KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic Teacher Peggy La Pierre talks with Manuel Valencia and his daughter Jessica Valencia during class provided by a grant through the Nuestra Casa program at Outlook Elementary School Tuesday, May 27, 2008. La Pierre, the catalist behind the program, spends one night per month providing extra help for students and their families with math and reading activities. Links   E-mail             Print            Advertisement

More than 100 parents, students and siblings sit in a classroom at night doing math problems.

But why?

They'll tell you it's a chance for cooperative learning.

An opportunity for teacher and parent to get better acquainted.

A graphic demonstration of children's skills in action.

And, oh yes, there are those chicken enchiladas.

Partners in Learning has been a yearlong exercise in matching parent and child one evening a month at Outlook Elementary School in Sunnyside.

The free program is open to all fourth-graders at the school. It focuses on reinforcing math proficiency for all students, but especially Latinos, who are more than 70 percent of Sunnyside's population and who typically face a variety of educational barriers, including parents who lack formal education. With only Spanish spoken at more than half the homes in Sunnyside, many parents also often feel disconnected from the education system. But not here.

Rodrigo Espinoza, 9, who has eagerly attended every session, explains "I like doing math with my parents."

Funded by a $30,000 grant from the Discuren Charitable Foundation, a Seattle educational organization, the program was created to involve parents in their children's education both at the school and then later at home.

Peggy LaPierre, in her 34th year of teaching, formulated the idea.

"I've always wanted to have more contact with parents, to build more rapport than just what you get at conferences," she says.

"I thought about it for a long time and decided it could be fun for children and parents to work together on something."

Enter Nuestra Casa, or Our House, a nonprofit entity in Sunnyside that provides educational opportunities for Spanish-speaking immigrant women. LaPierre approached Mary Rita Rohde, Nuestra Casa director, about writing a grant.

Once they had success-fully landed the $30,000, they began Partners in Learning in November. Enthusiastically signing on were the three other Outlook fourth-grade teachers, Pat Rounds, Sandra Benitez and Carrie Richmond, who
agreed to spend one evening a month amplifying what their students learned dur-ing the regular school day.

The results have been numerically stellar, the teachers say. Even competing with sports and other activities, the program consistently draws close to 150 people a session, with more than 200 participating during one evening.

One teacher told Rohde the program has attracted more participants than any other function she's seen at the school.

"The parents really enjoy it, the kids love it and the teachers are happy," notes Rohde.

Teachers receive a stipend from the school district for the evening, with Nuestra Casa providing materials and translators.

Translators are key because 52 percent of the students in Sunnyside come from homes where only Spanish is spoken.

"Getting parents involved is crucial," Rohde emphasizes.

Each evening begins with a meal catered by a Sunnyside restaurant, with the entire family invited. After dinner, parents and fourth-graders begin activities, built around the school's arithmetic curriculum, called Math Incentives. Younger children receive child care and older ones watch a movie.

One recent evening, after dining on chicken enchiladas, parents and children settle down to working multiplication problems, translating double-digit equations into story problems ("If I have 84 fish in 26 tanks, how many fish do I have?"), reading together aloud and playing factor bingo ("the number drawn is 630; cover the numbers on your card which are factors, then divide evenly into it.")

"This has always been a family school," says LaPierre, "so most important is seeing the families solving something together."

That's exactly what 10-year-old Eric Heisey enjoys. "I like the story problems and the people working together," he says.

But it's more than just group computations, according to Paula Chavez, who attends with daughter Danica Vargas, 9.

"She enjoys having me here," says Chavez.

Jose Luis Cuevas sees Partners in Learning as a good vehicle for increasing his own math skills; he even attended one night when his son Max couldn't. Saying he wants more educational opportunities for his son than he had, Cuevas explains, "I'm giving my son what I didn't have when I was young, and at the same time I'm learning."

There are incentives, too, such as raffles for soccer balls and grocery gift cards for each family.

LaPierre is gratified by the program's success. "I've noticed a significant growth in math skills and tests this year," she says.

The year won't be ending soon, either. Children will be sent home with packets to work on with their parents over the summer, and LaPierre says students are already asking how soon they can have them.

Rohde adds, "On our evaluation forms, 100 percent of the parents say they hope the program will run next year."