Causes: Education

Mission: To empower under-resourced latino and other immigrant youth and families through education, leadership development and family engagement to become the next generation of professionals who transform their communities.

Programs: Youth development programs: the emerging leaders program (elp) has helped motivate and equipped latino and other immigrant youth to graduate from high school, apply for college, qualify for scholarship assistance and increase their leadership and communication skills so they could prosper in college as leaders. Elp is held three times per year during the spring, summer and fall, and involves students from the greater dc region including arlington and adjacent counties. Most of the students who participate are from families of modest means and would be first generation college students. Students are paired with young professionals who volunteer to be mentors. The mentors provide one-on-one support and guide students through the college and scholarship application process, providing valuable advice on life and academics. In addition to building their skills in time management, team building, public speaking and essay writing, students participate in field trips to local universities and learn the importance of volunteering through community service projects. Students also practice applying for scholarships and participate in a small scholarship competition offered by the program. 102 latino and other immigrant high school students completed elp during the reporting period.

parent leadership initiative: this program trains parents to support their children's educational achievements, teaching mothers and fathers the skills needed to be leaders and advocates for their children. Since its beginning and through the current reporting year, the pesa (parent expectations support achievement) program has reached a total of more than 1200 parents. It is a 6 session behavior change program that presents innovative ideas and techniques to help parents guide their children through school. Last year, pesa was presented at 5 different schools in arlington and adjacent counties. Led by specially trained parents who are leaders in their school ptas and school committees, pesa focuses on different parenting skills and parents have the opportunity to share concerns and build a network for mutual support. The program has been acclaimed by parents with 99% of parents who have taken the course rating it as an excellent program. In addition, during the year edu-futuro delivered participa (7 courses) a program that teaches parents to advocate for their own children and all children in schools. (174 parents benefitted from our parent leadership initiatives this year).

spanish/academic classes: in its saturday 'spanish school' program, edu-futuro offers spanish language training to pre-kindergarten through 8th grade students, and english and spanish classes to parents and other adults. Edu-futuro has expanded its coverage by launching an early childhood course in partnership with arlington county's project family for infants and toddlers ages 0 -3. 'project family' instructs children and their parents together in spanish as they learn activities that broaden motor skills and language development through music and play. Spanish classes for children and adults are taught by native spanish speakers. The curriculum for children is aligned with the virginia department of education's science standards. Children are divided by grade and learn about science, math, art, and music as they practice reading, writing and speaking in spanish. Adult classes include a beginners and intermediate course. After one year in the program, evaluations of students indicate improvements in reading, writing, and oral skills. Students also participate in a computer lab where they have the opportunity to build their keyboarding skills. (221 students served in this reporting year. )