Two city McDonald’s managers are among 16 in the tri-state area to graduate from company’s English Under the Arches (EUA) program that is designed to help employees advance their careers.
Manuel A. Delgado, 31, and Paola Arevalo, 22, graduated from the English as a second language program after completing an eight-week curriculum that included listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
The courses are taken during work hours and McDonald’s pays the employees as they learn English to communicate efficiently and confidently with customers and colleagues.
“English Under the Arches is a fantastic program that equips my managers with the necessary language skills to succeed,” Nellie Thomas, a McDonald’s franchise owner who operates the restaurants where the graduates are employed, said. “It has given them more confidence to communicate with the customers and their staff.”
Employees selected to participate in the EUA program are considered high potential manager who would provide future value to the company and rapidly climb thanks to the language training.
The 16 graduates celebrated their accomplishments for having completed the eight-week course in Fairfield last Tuesday. The group included a diverse cast in age and nationalities. Some in their early 20s to mid-50s from countries such as Haiti, El Salvador, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Peru.
The sixteen graduates of the program are:
• Marie Bremise Andre, 42, Nyack, NY
• Paola Arevalo, 22, Paterson, NJ*
• Nancy Casco, 26, Ramsey, NJ
• Manuel A. Delgado, 31, Paterson, NJ*
• Concepcion Hernandez, 40, Ramsey, NJ
• Rose Andre Hypolite, 34, East Orange, NJ
• Gloria Lemus, 32, Nyack, NY
• Carmen M. Lombardi, 31, Passaic, NJ
• Gerarda Mejia, 30, Ramsey, NJ
• Leticia C. Morales, 26, Boonton, NJ
• Charles Morillo, 28, Boonton, NJ
• Bernadette Nazario, 40, Ramsey, NJ
• Claudia Osis, 30, Clifton, NJ
• Adriana Perez, 32, Passaic, NJ
• Herminia Santana, Nyack, NY
• Josette Vilfranche, 54, Nyack, NY.
The program is part of McDonald’s Archways to Opportunity that promotes workforce education which includes high school completion, tuition aid, and education advising.
“I’m thankful to McDonald’s for the opportunity to improve my English,” restaurant manager Charles Morillo, a Dominican Republic national who came to the U.S. six years ago. “I already understand a lot more now than when I first started the class.”