|
Parents Step Ahead
Program in Dallas
When
Luis was being bullied
in school, his father,
Sergio de Alva, knew he
needed to do something
about it. As a parent,
he wanted to know what
was going on with his
child and what the
school was going to do
with the situation. It
wasn’t until Parents
Step Ahead (PSA), a
community outreach
program in Dallas,
approached him that he
was able to find a
solution.
“PSA lets you know what
exactly is going on and
how you can help [your
child],” he says. “We
kept complaining to the
school, then PSA
approached me and asked
if I wanted to join, and
at first I was a bit
hesitant but after I
attended some seminars I
started liking what was
going on. The school
started paying more
attention to my child.”
The Parents Step Ahead
program was founded in
2006 in collaboration
with El Hispano News,
the Dallas Independent
School District, Garland
Independent School
District, the Fort Worth
Independent School
District and other
community organizations
in Texas. Informational
workshops are offered on
Saturday mornings where
parents can listen to
topics that range from
Internet safety to
developing test taking
skills, parenting with
love and logic among
other topics. These
workshops are designed
to empower parents and
help them become
involved in the lives of
their children.
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Volunteers at
the Cowart
Elementary
School in Dallas
help set up for
the Parents Step
Ahead Program |
|
|
|
“We bring a lot of
seminars to the schools
and bring speakers who
will address several
issues that we know the
parents are facing,”
says Lupita Colmenero,
founder of the PSA
program and former
president of the
National Association of
Hispanic Publications.
“It’s not going to be up
to the school system or
the government to end
with serious issues
concerning our youth,
but up to the parent.”
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Sergio
De
Alva
leads
set
up
for
the
Parents
Step
Ahead
Program
at
his
children’s
school |
|
As a parent, Colmenero
understands the
challenges Latino
parents face in the
United States. She
arrived in the U.S. 22
years ago from Mexico
without any money,
without knowing anyone,
and without speaking the
language. Language
continues to be a
problem for many parents
to this day. It is a
problem that even PSA
has had to overcome.
“We have to pay
attention to [language]
because if we don’t then
we isolate two thirds of
our parents,” says
Michael Ralston,
director of student and
parent engagement in the
Dallas Independent
School District.
“Identifying barriers,
breaking them, providing
training and
opportunities for our
department, sit down and
make plans, that’s what
we want to do to make
this work.”
PSA provides materials
in Spanish and English.
PSA also invites
bilingual speakers and
provides scholarships to
parents who want to
further their education
or who want to learn
English at a community
college. Colmenero
explains that the
program addresses the
language barrier by
letting parents know
they are not alone, but
she also believes that
parents need to motivate
themselves. “You put
yourself in motion and
decide to overcome this
fear. Go to the school
and ask for a translator,”
she says. “There are
ways to overcome the
challenge. We are not
saying it will be easy
but we have parents come
in and say, ‘I have two
jobs and my husband as
well.’ The question we
ask parents to ask
themselves is, ‘What is
it that you want for
your children?’ You have
to put things in
perspective. Parents
have to make sacrifices
and the first step is
putting things into
perspective.”
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
State
representative
Roberto
Alonzo,
Cowart
Elementary
and
DLS
administrators
with
Lupita
Colmenero
presenting
the
winner
with
a
computer
at
one
of
the
PSA
seminars
in
2006 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Sergio De Alva
receives the
Parent of the
Year Award. Left
to right: Lupita
Colmenero,
Sergio De Alva,
Jaime Gonzales
of UnitedHealth
Care and Marcos
N. Suarez of El
Hispano News
|
|
In addition to language
barriers, PSA has had to
deal with the fear
parents have with
governmental
institutions. Ralston
says that several of the
parents are undocumented
immigrants and are
afraid to go to school
because they associate
schools with the
government. “The program
provides a safe place
for these parents and
tries to communicate
that through the
seminars where it is
understood that no one
at the program will ask
for any type of
documentation.”
De Alva is certainly a
parent that understands
the importance of parent
involvement. “I try to
put in a lot of time and
be involved with my kids’
lives as much as I can,”
says De Alva who
volunteers as a DJ for
school functions,
carnivals, and
fundraisers. De Alva’s
involvement in the life
of his children has
certainly paid off. He
was named parent of the
year by the PSA program.
De Alva was nominated by
his son who wrote a
letter about his
volunteering efforts,
and support towards him.
“When we have active
parent involvement the
results are completely
different, less dropouts,
less involvement in
gangs,” Colmenero says.
“The program believes
parents are the
foundation to get rid of
all the problems that
our youth is facing
right now.”
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Nayeli
Vergara
is
presented
the
Parents
Step
Ahead
Mother
of
the
Year
Award.
Left
to
right:
Lupita
Colmenero,
Pepe
Estrada,
of
Wal-Mart
Stores,
Inc.,
Nayeli
Vergara
and
Marcos
N.
Suarez |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Sergio De Alva
with his family
showing his
entry essay for
the Parents Step
Ahead Parent of
the Year contest
|
|
As founder, Colmenero
wants to see PSA grow
nationally and explains
how she would like to
partner with other
publications in the
country. In addition,
PSA is expanding its
outreach. PSA recently
partnered with El Voz
del Anciano, an
organization for
grandparents raising
their grandchildren, to
promote grandparent
involvement.
“The challenge that we
have is what do we do?
How do we address this
issue further?”
Colmenero explains. “The
vision is to have a
Parents Step Ahead
office at each of the
schools, especially
those with the most
dropouts and less parent
involvement.”
Because of PSA’s
overwhelming success
last year, the program
will return for a second
year and the succeeding
parent of the year will
be named during the El
Hispano News’ 21st
anniversary celebration.
By
Cindy Y. Rodriguez and
Alondra Hernandez
|
