With 80 percent of alumni choosing to stay in Colorado after graduation, Metro has an active role in the local economy as a path of opportunity beyond a high school diploma.

But for the Metro Family Literacy program, the goal is to start that path to higher education for Denver low-income families as early as preschool.

The Family Literacy program works with Denver Public Schools and the Denver Housing Authority to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy in immigrant communities with four types of courses: children’s education, adult education, parenting support and interactive learning with parents and children together.

The program covers topics such as computer proficiency, English acquisition and nutrition. According to a Colorado Department of Education evaluation, program participants are more likely to have better grades, attendance and standardized test scores.

But higher test scores don’t express the full impact of the program for Tom Dietvorst, the lead family literacy teacher at Columbian Elementary.

“Tests are nothing but a sample of behavior,” Dietvorst said. “The behaviors demonstrated are test-taking skills; but, for our students, we see higher academic attainment that has a wider effect throughout the entire community.”

From left: Alberto Valles, Maria Valles, Jesse De Leon, and Ana De Leon participate in parent-child interactive class March 1 at Columbian Elementary. Photo by Chancey Bush

He said the experience of working with immigrants in the Family Literacy program reminds him of his own experiences as an immigrant in the United States struggling to find a toehold not just in English, but in the larger community as well.

“I came here from the Netherlands, at age six, and the only English I knew was the ‘Our Father’ and the ‘Hail Mary.’ When I hear a teacher droning on today, I can still remember how it felt 53 years ago, to not understand a single word of what I was hearing,” Dietvorst said.

He compared the experience of teaching family literacy to running a restaurant kitchen with 50 boiling pots.

“Just when you get the lid on one situation, something else is boiling over. But this is what our parents are going through, trying to navigate all the decisions they’re making in their lives with jobs, child-care and illnesses,” he said.

Ildelena Casillas agreed that being a parent in a foreign culture was intimidating, but the Family Literacy program helped the transition.

“My experience in this program has been excellent. I have been able to let go of my fear, which was my primary obstacle to participating in the class and helping myself and my children,” Casillas said. “This has given us the opportunity to involve ourselves more with our children.”

Karina Santoyo, a mother of three, said she personally felt the impact of the Family Literacy program.

“I discovered the importance of education for my children and for myself. The childrens’ grades have improved because of my help with their homework and projects,” Santoyo said. “My life has changed because I feel more self-sufficient and can better solve my family’s problems and meet their needs.”

In addition to Columbian Elementary, the Metro program is at place at three other schools in Denver: Fairview, Munroe and Charles M. Schenck Community School.

The challenge of keeping everything funded is just part of the job for Adriann Wycoff, director of the Metro Family Literacy program. Wycoff helped create the program at Metro in 1994.

“At any given moment, there are between 14 and 16 different grants working to keep family literacy operational. Family literacy is very intensive, so it is very expensive. The money comes from a mixture of sources, so it becomes a kind of juggling act,” Wycoff said.

Wycoff said she tries to stay optimistic about future funding, but she is worried about the effect of the current economic downturn.

“Three years ago, the state legislature finally appropriated funding for family literacy. We had this state money for two years and then the state budget tanked. Someday, when the budget recovers, maybe we’ll have this money again, but who knows?” she said. “My crystal ball is out of order; I don’t know what is going to happen.”