Academy for New Americans honors newest graduating class

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The City of Bowling Green hosted a graduation ceremony for its Academy for New Americans.

The program focuses on leadership development, city safety, community engagement and education. This is the seventh cohort to complete the program and the largest class of 30 graduates.

Over 13 different countries and 21 different languages were represented.

Leyda Becker, community engagement division manager, says its “really great” for the local “government to invest in a program” to help new immigrants. She reveals as an immigrant herself that she “wishes they had programs like this.” Because of these reasons, Becker was driven to start the Academy for New Americans in 2016.

In order to finish the program, participants had to attend four out of the five sessions back in February. This allows each graduate to be key stakeholders and confidence builders in their respective communities.

Evelyn Aung, a 2025 graduate, says she is “thankful for everything.” She adds that she is grateful “God gave me a chance to come to the United States.” Aung “never dreamed” about coming to “this big country.” She expresses her gratitude for others in the problem and for opportunities to grow.