Churchill center to help teach backside workers Effort aimed at Hispanic employees Plans for a place where backside workers at Churchill Downs can learn English and develop job skills have entered the homestretch. The Klein Family Learning Center, to be named for a family foundation headed by retired Louisville banker Bert Klein, will begin offering free classes, including English-language instruction, to the track's predominantly Spanish-speaking backside employees in March. The backside crew tends the horses. The center, to be housed in a renovated building on the backside, will contain the WinStar Library, named in honor of a Central Kentucky horse farm that also contributed to the project. Many of its books will be for children, as well as adults, and many will be printed in Spanish. The Kentucky Derby Museum will manage the center. A strong assist came from Churchill Downs, which is providing the one-story brick building that for many years served as the track's racing office off Longfield Avenue. “Our hope is to better the lives of the employees and to help make them successful without taking away their culture,” said Lynn Ashton, executive director of the nonprofit Derby Museum. She said the idea for the center emerged from a luncheon she has about a year ago with Don Richardson, the Churchill Downs senior vice president of racing who oversees the vast backside operation. “We both realized that there should be more for the backside workers to do,” Ashton said. “Most of their work is done by 10 a.m.” So in addition to English instruction, the center will have classes on such practical skills as balancing a checkbook and financial planning. It also will offer instruction designed to help the crew prepare for the General Educational Development test, Ashton said. Backside workers were given a sneak preview of the nearly finished center yesterday morning during an open house. Much of the renovation, which began in July, is completed. The interior, about 2,000 square feet, features bright yellow block walls. The space includes a large library and two classrooms with computer stations. A small green and white porch has been added in front. The lifestyle of many backside workers has changed in the past decade, as the racing industry and the workers have strived to improve their lot. Trainer Elliot Walden, who is serving on a 12-member committee that will oversee the learning center, said more workers are establishing residency where they work. “The racetrack environment is no longer a predominantly nomadic lifestyle,” Walden said. “We want to do everything we can, from an employer's or from Churchill Downs' standpoint, to give the (backside workers) more to do than just work,” he said. “It will add to their well-being and livelihood. Many of the workers ”know only horses,” Walden said. “It's important for them to open the eyes a little bit.” The Downs stables horses year-round and employs 600 to 700 workers throughout much of the year, officials said. Many of the backside workers have a high school education, said Walden, who has a staff of about 25 people who work for him year-round at the Downs. He estimated that two-thirds of the backside employees are Spanish speakers, and perhaps half of those speak little or no English. Two of Walden's staff, Jose Quezada, a night watchman, and Cesar Rodriguez, a groom and foreman, speak minimal English. They both graduated from high school in Mexico. With the help of a translator, they said they look forward to using the learning center. “I can learn English, and other things, too,” Rodriguez said. Quezada said he expects to read books from the library and wants to learn how to use a computer. One of the advisory committee members is Shirleen Sisney, head of the state Governor's Scholars program who founded the Career Academy. The academy, an innovative educational program will offer tests that help the center tailor lessons to each person's skills and needs, Ashton said. The renovation of the backside building into the learning center cost about $200,000. The Louisville Free Public Library Foundation and Barnes & Noble Booksellers made significant contributions to the library collection. The museum asked its members a year ago to donate books, and several thousand books are now in stock, Ashton said. “The whole community came forward, but we will always need more books, especially in Spanish. We can use new or gently used books for kids, reference materials, history books or books of general interest,” Ashton said. Other contributors include several foundations, businesses and individuals. For instance, the Sterling G. Thompson Co., a local insurance firm, is providing the space at no charge and will also pay for the utilities, she said. She estimated the center will cost $30,000 a year to operate. She said grants will be sought to cover the expense. The museum and others are rounding up volunteers who can teach English as a second language to staff the center. The center is discussing developing programs and classes with Spalding University and the National Center for Family Literacy, Ashton said. — Sheldon S. Shafer, The Courier-Journal, November 29, 2003