverage when a teacher is absent.

A little about our students

ELC students come from many countries and speak many first languages. In the 2025-26 school year we had 605 students from 44 countries, speaking 26 different first languages.

All our students are learning English and are in one of seven ESL class levels. They have many reasons for wanting to learn English.

Some have been in the U.S. for many years, while others may have arrived only days or weeks before starting classes.

A little about your role

We provide a curriculum, lesson plans and all necessary materials, but what you bring to the role is unique - no two teachers are alike! Our students benefit from meeting and interacting with a variety of teachers.

It's okay if you don't have experience or training as a teacher. We will help you get started and you'll learn more through the 12 hours of training Literacy Minnesota offers that you're required to begin within three months and complete within six months of when you start if you don't already have a credential such as a teaching license or TEFL certificate.

Please complete this form and we'll be in touch with you soon about how to get started teaching with us.