Couple studying child development helps with Sunnyslope, school
program
Leonard Espinoza and Gladis Trejo start their weekdays
early and are on the go until late into the evening.
The two get up by 6 a.m. to get their two children ready for
school. They volunteer at Sunnyslope School, where their kids are
enrolled, and then in the afternoon they take child development
classes at Gavilan College, in Gilroy.
Couple studying child development helps with Sunnyslope, school program
Leonard Espinoza and Gladis Trejo start their weekdays
early and are on the go until late into the evening.
The two get up by 6 a.m. to get their two children ready for school. They volunteer at Sunnyslope School, where their kids are enrolled, and then in the afternoon they take child development classes at Gavilan College, in Gilroy.
Most weekday afternoons, Espinoza works as a resident
activity leader at the Si, Se Puede! Learning Center, in Hollister. Trejo volunteers her time there several days a week. By the time they return home at the end of the day, it is often after 7:30 p.m. They eat dinner, put the kids to bed and then get started on their own homework.
“We’re full-time students at Gavilan,” Espinoza said. “We have the same kind of (education plan) and we are Writergraduating around the same time.”
The two are each working on an associate’s degree in child development and a certificate to teach preschool.
The two said they have plans to start an after-school program on the west side of Hollister, in the part of town Hollister native Espinoza calls VH, or a preschool program. Their time at Sunnyslope School and Si, Se Puede! is serving as on-the-job training.
“Hopefully we will have a little classroom together,” Trejo said, “as teacher and assistant, or a program after school in VH on this side of town is his dream. He wants to try to have something for the kids on this side of town that’s a good, positive thing.”
For now, Espinoza is coordinating a recycling program that will teach kids about being green while also raising money at Sunnyslope School.
“We are talking to the students and will have them bring in one recyclable can or bottle one day a week,” he said. “It can go to a big activity because school field trips are disappearing.”
Part of what Espinoza likes about volunteering at the school and working at the center is trying “to do the best I can be as part of the community. I never was like that when I was younger.”
Trejo said the two have been full-time students for the last two years.
“I am putting into practice what I am learning,” she said. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to do. I have the chance, the opportunity, of going full force because I want to learn and want to help whoever needs help.”
At the Si, Se Puede! Learning Center, Trejo works with the students one-on-one or leads group activities.
“She’s here three or four days a week and she’s her at least 15 hours a week,” said Charles Miller, the learning center resident service coordinator. “Our center runs so smoothly when she is there. I take a deep breathe every time she walks in.”
Miller said Espinoza and Trejo bring the theories they are learning in class and put it into practice.
“I see them use the skills they learn in class right away,” he said. “They are very knowledgeable of child psychology and how to approach a child. I feel very confident that they can handle any issue and I can go to them for expertise and advice on any issues, too.”
Espinoza and Trejo’s two children attend the after-school program and Miller said at first he was concerned with how the parents would handle treating all the children equally, and not giving special treatment to their own children.
“They’ve both handled it and done a really good job with it,” Miller said, adding that he thinks their patience level is high because they do have two children of their own.
The couple first heard about the Si, Se Puede Learning Center last year when Espinoza was offered the chance to work there as part of a work-study job. He started working there in February and was hired on as a resident activity leader in July.
“As soon as the summer hit, when we had programming, he stepped into a leadership role,” Miller said. “He’s always running activities. He holds a unique place. He has a very relaxed approach to seeing the kids on their own level. The kids feel comfortable approaching him no matter what is going on in the center.”
The main thing Espinoza and Trejo focus on is the kids.
“Every little guy needs someone to hear them and be there,” Trejo said. “They don’t always have the support at home.”
Though the two spend so much of their time together, Trejo said the couple doesn’t get tired of it.
“I never thought I would be at school with my partner and going for the same thing,” she said. “It’s something. We help each other a lot. He supports me a lot and I support him a lot.”
Trejo, who moved to California from Michoacan, Mexico, when she was a teenager said English is her second language.
“It gets difficult sometimes and he helps me get through day by day,” she said.
The two also receive support from Espinoza’s family who are always willing to kick in some gas money or help them out when funds are short.
“There are days when it is tough,” she said. “We are only limited to paying rent and bills and that’s it. It pays off once I get to meet the kids and get to school. We don’t remember that stuff as long as we are here.”
After spending all day helping other students, the two make sure to spend some time talking with their own kids.
“We share a little bit of our day while eating dinner,” Trejo said. “After that, we get ready for tomorrow, give them a bath and they go to sleep.”
