February 2011 E-Newsletter
The Heart of Avance-Dallas—Advancing Children
Greeting from Executive Director
Dear Friend,
If you haven’t heard the story of how Betty Hart and Todd Risley arrived
at their seminal research for advancing low-income children in school, then we
highly recommend the National Public Radio article, “Closing the Achievement Gap with Baby Talk,” published
just last month about the impact of their study.
In short, Hart and Risley’s decades-long research has shown us that the number
of words spoken to children under age four impacts their whole experience in
school. By age four, “children of professional parents had
heard on average 48 million words addressed to them while children in poor
welfare families had heard only 13 million.” With this disadvantaged starting
point, low-income kids tended to stay behind once they started school.
But there’s hope for impoverished families. For nearly fifteen years, Avance-Dallas has taught low-income moms
that they don’t have to be rich in dollars to give their children a good chance
at academic success. If they’re rich in words, they can set their child on a
path to achievement.
When you partner with Avance-Dallas,
you support proven methods of advancing children. Thank you for promoting “baby
talk” in Dallas through our program!
Lisa Oglesby Rocha
Executive Director
“Heart and Sole” 5K to Benefit Avance-Dallas
Join us Saturday, Feb. 12, for the “Heart and Sole”
5K, sponsored by Attorneys Serving the Community and benefitting Avance-Dallas. The race starts at 8:30
AM at Winfrey Point in White Rock Lake Park. Find out more
information from Run On! Texas, and click here to register online. Race on February 12 to help
advance Dallas children!
Avance-Dallas Grad at Peak Preparatory
Steve was only a toddler when he attended Avance-Dallas during our first program
year (1996–1997). Today he’s an accomplished student at the exemplary Peak Preparatory Charter School in Dallas.
Statistically speaking, Steve shouldn’t be where he
is today. Growing up in a lower-income family decreases the chances of school
success, but when Steve was young, his mom, Guillermina,
decided to enroll in Avance-Dallas.
She gained tools for helping Steve start school on target and to support him in
his studies throughout his school years. Guillermina also
earned her GED through Avance-Dallas
and now works as an income tax preparer at H&R Block.
Guillermina’s own success contributed to Steve’s advancement.
Now fifteen years old, Steve is a ninth-grader at the Peak Preparatory Charter
School, which has been rated “exemplary” by the Texas Education Agency. The
school pushes their students to do their very best and specifically prepares
them to attend and succeed in college.
Overall, the classes come easy to Steve, and his
favorites are geometry and algebra because he likes numbers, formulas, and
logic. His parents are still involved in his education too. His dad helps him
when he gets stuck on a project and they figure it out together (they recently worked
out a project of connecting a circuit), and his mom helps him with his geometry
homework when he gets in a bind.
While Steve isn’t sure what he’ll do when he graduates
from college, he’s considering being a mechanical or electrical engineer. But
he also has another dream: “I want to own my own ranch and have a restaurant
business.” The business dream first came up while on a two-day school retreat
to Sky Ranch, where
the students worked together on developing core values and leadership skills.
While he was there, he got to see how the restaurant worked and got inspired to
do something similar.
Either way, whether an engineer or entrepreneur,
Steve not only has dreams of succeeding, he has the tools and educational
foundation to make those dreams a reality.
Esping Family Foundation Advances Young Children
The Esping Family
Foundation has awarded Avance-Dallas
a grant of $10,000 to help fund one of our Lead Early Childhood Teachers, who
directly work with young, at-risk children.
Our Lead Early Childhood Teachers provide the
leadership, expertise, and guidance that keeps our Early Childhood teams
functioning together effectively. Every Avance-Dallas
site features three Early Childhood Teachers and one Lead Early Childhood
Teacher to make sure our children, birth to age three, receive the
age-appropriate stimulation they need to prepare for school success. Our Lead
Early Childhood Teachers serve a critical role for these teams in educating
young children effectively.
Given the importance of our Lead Early Childhood
Teachers, we’re grateful to the Esping Family Foundation for their strategic
investment in our program and our children. The Esping Family Foundation has
proven to be a faithful partner to Avance-Dallas,
supporting our agency since 2006.
The Esping Family Foundation’s mission is “to
help others help themselves by supporting active programs with strong
leadership and entrepreneurial activity.” Avance-Dallas
is preparing young children for their leadership role in the future of Dallas
by giving them the necessary tools for success from day one. Special thanks to
the Esping Family Foundation for their investment in our children!
Texas Instruments an Involved Educational Partner
The Hispanic Employee Initiative Form (HEIF) of Texas
Instruments has granted Avance-Dallas
$5,835 for our Early Childhood Program, but they do a lot more for our families
on top of that faithful support.
HEIF’s most recent grant specifically funds necessary staff development costs for our Early Childhood
Teachers, helping us maintain the high standards we demand of our staff. This
investment goes a long way in making a lasting difference in our children.
But we’re
also thankful for HEIF’s unique interest in giving of their time to help
advance our families’ education. This year they took on our Alumni Association as
their special focus and have really been fabulous supporters of our alumni group.
Already this year they’ve given two trainings to our core alumni team,
one on setting agendas and conducting effective meetings, and the other on
project management. They’re also attending each of our monthly Alumni
Association meetings and offering feedback to the alumni about how they ran the
meetings. In addition, they provided volunteer support for our November magnet
school fair, which was a huge success with our families.
We’re deeply grateful for HEIF’s faith in the Avance-Dallas mission and for investing
their time, energy, and dollars in our program and our people. Special thanks
go to Ruben Reyna, who chairs the HEIF group and leads with energy and
enthusiasm, and Haydee Barajas, our agency’s HEIF contact, cheerleader, and
champion. You’re making a lasting impact on our alumni, our current
participants, and the future of Dallas!