Nonprofit Helps Children & Parents Learn At The Same Time
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - At Kenton Elementary in Aurora there are two kinds of classrooms. There's the kind you might expect to see -- with tiny desks and tiny first graders all anxious to learn. Down the hall you'll find something a little bit different -- it's a classroom for their parents.
Gina Loya has two daughters at Kenton and is a student herself. She's there every day learning to read and write.
"Every day I improve my English," Loya said.
Thanks to a local nonprofit group called The Learning Source, so are dozens of other parents. Executive Director Josh Evans says the program is growing.
"It's a very diverse group of people from refugees to first generation Americans," Evans said.
If the parents can find the time, the program provides the teacher and the material to make it possible.
"It takes a family to have a successful student and a successful child, and that is really what the program is all about," Evans said.
While parents enrolled in the program will spend most of their time working on their language skills with each other, they're also getting classroom time with their children.
Loya spends at least one of her days at school sitting side by side with her daughter, Scarlett.
"Every day they learn a new word, and so they teach me too," she said.
After just three months in the program Loya says she's s she's seen a lifetime of improvement.
"It's great because it helps me talk in the store, talk with the teachers, talk with the principal."
She says going back to school hasn't been easy, but it's been worth it.
"I love the program, I love my classmates, and I love my teacher," she said.
The Learning Source is a nonprofit group providing all the supplies and materials for the classroom. If you would like to help or need information on how to enroll in the program visit their website at coloradoliteracy.org.
