ACTIONN VOICES

"She Sat On Our Couch"

We are the parents of two daughters, including Lupita, who is in Kindergarten at Kate Smith Elementary School.  

My wife and I came to the U.S. from Mexico to have a better life. It was scary in Mexico with a lot of crime and kidnapping. Our daughters were born here and we want them to have opportunities to learn and do well.

 When Lupita started in pre-school she didn’t speak English and was shy and quiet in school. We were visited by Perlita’s teacher, Ms. Kelly, twice. We told her that school was very important to us. But we didn’t know how to help our daughter. I was scared at first to ask her questions.

But Ms. Kelly got to know us and we found out what a caring, kind teacher she is.  She offered good ideas about how we could help our daughter and she asked for our ideas too. We were very happy to meet her in our home. She sat right on our couch.  She took the time to answer my questions and to listen.

After the first visit, Lupita became very motivated to learn. She says, “come on I need to study.” She grew to love math. And her communication improved. She grew happy and made more friends.

Then this school year, Ms. Mueller, Perlita’s Kindergarten teacher, visited us twice. She is a great teacher. She told us that Perlita is learning very quickly. I am so happy to hear that.

Lupita tries hard.  She wants to learn about everything and tells us that she wants to be either a doctor or a teacher, like Ms. Kelly and Ms. Mueller.

I want to help her to succeed. And with the support of the great teachers at Kate Smith Elementary, I think I can.  Maybe if Parent Teacher Home Visits were in all the schools, there would be no more shootings or bullying. The teachers and parents would know each other and what is going at home and at school.

 ~ Elia Vilelzo and Rene Espinoza-Morales.