Our volunteers assist the students and staff in countless ways. We welcome you to join our team of extraordinary volunteers. If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact the Program Director, Michelle Duval via e-mail:  m.duval@live.com

At GPA, we are fortunate and grateful to have many volunteers who donate their time and talent to support our overall mission:

Terry Armstrong has a B.A. in Biology and has worked in healthcare clinical labs for 20 years. When she was younger, she lived in a house for international students for four years. It was a real education and led to an interest in politics and international affairs. Terry also had a lifelong interest in the middle east because her father worked there while she was young. Most recently, she has developed an interest in the Syrian refugee crisis and she was frustrated to sit by and unable to do something about it. She finally traveled to Greece and worked in a refugee camp for a month over the summer of 2017. When she came back she wanted to continue to help refugees and immigrants here in Boston and found the Adult Education Program at GPA did just that.

Jennifer Browning has volunteered with GPA’s program since 2024. Originally from Michigan, when she moved to Boston to start her career as a software engineer she knew she wanted to get more involved with her community. After finding GPA, she has been working with the Basic Beginner students, and loves the class and its students. Jennifer enjoys helping students learn and understand English, and hopes to help them feel more confident in their learning.

Diane Gordon has volunteered at the ESOL program at Gardner Pilot since January 2017. She was motivated to work directly with immigrants because she wants to be the face of America that reflects who we really are as a country, and to help immigrants learn the skills they need to feel safe and to pursue their own goals in the United States. In her professional life, she has worked with community based nonprofit organizations for over 35 years as a leader, manager, and consultant.

Taylor Hardner joined GPA for the 2025-2026 academic year. She is a junior at Boston University studying finance and law and is passionate about helping in her local community. She loves learning new languages and working with people, so she felt tutoring ESOL would be the right fit. In her free time she loves to travel, explore new hobbies, and spend time with her family.

Su Tran is an undergraduate student studying Biochemistry at Boston University. I was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the US when I was six years old. Growing up in an immigrant family surrounded by others like us, I admired the resilience and strength in the adults around. I recognizes that using and understanding English is a very advantageous skill to have, and loves that GPA’s ESOL program is providing an accessible way for everyone to learn the language. I hope to be supportive and encouraging during my time at GPA so that the students are more confident and comfortable with English.

Jean Wang is a retired English teacher with extensive experience supporting adult ESOL learners. Throughout her career, she primarily taught Chinese-speaking college students majoring in English who had never traveled abroad, which deepened her expertise in cross-cultural communication and language instruction. Now living in Brighton with her daughter’s family, Jean spends much of her free time attending enrichment classes at local senior centers and providing translation assistance to friends who are not fluent in English.

Hermelinda Zegarra is from Chaclacayo, Peru. After my daughter enrolled college I decide to became a volunteer at Gardner pilot academy ESOL program. I was a student years ago in this program. I really enjoy assisting the teacher and students in class and seeing how the students after a long day of hard work come to classes eager to learn English. My hobbies included embroidering, knitting,cooking, and gardening.