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Doreen Mensah is one of the 87 Woodley Hills Elementary students
who have a laptop computer provided to them through the Families
Centered on Technology program.
"It's great," said Mensah, who uses her laptop to
do her homework, work on school projects and get information
off the Internet.
And while having a computer is a boon to students like Mensah,
it's also important that their parents learn how to use the
computer as well.
But even before that, many of them, for whom English is not
their first language, need to learn to speak, read and write
English.
Marianne O'Brien, a grant director for the U.S. Department
of Education, obtained the grant for the computers and works
with United Community Ministries to offer classes in English
and computer literacy for the entire family.
It is not unusual for the children to speak English quite
well, perhaps being born or educated in the United States,
while their parents lack a working knowledge of the language,
said O'Brien.
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In order for the parents
and children to learn together, the families take classes together
on Saturdays at a UCM facility on the Richmond Highway corridor,
with child care being provided for the youngest family members,
said O'Brien.
She said the idea of parents and their children learning together
helps the parents become more involved in their child's education
and so that student will perform better in school.
On a recent Saturday afternoon, parent liaison Elizabeth Rovira
was working with parents who need help learning English by going
over body parts with them.
While Spanish-speakers are among the most common needing help
in learning English, O'Brien said classes are also offered for
a variety of other languages including Urdu, Korean, and Twi
of Ghana.
Each of the families participating in the program has a fifth
grade student, or a fourth, fifth or sixth grade English for
Speakers of Other Languages student at Woodley Hills.
According to the most recent census data, just over 50 percent
of the |
residents of that geographic area have an income that is
at or below the poverty level.
Woodley Hills has a mobility rate of 38 percent, a free and
reduced lunch population of 43 percent and a student population
representing 31 countries.
Almost a third of the families speak a language other than
English as their primary language.
The goal of the families technologies program is to raise
students' academic performance, increase the number of positive
activities that engage students and their families, and raise
the participants' English and information literacy proficiency
and help them to develop a life-long interest in using technology.
The Project Families Centered on Technology is a collaborative
effort among Fairfax County Public Schools, UCM, Woodley Hills,
the county Department of Family Services, the County Office
of Partnerships, George Mason University, and EarthWalk Communications.
Even a young girl like Mensah knows the value of speaking
English.
"It's helpful to speak well and learn," she said.
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