Spanish Immersion and Parent Involvement

Last week, I attended the Adams Spanish Immersion PTO meeting.  I have attended in the past but this one was different.  How?  This is the first year that Adams PTO has had a Spanish speaking PTO president.  Wilmar Delgado is from Columbia and two of his children attend Adams and one has graduated from Adams is now attending Highland Sr.  Some might not see this as an important event but it is.  I have found, even when my own children were younger and attended Adams, it is sometimes very difficult to get parents and families involved in the school.  Whether they are non Spanish speaking families or native Spanish speaking families, it is usually the same families that are involved and do a lot of the volunteering.  It has been extremely difficult to have Spanish speaking families come and attend events or volunteer.  When I talked with Wilmar, he said that most don't get involved because that is just not something they do in their own countries, so it is not uncommon to not have them involved here.  His goal, as president of the PTO, is to encourage more involvement from our Latino families.  Why do I feel like this is important?  As an employee in a St Paul public school and especially as a Parent Resource Coordinator, I see the difference it makes in a child's education and life to have their parents or guardians involved in their schooling.  To me, those children are much stronger in their education and are much more involved in their communities if their families are there to back them up and are involved as well.  It is my belief that the more a parent is involved in their child's life and education, the greater chance of success they will have.
So, having Wilmar elected into the Adams PTO was a  big step in getting our Spanish speaking families involved more.  It was a great example to me how he wants families to be involved and he is willing to step up and do what he can to help.  It was the first PTO meeting of the year and it was exciting to have some Spanish speaking families there already.  I am excited for the year and I think Wilmar will do a great job.