MILWAUKEE — The Journey House partners with the Mexican Consulate in Milwaukee to help Spanish-speaking adults advance their education.
Plaza Comunitarias is a program that helps them acquire a grade school education. It gives them the tools they need to eventually get a GED.
Juan Lopez has been a teacher in the program for eight years at the Journey House. Most days, he goes over lessons virtually with his students.
“In this lesson, we were doing the basic skills of understanding the main idea and the supporting details,” Lopez said. “From there, the students will acquire other skills such as compare and contrast and make inferences and conclusions.”
Lopez believes the program has become more necessary over time.
He said over the last 10 years, fewer people from Latin American countries are getting their secondary education and high school diplomas before they come to the U.S.
He also said it’s especially affected one demographic.
“My experience working at Journey House has not only been helping students succeed to get their GED but also helping women to become more independent and reach their goals in education and workforce,” said Lopez.
One of those students is Teresa De La Cruz. De La Cruz came to Milwaukee 21 years ago from Mexico.
She said it was a big priority for her to enroll in Plaza Comunitarias when she finally had the opportunity.
De La Cruz said she was only able to finish up to fifth grade before her family moved to another town in Mexico. She explained that when they got to their new community, the closest school was an hour's walk from their home.
Her father told her that she only needed to know how to read and write.
De La Cruz said it was frustrating that she could no longer go to school but is thankful she continued her education. She believes the program has helped with her math, encouraged her to try new things and makes her feel like she can acquire even higher levels of education.
She is close to getting her GED, but Lopez said there is a lot more that she and all his students need to do.
“Not just preparing the students to pass the test but also getting them ready with other skills to compete in the workforce or in higher education,” said Lopez.
Lopez said he takes great pride in seeing his students succeed. For him, it’s about teaching them how to learn so they can take on any challenge.