For many foreign-born Vineyarders, integrating successfully into this community means hours, days, and nights studying and practicing the language. It is seven o’clock on a Monday, a time when most Vineyarders are settling in for the night. Few drivers are out and the lights in the houses that line the roads are on. Parents have returned from work, children from school, and together they gather around the table for dinner.
Taking English classes has made a big difference for Vinicius Nasciento. For a small group of Island residents, however, the evening is just beginning. A handful of cars fills a side parking lot at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. The school hallways, abandoned hours before by teenagers, are filled with adults laughing and catching up.
