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All across Florida, families are working to brighten their future by learning together through family literacy. Here are two of our success stories.
THE RAMIREZ FAMILY  Genaro and Nicole Ramirez epitomize family literacy. Their entire family, both mom and dad and the four children, are all enrolled in one of our Family Literacy Academies. Genaro has been attending for three years, and will earn his GED in the spring of 2008.Like many families, Nicole and Genaro had tried to complete their education by enrolling in various adult education courses. However, with no one to watch their young children several nights a week, combined with a lack of support and time, Nicole and Genaro had difficulty completing their classes. One day Nicole found a Lake Wales Family Literacy Academy flyer which offered child care, tutoring, dinner, and transportation. As Genaro shares, "We called the program and were welcomed as if they had known us forever, and knew what we had desired for our family all along – the chance to learn as a family." Genaro also credits the Academy for having social workers to advise them, as well as tutors who are extremely encouraging to the family. He shares that he and Nicole struggled with taking time for themselves to learn when they had four young children. Now, however, the children are with them in the same school setting, and as Genaro says, "We get to see each other work hard to be the best we can be." The Ramirez family was highlighted at the 2008 annual Celebration of Reading event to raise funds for our family literacy academies. Genaro and his four children were awarded the first Family Literacy Scholarships. Genaro plans to use his to become a correctional officer, and all four of his children will have a prepaid college scholarship when they are ready for community college. His wife, Nicole, also plans to earn her GED, continuing the magic of family literacy in the Ramirez household. THE CALDERON FAMILY  Learning can be contagious, and is especially strengthened when nurtured through family literacy programs. Just ask the Calderon family.Armando and Laura Calderon are Mexican immigrants who embarked on parenthood with little education and limited English skills. Determined to make a better life for themselves and their child, Deanna, they made a life-altering decision: They enrolled in a family literacy program. Just over a year Laura Calderon earned her General Educational Development (GED) certificate, the equivalent of a traditional high school diploma, at the Glades Tri-City Family Education Program, supported by the Florida Family Literacy Fund. It was a major feat for this 32-year-old who long ago left school behind to help her family pick vegetables in the fields of Belle Glade. “After my family moved here from Mexico, we all had to work,” Laura explains. “I was a teenager, but educated only at the about 7th grade level and I couldn’t read well in English.” She and her two sisters quit school to work the fields. “My parents were upset, although I didn’t understand why – until Deanna was born.” The Calderons realized they did not have the language and education skills to help Deanna excel in school. In the family literacy program, they have improved their English language skills through reading, a routine that has become part of their family culture. Progress continues daily for this family. Laura now mentors others striving to learn English through the family literacy program. And soon she will begin community college. She plans to become a teacher. Armando is just as determined to better his employment skills through education. “I want my daughter to be more than a regular employee like me when she grows up,” Armando says. “She should be anything she wants – doctor, lawyer, anything. We can’t push her to do this; we have to show her how to do this. Her first example will be Laura, when she gets her degree.” Armando, 37, is an electrician’s helper at a sugar mill. He works an average of 50 hours per week. Recently he completed his first computer class, which required him to be proficient in English – a skill enhanced through literacy. “My family is helping me turn my life around. It is very hard to do -- always studying at night after work,” Armando says. “But it is worth it.” Perhaps the person that has been influenced the most by family literacy is nine-year old Deanna. She is enrolled in a magnet school and performing well. “She had a good start before she ever went to school, thanks to our family literacy program,” Laura says. Just last year, Laura and Armando started a pre-paid college program for Deanna. The Calderons’ determination has influenced other members of the family as well. Laura’s sister, Yolanda, listened to Laura’s advice and has joined the literacy program. She is working to earn her GED and a career certification. “Learning is not always easy and can be time consuming, but it is not impossible,” Laura says. “The time we spend learning together is time well invested. Together we can change the future through education.” THE GODFREY FAMILY  Family literacy and all its dimensions can be a tremendous unifier. Families who learn to read together, learn to achieve together – regardless of obstacles.Just as all caring parents, Sallie Burden Godfrey and her husband, Ellis Godfrey, have big hopes and dreams for their child. But unlike most parents, their vision for the future took on a new dimension when they learned upon her birth that their daughter, Princess-Skylar, was deaf. For a very long time, the Godfreys worried over how they could help their daughter achieve in life despite this handicap, and most importantly, how best to simply communicate with her. Life for the Godfrey family changed dramatically when they enrolled in the Deaf Family Literacy Program in Ft. Lauderdale, a program supported by the Florida Family Literacy Fund. Through the program, the Godfrey family learned American Sign Language, which has enabled them not only to communicate with each other, but to read together as well. In fact, reading together has become the family’s favorite pastime, and has helped them improve their communication skills with each other through the constant, structured practice that reading provides. The family literacy program is helping the Godfreys find confidence in themselves, feeling less restricted and more empowered in life. The Godfreys have learned how to be effective teachers for Princess-Skylar. And five-year-old Princess-Skylar is also teaching her parents that being deaf does not have to be an obstacle to success in life. This summer she went to summer camp with children who can hear and, as her mother says,” took control.” Instead of Princess-Skylar feeling like the odd one out, she became a point of interest for the other children and began to teach them to sign. She has she progressed so well in the past year with her reading and writing skills, that she will be attending regular school this year. And the Godfrey family has become an inspiration to others. They believe the best way parents can teach their children is to learn together. “We all need some help from someone,” Sallie says. “Parents have to have an active role in their children’s lives – get in there, roll up their sleeves. There is no greater unifier than learning together as a family. It begins with reading.” WHY I PUSH FAMLIES TO ACHIEVE THROUGHh EDUCATION - By Angelica Ibarra Director Florida Family Literacy Academy at St. Johns Presbyterian Learning Center Tampa
I was eight years old when we arrived in Texas and already several years behind my school peers, since I had never attended school. I did not know how to read or write in my own language and I had to learn a new one. It took me two years in the second grade to learn enough to survive in the third. Four years after I began school my father decided that we could not survive financially where we lived, and we started following the seasonal crops all across the country. I have no recollection of ever attending the 6th grade and I remember being the new kid in school at least three different times in 7th grade. It was during the 7th grade that my father decided that I knew enough to translate for the family and survive. He decided that I should drop out of school. I did not fight him on the idea because I remember going to class and thinking about everything else but what the teacher was saying. I was so far behind that it felt impossible to catch up. My father would say that school was a waste of time for poor people, since doctors and lawyers never came from families like ours. We continued to migrate and follow the crops between Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. In the middle of all this I ran away from home and became a mother of two children, all before the age of 18. I really don’t remember why, but the thought of obtaining my GED would cross my mind every now and again. I attended a couple of GED programs for a day or two but never stayed. However, one day I began taking classes in an Adult Community Education Center in Tampa through the Migrant Program and for the first time I stayed. Several months later, I received my diploma. I contribute my success to one of the teachers in the center. She was far more than just my teacher; she was a counselor, a mentor, and many times a mother figure. She was someone that would listen without judgment and she always seemed to genuinely care for what was going on in our lives. It was the same teacher that told me that I should enroll in a community college, and because she seemed like she really believed I could do it, I did too. That same year I registered for classes. The very same teacher advised me to apply to a teacher’s aide position with the school district and a couple of weeks later I got the position. It was the perfect job to get me out of working in the fields while going to the community college at the same time. It was not easy for me to work a full-time job and go to school full time, but I had to do it because I was responsible for two little ones at home. I finished classes at the community college earning my associate’s degree. Then I transferred to the University of South Florida, where I obtained my bachelor’s degree. What motivated me to stay in school and finish was that I always wanted more out of life and although it was not easy I always felt like I had to finish. My children often told me how proud they were of me, and my son was the first in our entire family to graduate from high school. Both of my children graduated from high school with honors, both had very high grade point averages and both entered college. I believe that by them seeing how I valued education, it also made them want to excel in school. After I graduated from USF, I left the school district to go into the corporate sector, thinking I would like it better and have more opportunity to climb the ladder of success. However, after being at that job less than three months I decided it was not for me. I could not be in a job that was not fulfilling. One year later I heard about a position in the Florida Family Literacy Initiative, and the rest is history. I love what I do. I do not imagine myself doing anything different. I enjoy helping people achieve their goals. I often share my story with our students so they can see that you can realize your goals. When I graduated from USF my whole family attended the commencement ceremony and my father told me for the first time how proud he was of me. As he said it, tears fell from his eyes. |
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