Burmese refugee is state's adult student of the year

Erica Bryant • Staff writer • July 16, 2008 Sometimes when Tau Tau arrives at his Rochester home, he'll find fellow Burmese refugees waiting to ask him for help reading their mail or understanding a bill. "Every day I am busy," said Tau, whose efforts in English classes at the Rochester School District's Family Learning Center helped earn him the title of 2008 New York State Adult Student of the Year. Tau was among the first of a wave of recent immigrants from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to settle in Rochester. The district estimates at least 300 Burmese families have arrived in the past six months, many with little or no English. To help them learn the language of their new home, the Rochester School District's Family Learning Center has opened an evening English and civics class. In addition to language skills,... [read full story]