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Routt County — Summer Laws has a suggestion for anyone whose New Year's resolution was to become more involved in the community - volunteer to be an English teacher to immigrants for Comunidad Integrada.

"The best teachers speak English fluently and can read and write and be open and excited about working with someone from a different culture," said Laws, executive director of the nonprofit organization whose mission is to help bridge the gap between Steamboat's immigrant and non-immigrant communities. "If you've studied a foreign language before, it helps, because you can understand how difficult it is."

Volunteer teachers don't need to be bilingual, but they must commit to teaching 1 1/2 hours a week for six months. Teachers working with children must commit to three hours a week for one year because they are required to join the Partners in Routt County youth mentoring program.

"Kids need extra help, because even if their parents speak English, they may have gotten here later in life and can't necessarily help with their homework," Laws said.

The need for teachers continues to grow because of the increasing immigrant population in Steamboat and Craig.

"We have at least a 50- to 100-percent increase every school year because we started with such a small number," Laws said. "It went from 12 to 25 students, and then over the course of five years we now have over 100 (immigrant students)."

Classes at Colorado Mountain College have seen a 500 percent increase in immigrant enrollment.

"People are coming here and are really interested in learning English," Laws said. "It went from hardly anyone here to about 500 in the county."

Many of the immigrants come here to work using H2B and J1 visas.

"Overall, we are seeing an increase in immigrants of all nationalities, and a lot of it has to do with the service-sector jobs we have," Laws said. "We have such a need for workers in our area."

Although there is no accurate count of the local immigrant population, there is little doubt the number of immigrant families and workers in their 20s and 30s is on the rise.

Comunidad Integrada served 1,200 clients in 2006.

Laws said people consult her organization for resource referral information, doctor and lawyer referrals, workshops and interpreters for medical services.

Comunidad Integrada helped 56 clients of all ages learn English in 2006. The majority of the classes are taught in the clients' homes.

"Part of the program is to take the transportation issue out of trying to make it to class," Laws said. "And the teachers understand more about their culture by being in their home."

The training program for English teachers is every other month and encompasses six hours over two evenings. The next training session is from 6 to 8:45 p.m. Jan. 10 and 17.

"We are looking for as many people as we can get because we always have people on the waiting list," Laws said. "And the more teachers we have with flexible schedules and interests, the easier it is to match people up."

To volunteer to be an English, call Maria Martin at 819-1328.

- To reach Allison Plean, call 871-4204

or e-mail aplean@steamboatpilot.com