Pilot program at Haydon School in Manassas helps parents get involved

With the goal of learning how to become better parents, some Hispanic mothers have been attending a series of programs at R. C. Haydon Elementary School in Manassas.

The pilot program is being taught by Elizabeth Millan, an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer who is working to bridge the gap of parent involvement between the school and the community.

In her presentations, Millan covers such parents-child items as responsibility, awareness, love, language, behavior, personality, study schedule, communication and family time together.

“Schools teach children science, math and reading but the first teacher for any child is his/her parent. Core values are taught at home and reflected in the way children teach others in the community,” she said.

In each two hour session, that began in September and continued for each month through the year, Millan urged each of the parents to be “responsible” and to provide quality time with their children to make sure they are “connecting” with one another.”

“It is important that parents see what the needs of their children are and work with them while providing lots of love,” she said.

She stressed that the mothers should put into practice what they learned and benefited from attending the program. “The closer you are to your children, they happier both of you will be,” she noted.

Alicia Hernandez of Manassas said the thing she has received the most from the sessions has been “to try to get a better life and for my children to set a better example in the community. We can set good goals for future families on how to we improve now,”

Leonila Ponce of Manassas said she has enjoyed all the sessions and learning more about how she can share time with her children and in the community.

“Hearing what others have been doing to become better mothers, has been a big help to me,” she said.
The City of Manassas Neighborhood Services Division has been working through a three-year grant with AmeriCorps VISTA on projects that work to better neighborhoods and the community as a whole.

This is the third year the city has used the grant money and the focus for 2013 was on the public schools.

Millan, who is a native of Peru but who has been in the country for 11 years, has a background in education and attended a training session given by AmeriCorps to help her with the pilot program at Haydon.

Haydon has meet the federal and state test requirements in reading and math. Only 41 percent of schools in the state met these requirements. This is, in part, due to the partnerships between Neighborhood Services and the schools working together.

Millan said while helping with a summer activity program for students she discovered that the Hispanic parents often needed help in getting a better understanding with their children.

“I felt that offering a program that would improve the quality of life for both, would be beneficial. The program has been well received and hugely successful with parents coming out for the meeting faithfully,” she concluded.