Latino Parents Meet for Summit at Los Altos High

How do you help students succeed? Educators and counselors hope the key is helping the parent.

To teach Hispanic parents of students in the  district how to understand and navigate through the American system so that they in turn can help their kids progress in schools, a Latino Parent Summit was held Saturday at .

Jabob Larin, a guidance counselor and teacher, said that when he started at LAHS 10 years ago, about only 4 percent or 5 percent of the student body was Hispanic. Now it's 23-27 percent. 

"If the demographics in the community continue to change, there are estimates that it would get up to 50 percent," Larin said.

The daylong set of workshops coached parents in how to encourage their kids to develop strong study habits, and the importance of daily school attendance. They gave encouragement to parents to learn how to be more involved in their kids' academics and their rights when advocating for their children at the schools.

"This is the first step," said Mayte Vallado, an attendance counselor at LAHS. "I think that the event went well." 

The approximately 30 parents shared their hopes and frustrations.

One mother said that when her kids were younger she could still help them with math.

"But now they are in high school, and I can't help them with their schoolwork anymore," she said. "The majority of us, well, some people had the benefit of going to college, but most of us didn't."

Another mother said that though she hadn't been able to get higher education herself, she tries to help her children in other ways.

"I look for tools to help them," she said. "I'll use the computer to find information on YouTube. Sometimes, we as parents, we'll close ourselves up and don't search for the tools."

For Hispanic parents, the difference between American and Hispanic cultures becomes of point of contention between them and their kids.

"In our culture, it's not normal that kids have sex, but in this country, it's normal at a certain age," one mother said to the group. And a facilitator said to them, "You can't expect that you'll bring your children into this culture and they'll stay in this bubble. It's impossible."

Guidance counselor and teacher Larin, who spoke to parents about their rights, told Patch that though there was a decent turnout of parents, "We always want more families to come out, especially with the resources that we have available."

After the workshops, parents had an opportunity to walk through the school patio and familiarize themselves with various regional services in the community, such as mediation and NOVA—a job readiness program in Sunnyvale and health services. There was also entertainment in the form of folkloric dance groups and food.

Carlos Jalpa, a case worker and parent educator with the Community Health Awareness Council in Mountain View, noted that it was a positive event.

"We've worked with LAHS for some time, and services for Latinos are very necessary," he said. "Sometimes ... Hispanics don't know that there are so many [services]."