Jose Montoya is happy to tell you all about his after-school activities at Lilburn Elementary School.
And now his parents can tell you, too, in English-thanks to classes for parents in the after-school program called Learning LINK (Lilburn Invests in Neighborhood Kids), a partnership with United Way.
"Jose likes after school. He is learning a lot, and they are helping him with his homework," said Rosalva, Jose's mother. She and her husband Justo tried to help Jose with his schoolwork, but sometimes they didn't know all of the English used in assignments.
Parents can take classes in English as a second language, basic computer skills, consumer credit and budgeting and homeownership. And after four months in the program, Jose's grades improved and so did his conduct in class. Now the fifth grader feels confident enough to ask questions when he doesn't understand the assignment—the language barrier for Jose and his parents is disappearing.
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"The after-school program really gives us one third more instructional time with the students," Jackie said. About 350 students participate in the Monday through Thursday program, learning about activities such as chess and orchestra, and getting individualized attention with their studies.
Before he attended the after-school program, Jose often didn't complete his homework, because he wasn't sure how.
Lilburn Elementary School Principal Jackie Beasley and her staff, along with United Way and other partners and community leaders, have created a program to meet the needs of the 1,100 diverse students who speak more than 40 different languages, and to help their parents, too.
"Now everyday I turn my homework in," Jose said. "And my teacher says I have improved since last year."
Finding creative ways to help families grow and learn is just one of the ways United Way makes our community safer and stronger.
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