Learning for all ages
Marisa O’Neil
Rather than the bicycles one might expect, about a dozen baby
strollers sit parked outside five classrooms on the Whittier
Elementary School campus every school day.
Besides the kindergarten through sixth-grade classes and the
preschool, the campus is home to the Whittier Adult Education School.
Adult education offers computer classes, GED courses and family
literacy. It also provides child care for students.
But the smallest babies get to attend class with mom.
“Do you have any problems?” teacher Ines Vicente asked 2-month-old
Alan Orozco as his mother, Elba, held him on her lap, working on her
assignment in Vicente’s family literacy class. “Yes or no?”
Alan watched her carefully, perhaps considering his answer, then
stuck out his tongue. A few seats away, 3-month-old Princess Lopez
slept peacefully in a stroller next to her mom, Isabel.
“When they cry, they come to me,” Vicente said, hugging her arms
across her chest. “And they stop.”
The students in Vicente’s class have been learning English for
only a month. Most come from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. Now,
they are learning to describe their classmates.
“My name is Claudia,” Isabel Lopez started, describing Claudia
Ruanova.
“Her name,” Ruanova corrected gently.
“Her name is Claudia,” Lopez said. “She is medium height. She has
brown hair. She is happy. She is not old.”
The students clapped approvingly after each stood and read his or
her work. Thy suggested corrections and giggled nervously when each
of their turns came.
“His name is Rogelio. He is short,” Beatriz Gallardo said of
classmate Rogelio Bravo, prompting an embarrassed laugh from him. “He
has brown eyes. He is young. He is not heavy.”
Next, the students worked on the alphabet and phonics with a
choreographed routine of gestures for each sound. Most laughed as
they shook their hands in the air for “oh” and slithered a hand in
front of them for “sssss.”
And just in case anyone -- besides the babies -- was napping,
Vicente pulled out a small red football.
“When I throw this to you, I want you to give me the day after and
before the day I say,” she explained as she tossed it to Bravo, who
was in his second day of the class. “Monday.”
“Tuesday ... Saturday?” he said, before realizing his mistake.
“Sunday,” he said, throwing the ball back to Vicente.
“Friday,” she said as she threw to Berta Diaz-Orozco. Orozco
flinched, avoiding the ball.
“Thursday ... Saturday,” Bravo said, picking up the ball from the
floor and passing it to Vicente.
The game continued at a quick pace, keeping most of the class on
its toes.
But Alan and Princess remained unimpressed. They both slept
soundly through the whole thing.
* MARISA O’NEIL covers education and may be reached at (949)
574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.
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