The Long Beach Unified School District’s Long Beach Family Literacy Program is one of 10 programs in the country to receive a $25,000 grant specifically for the purpose of encouraging Hispanic and other families to earn college degrees. All 10 recipients will use the support to implement family outreach plans that encourage pathways to college, including the use of a comprehensive set of interactive, bilingual online resources.
Made possible with funding from the MetLife Foundation, the grants are designed to expand the reach of the Family Literacy-Community College Partnership Initiative to communities and programs across the U.S. In partnership with local community-based organizations, Head Start, the Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Board, and multiple colleges, Long Beach Family Literacy Program’s project will target 60 low-income Latino families.
“With this generous funding, we can strengthen our ability to help families and Latino youth prepare for college and help shift the mind-set from ‘college is too expensive’ to the belief that Latino youth can successfully pursue postsecondary education,” said Family Literacy director Roberta Lanterman.
The Long Beach Family Literacy Program will incorporate the En Camino: Herramientas educativas para familias/On Our Way: Educational Toolkit for Families into all program services.
“We need to ensure that more adults are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education, and that parents are well prepared to inform and nurture the educational aspirations of their children,” said Sharon Darling, president and founder of the National Center for Family Literacy. “Efforts serving two generations are best positioned to assist our nation with the ambitious goals of career readiness and college attainment.”
The community partners have planned innovative and practical uses of the initiative’s online resources, En Camino: Herramientas educativas para familias/On Our Way: Educational Toolkit for Families, which are available in Spanish and English. These interactive tools, available at www.famlit.org/myfamilygoestocollege, provide educational and life-skill activities to help families realize their dreams of postsecondary education.
