Published Feb. 16, 2010
By Kristi Pihl, Tri-City Herald staff writer
PASCO A little girl bends over a coloring book, her crayon spreading red across the page.
Around various stations in Oralia Cruz’s Pasco home day care, the walls are covered with posters in Spanish detailing numbers, letters and colors and pictures of the children and their work. There are areas designated for reading, art, dramatic play, math and science.
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| Maria Diaz helps kids in her Pasco day care work on a shape and color project. Diaz has been involved in Pathways, a program at Washington State University’s Franklin County Extension, that’s designed to help Spanish-speaking child care providers improve their literacy and educate them on child development. |
Cruz developed her enhanced day care with help from Pathways, a program of Washington State University’s Franklin County Extension that’s designed to strengthen Spanish-speaking child care providers’ literacy and to educate them on child development.
Cruz, who cares for eight children ages 2 to 12, said in Spanish that the program has increased her professionalism.
But Pathways, also known as Literacy and Education Pathways for Latino Child Care Providers, is running on borrowed time as it faces its funding running out.
Laurie Sherfey, WSU Extension director, and Alissa Schneider, Pathways project coordinator, say they are looking for grants and donations to keep Pathways alive.
A $1 million grant from the Gates Foundation for the first three years of the program will run out in March 2011, Sherfey said. The program began as a pilot project started in 2007 with donations from Women Helping Women Fund Tri-Cities and Bank of America.
With $100,000 a year, Pathways could continue its phase one program with a reduced staff, she said.
Schneider said they recognize it’s a “lofty goal,” but the community needs the program, which educates child care providers so they can better prepare kids for school.
The program is divided into two stages, with the first taught in Spanish and the more advanced second stage taught in Spanish and English, Schneider said.
Providers aren’t charged for the program, which allows Pathways to use curriculum from Mexico for free, she said.
Columbia Basin College provides vocational English as a second language classes and training for a child development associate certificate in the second phase, Schneider said. But the fate of this phase is up in the air, she said, because CBC agreed to provide it as part of the expiring grant and the college is facing state funding cuts.
Pathways has helped 75 providers so far, all but one of whom were women. Most have been in the U.S. for 10 to 15 years, Schneider said.
Schneider said she has seen the the program help the providers gain confidence and determination. They seek more resources and ask more questions.
Research has shown the program has improved children’s readiness for school, she said.
Maria Diaz of Pasco said she hadn’t had a chance to fulfill her education dreams until she began with Pathways.
She said it has helped improve her business. She reads with her six children in Spanish and English and has them practice writing, the alphabet and colors. Art projects that they do are more focused, and she has added science and math.
Diaz hopes to finish Pathways in the next year, attend community college and improve her English skills. She also wants to help other providers gain education.
Cruz said in Spanish that she joined Pathways because she wanted to learn. She is in the second stage, and wants to get her general equivalency diploma.
Pathways should continue, as it gives people who moved here from Mexico a chance to gain education they may have missed, Cruz said. It also helps them prepare children for school.
If interested in donating to Pathways or volunteering, call Laurie Sherfey or Alissa Schneider at 545-3511.
Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.