Angelica Barbera and her children learn English through books, games and other family activities at Plano Family Literacy.[/caption]
Representatives from Toyota Motor North America bestowed a $175,000 grant Feb. 26 to Plano Family Literacy to fund a new program aimed at helping low-income and ethnically diverse families bridge language gaps for both parents and their children.
City officials, Plano ISD trustees and members of the community attended the event at PFL to recognize the partnership with Toyota. The program is led by the National Center for Families Learning and was implemented in Plano last September at Sigler Elementary School. More than 200 people are currently enrolled in the English literacy program, which enables parents and caregivers to become more engaged in schools and the community by learning English as a second language, said Sharon Darling, president and founder of the NCFL.
"Toyota Family Learning extends learning outside the classroom ... and into the home and community," she said. "It brings together a whole family and gets them to focus on an issue that they want to tackle in the community. They start to grow together and their children grow with them."
“It brings together a whole family and gets them to focus on an issue that they want to tackle in the community."
– Sharon Darling, president and founder of the National Center for Families Learning
In addition to learning English, the program helps parents become better teachers and empowers them to become more involved in their child's school, Darling said. It also helps them with time management, problem solving and technology skills, which oftentimes can lead them to find employment or better employment, she said.
"So far 25 percent [of parents in the program] have retained the knowledge necessary to pass the U.S. citizenship [test]. Suffice it to say that this is pretty great for a two-year-old program," Darling said. "We're excited to know that that's what's going to happen in Plano as well."
Plano is the 11th community to become part of Toyota Family Learning. The motor company has given $10 million over a six-year period for this national education initiative and has been a partner with the NCFL since 1991.
PISD Superintendent Brian Binggeli said the program promotes reading among students and their parents, and therefore can help strengthen families in Plano and throughout the United States.
"If [this] parent-child experience was universal in America, then a lot of the time and energy and resources we're pouring in to try to close the achievement gaps in K-12 education would probably not be necessary," he said. "Any parent who wants that experience deserves to have it."
Retired PISD teacher Debbie Clary teaches the family learning program at Sigler Elementary and said she has witnessed the level of confidence the class has given parents and believes the program will prove just as beneficial at other schools throughout Plano.
"I think every school needs to have this. There are people in America who don't feel comfortable talking to the teacher," Clary said. "These people want to be able to talk to their child's teacher or talk to a doctor and not feel scared. My students are just blossoming."
Angelica Barbera and her children learn English through books, games and other family activities at Plano Family Literacy.[/caption]
Representatives from Toyota Motor North America bestowed a $175,000 grant Feb. 26 to Plano Family Literacy to fund a new program aimed at helping low-income and ethnically diverse families bridge language gaps for both parents and their children.
City officials, Plano ISD trustees and members of the community attended the event at PFL to recognize the partnership with Toyota. The program is led by the National Center for Families Learning and was implemented in Plano last September at Sigler Elementary School. More than 200 people are currently enrolled in the English literacy program, which enables parents and caregivers to become more engaged in schools and the community by learning English as a second language, said Sharon Darling, president and founder of the NCFL.
"Toyota Family Learning extends learning outside the classroom ... and into the home and community," she said. "It brings together a whole family and gets them to focus on an issue that they want to tackle in the community. They start to grow together and their children grow with them."
