Even Start, an English as a second language literacy program
recently jump-started in Hollister, is setting out to help local
kids by teaching parents the skills they need to take an active
role in their child’s education.
Hollister – Even Start, an English as a second language literacy program recently jump-started in Hollister, is setting out to help local kids by teaching parents the skills they need to take an active role in their child’s education.
The program, which is funded by federal grant money distributed by the state, offers beginning, intermediate and advanced ESL and life skills classes for adults at no cost to the participants, according to Program Director Rocio Urbina-Arnett.
Even Start also offers preschool and childcare for the hours that parents are taking the class.
Even Start programs seek to break the cycle of illiteracy, and the poverty that results from it, by combining early childhood education with adult literacy and parenting classes. The goal is for parents to have the skills to help their children perform to state academic standards, according to the National Even Start Association. There are Even Start programs operating throughout the nation.
“What we are trying to do is give a lot of ESL (education) so when children do transition out of Spanish (language) classes the parents can help with English,” Urbina-Arnett said.
Since it started up at R.O. Hardin School on Feb. 6, nearly 50 families have enrolled in Hollister’s Even Start program, Urbina-Arnett said.
Daily ESL classes are held at the school from 8:45am to 11:30am, and preschool and child care are offered at a facility adjacent to the school.
Parents having the skills to help their children achieve at school has always been important, said Jan Grist, who teaches seventh grade at Marguerite Maze Middle School in Hollister.It is even more important today, she said, because so much of a student’s academic success relies on them doing well on state tests.
“It is essential now that parents realize that they’re going to play a huge role in preparing their child for these government tests,” she said.
Programs like Even Start are good for parents and vital to a student’s success, according to Grist.
“The most important thing a parent can do is show up to any parenting class a school offers. It helps the parent and it makes sure the student is prepared. It’s win-win,” she said.
For more information about the Even Start program in Hollister call 634-2046.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
