USU Extension program to help Latinos
The first 23 students have graduated from a program supported by USU Extension to help Latinos finish General Education Developments and gain computer skills.
The program is a combined effort of USU Extension, Logan High School, USU Community Credit Union, Monterrey Technological Institute in Mexico and the Mexican Consolate, said Hector Mendiola, who works for Extension and heads the program.
When the Logan community began to be overwhelmed by Latinos in the English Second Language programs at local schools, Extension decided to help, said Chuck Gay, associate vice president of university Extension.
“We really targeted our area of interest in working with public schools,” Gay said.
Mendiola was a physician in Mexico before coming to the United States 14 years ago and since arriving in Logan has worked with both Logan’s native and Latino communities. He was well-established, Gay said, and Extension employees knew they wanted to hire him to help with the program.
In 2001, the Agriculture Systems Technology and Education began teaching English in a computer-assisted classroom to anyone who wanted to learn English.
Retired Navy officer and nuclear engineer Fred Berthorng of Providence wanted to help the program. He designed 99 bilingual lessons to help the students learn 33 of the most-used verbs in the past, present and future tenses, Mendiola said.
A year later, Logan High School was in need of help with its ESL program and with increasing its Latino graduation numbers. Mendiola said he began working with the school using programs from the Extension services, and in the past two years, Logan High has seen about 90 percent of its Latinos graduate.
“We facilitate an immersion in English,” Mendiola said of the program.
High school students are able to come in during the day and after school. After school, they may be accompanied by their parents or other adults who are trying to gain the skills they need to survive in a technological world.
Extension provided Logan High with about 20 computers, which the students use for interactive programs that teach English, Mendiola said.
“In half a second, you have everything to make students feel confident,” Mendiola said. “Every time a student comes in, they will learn.”
Then extension sent Mendiola to a conference in Mexico with the Monterrey Technological Institute. Monterrey Tech is a worldwide leader in distance education, Gay said. After Mendiola made connections with the institution, Extension moved its services to Logan High to better accommodate the students and provide the programs offered by the institution. Gay said Monterrey Tech agreed to waive the fee for the classes to allow the program to do a trial run for six months.
“We tried it and it worked,” Gay said.
Funding was needed to provide the service after the trial period, and that’s where USU Community Credit Union came in, Gay said. In starting a new charter, the credit union was required to use resources to support a community program. When they heard what Logan High and Extension were doing, they entered the partnership, and Gay said since then, the program has taken off.
Not only are the services of Monterrey Tech used in the program, but Mendiola said they use others such as Prep@Net, Talk It! and others available from Open Course Ware, free information and lessons available online. All ages attend the program and can complete their GEDs or take a five-month course on basic computing skills. Most who take these courses need the skills for their job, Mendiola said.
“It’s become a community center, not just an academic center,” Gay said of the Logan High room.
Granite School District is looking at becoming another hub for this program, Mendiola and Gay said. They believe this will happen in the near future and said other schools have also begun investigating the program.
Mendiola is the main teacher for the program and sometimes has volunteers come in, he said. If the program continues to grow, there may be more employees hired, but for now, he said he is doing most of the work.
“I am always overwhelmed, but happy because the results (of the program) are remarkable,” Mendiola said.
The 23 recent graduates show his work is paying off, and Gay said by giving these Latinos this education, they will feel more confident and be able to be more central members of the community.
-alison.baugh@aggiemail.usu.edu