Students from the West Hartford Public Schools Adult Education ESL class received a custom tour at the CT Museum of Culture & History.

West Hartford Adult Education ESL students visit the CT Museum of Culture & History. Courtesy photo

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On Monday morning, Dec. 9, 2024, West Hartford’s Advanced English as a Second Language (ESL) class visited the CT Museum of Culture & History for a custom behind-the-scenes tour of its previous exhibition, “Journeys: Boys of the Chinese Educational Mission.”

One of the museum educators explained the history as they viewed the artifacts.

Joe Viola, their teacher, wanted to bring this year’s class based on the success of his 2022 class viewing of the public exhibit. All of his students were excited to learn about the Chinese Educational Mission that enabled 120 Chinese boys to study in Hartford with the goal of modernizing China. Though not all of Viola’s students are from China, they discussed the similarities they’ve experienced learning about the language, life and culture of the United States.

Students in West Hartford’s Adult ESL Program come from countries all over the world, live in West Hartford, and attend classes in the program to learn English. In addition to China, students in the program are from Afghanistan, Brazil, Columbia, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Peru, South Korea, Ukraine, Vietnam, and many other countries.

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