Some very ambitious students and teachers have been meeting Tuesday evenings at Vikan Middle School in Brighton. These adult students are learning English as their second language so they will be able to help their children who are 27J students with homework and help to insure their children’s educational success. For eight weeks the parent students have attended class and then studied at home. Childcare was also provided at a nominal cost to the parents. One little boy whose name is Edwin was so dedicated to his parents success that when told they would have to miss class one week due to a lack of funds for his childcare, he proceeded to go right to his bedroom and gather his money to pay so no class would be missed.
As the time came for the parents to have their completion ceremony and celebratory potluck dinner, the children of the students go busy to contribute in wishing their parents congratulations. They made placemats for the dinner. All the children told us how very proud they were of their parents learning English and how thankful they are that now they can help with homework too.
ESL Parent Lessons began on Tuesday, March 8th, from 6-8 PM every week, at Vikan Middle School, and ended with a closing celebration on Thursday, May 5th. This session of classes was a continuation of the work started last year with the help of the Spring 2010 CDE Family Literacy Grant. The district plans to offer Adult ESL classes next year as well.
Direct classroom instruction using Ventures ESL materials has been complimented by the use of Rosetta Stone, a self-paced, computer based instructional tool. Two teachers from South Elementary , Citlali Chavez and Lucy Sanchez, and one from North Elementary, Angelica Martinez, have provided direct instruction for the 65 participants.
The $35 dollar participant fee, paid by the parents, included 8 weeks of classroom instruction, student workbooks, web-based access to Rosetta Stone, and a set of headphones. Program costs, including staff salaries, have been offset by the use of Federal Titles IA and IIIA Parent Involvement Funds.
The program has been supported and supervised by Virginia Guzman and Beverly Esquibel, 27J Community Outreach Coordinators, Evelyn Hernandez, Assessment Data Specialist, and David Castro, Vikan Community Liaison. A special thanks goes to Vikan Middle School Principal Ana Mendoza and Vikan Head Custodian Frank Sandoval for allowing classes to be held at Vikan.
27J congratulates the parent participants and staff for making this session of Adult ESL a success!
