Pictured above in banner: Heidi and Kendra of First Baptist Church, Fort Mill, SC
Tried and True ESL Lessons was released for publication one volume at a time. After the first volume hit the market, and before any further books were published, I received this e-mail from Kendra Martin, a volunteer teacher at First Baptist Church Fort Mill, South Carolina:
“Reading the introduction to your book [Tried and True ESL Lessons Level 1] was like reading the story of my personal ESL teaching experience. I signed up for the training to teach ESL, assuming that I'd be teaching a curriculum similar to Sunday School--neatly planned out by someone--ready for me to implement. Of course, that was not the case. I had already agreed to teach the beginner level with another volunteer, Heidi, when we learned that WE would be responsible for writing our own lesson plans. Well, we pulled things together and muddled though, falling in love with our students as we went along. Although difficult, we made our lesson plans and were doing well until Heidi became ill leaving me on my own for several consecutive weeks. I was ready to give up teaching because the planning and prep had become overwhelmingly stressful and time consuming, but I could hardly bear the thought of deserting my students. During that stressful time is when I found Tried and True ESL Lessons. I don't believe in coincidences; I believe God led me to just the right Google search to bring them up on Amazon. I think in desperation, I searched, "beginner ESL complete lesson plans" or something similar. I can hardly believe how well these will suit our needs in the beginner class. The teachers of the other levels are anxious to see level 2 and beyond!”
-- Kendra Martin, Volunteer Teacher, First Baptist Church Fort Mill, South Carolina