Gift Enables Dual-Language School to Double its Library
By John Gleason, Denver Catholic Register
http://www.archden.org/index.cfm/ID/5389
Catholic Schools Week is a time to honor Catholic schools for the tremendous job they do. It’s also a time to acknowledge the work, sacrifice and support that is done by those who have a special affection for Catholic education and the doors it opens for young people.
Such was the celebration that took place Jan. 27 at Escuela de Guadalupe, 3401 Pecos St. in northwest Denver, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony and dedication of the new Salazar Family Library.
The project was an expansion of the existing library facility thanks to a grant from the Salazar Family Foundation. A donation Escuela president David Card called “remarkable.”
“This gift allowed us to double the square footage of the library, get age appropriate furniture and create separate learning areas around the library,” he told the Denver Catholic Register. “It’s also allowed us to tie it into our computer lab so now we have a library media center where kids can go on the database and see what books we have in relation to the area they’re studying.”
Established in 1999 to address the high dropout rate among Hispanic students in Denver, Escuela de Guadalupe currently serves 118 students in grades kindergarten through five. The school has distinguished itself as one that makes quality education accessible to all families. The students are prepared for academic excellence in both English and Spanish and the results have been positive. Last year was the first in which former Escuela students reached their senior year in high school. Card proudly pointed out that 75 percent of those original students received their diplomas last spring. This spring, the number of former students graduating from high school will be 88 percent—which is double the high school graduation rate experienced by the same demographic in Denver.
“It comes from learning in a supportive atmosphere,” he said. “This expanded library creates such an atmosphere.”
Lola Salazar has been a long-time member of the board of trustees of Escuela. A former teacher herself, instilling a love of reading in students is near to her heart and the library is one such place where that love can be nurtured.
“Even with all the things children have today, nothing matters unless they know how to read,” she told the Register. “They can’t further their education, they can’t avail themselves of the higher technology—nothing. It begins with putting a book in their hands and that happens here.”
Salazar, with the help of two Escuela students, cut the ribbon to the new library during the afternoon ceremony. Then students served as tour guides for guests who attended the celebration.
Fourth-grader Zian Lucero, 9, was one of the guides. He said his favorite subject is math and that he would like to be a teacher when he grows up. As he led a tour of the facility he offered descriptions of the nonfiction section of the library—in both English and Spanish.
“If one of the students wants to look up a book, they start next door in the computer lab,” he told his group. “Once they have the title, they come in next door and find the book. Our class has been reading a biography about George Washington, which has been a big help in our study of the Revolutionary War.”
Fourth-grader Soledad Garcia, 9, said that even though the library’s selection of books is great, she especially likes the computer lab.
“I want to be a scientist when I grow up and work with computers,” she said. “This is a good place to start.”