Modestan makes great strides through Spanish-language GED program

Coming to the United States from Mexico in her late 30s, with a sixth-grade education so poor she didn’t even know how to add and subtract, Leticia Monreal never entertained the thought of becoming a high school graduate. Had she, she likely would have figured it impossible.

She didn’t speak English, let alone read or write it. She was a housewife and mother of a 10-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son from a previous relationship. She moved to the States – specifically, to Modesto – with her new husband in 2003.

The relationship became abusive, Monreal said recently. During the marriage, she became pregnant three times and miscarried because of domestic violence. In 2012, he began to tell her about girlfriends he had, she said. Her husband finally threw her out, making her feel like garbage, like she was nothing, Monreal said in Spanish, with the aid of a translator.

Trying to stay positive for her now-grown children, she found support through Haven Women’s Center, the Family Justice Center and LearningQuest – Stanislaus Literacy Centers.

Over the years, Monreal managed to pick up more and more English (she relied on a translator during a recent interview mainly because of nervousness about being interviewed). In March 2013, while going through her divorce, she joined a program offered by LearningQuest. She knew that in order to find career employment, she needed education. In November 2014, Monreal enrolled in LearningQuest’s Spanish-language general education diploma program.

And today she has her high school GED permanent residency status and employment. She’s become somewhat of a “poster child” for the Spanish GED program offered by LearningQuest. Because of successes such as hers, the nonprofit is amid a fundraising drive to add another Spanish GED class, said LearningQuest Executive Director Karen Williams.

Great demand for Spanish GED program

LearningQuest received a matching grant from Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation of $15,000 and through April 15 is trying to raise another $15,000 for scholarships for its high school diploma preparation program. The English-language program has a waiting list of 35 students because there are other places to take such programs.

Spanish-language programs are much more rare, and LearningQuest has a waiting list of 130. A Spanish-language GED program also is offered by Central Valley Opportunity Center. To learn more, visit its website, www.cvoc.org, or call Andy Garcia at 209-577-3210, ext. 26.

Williams said LearningQuest’s goal is to raise an additional $10,000 to put toward adding another Spanish GED class. “For a long time, I fought the idea” of offering a Spanish GED class, Williams said. “I thought, no, they need to learn English if they’re going to live here. But then I thought about myself. Say I moved to Mexico. And say I learned to speak, you know, ‘do life,’ in Spanish. I still wouldn’t want to take an academic test in Spanish; I want to take it in my own language.

“She (Monreal) has learned to speak English very well. She has a tutor who helps her with reading and writing in English. But to take an academic test would take her a lot longer if she had to learn English before she took those academic tests.”

Through her tutoring, Monreal also has taken her reading from a third-grade to a sixth-grade level. At its annual awards luncheon March 4, the Literacy Network of Stanislaus County presented Monreal with its Literacy Award, recognizing her achievements. Nita Smallwood, Leticia’s tutor the past two years, praised her student’s dedication and hard work.

Tutor employs many tools

On a recent afternoon at the Stanislaus County Library, the pair began their tutoring session with a vocabulary exercise that would challenge many native English speakers. Smallwood was helping Monreal understand the difference between words such as “angry” and “livid” and between “big” and “enormous.”

In each case, one word is greater than the other, the tutor explained. “ ‘His apartment is “blank” for one person. A family of 10 could live in it,’ ” she read to Monreal. “Is that ‘big’ or ‘enormous’? We’ll read the second one: ‘His apartment is ‘blank’ for one person. It has two bathrooms.’ ” Monreal chose correctly.

The women, who’ve become friends, build Monreal’s skills in a variety of ways. They’ve played cards – “I don’t think she’d ever held a deck of cards before,” Smallwood said – and work crossword puzzles. Smallwood also has taught practical skills such as how to read a map.

Monreal’s passion is baking. She got a job at a bakery but has a side business at home making elaborate special-occasion cakes, cupcakes and other goods.

But she’d like to use the skills she’s learned to tutor and to help others in general, she said through translator Kelly Nery, who is the program director for English classes and family literacy at LearningQuest. Monreal spoke in her Spanish GED class about her domestic-violence situation and found others with similar experiences.

“She would also really like to study more about the laws and learn the laws because she thinks there’s a lot of injustice,” Nery said for Monreal. Monreal said her divorce cost her tens of thousands of dollars even though she is the one who suffered.

“She wants to share her story,” Nery said for her, “so that other women know that if she can do it, they can.”

This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Modestan makes great strides through Spanish-language GED program."