Maria Rosa Rojas is a proud mother of 3 children, who she has raised alongside her husband in San Jose. Two of her children are in college, and her youngest in high school. Rosa comes from a big hard working family in Mexico, where she developed her work ethic and ideology of never settling for less and always looking for new opportunities, especially when it comes to her children and their education.
Rosa has participated in several Parent Education Academy workshops. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosa shares that this has been the year where her parent participation and engagement has been through the roof! Rosa has actively participated in HFSV’s parent programs, notably graduating from Family Engagement Institute at Foothill College (FEI) and several Aprendizaje Digital (Digital Learning) workshops. She recognizes that the sudden shift to the virtual world was not only frustrating to parents but especially to students as everyone learned how to navigate it together. Rosa emphasized that both FEI and Aprendizaje Digital (Digital Learning) were incredibly helpful because without them she would not have found the tools needed to support her three children in their education.
Rosa believes that HFSV’s Parent Education Academy programs are important because they allow parents to be part of a community in which they can connect with other parents and most importantly, understand that they are not alone in their experience. By having a safe space to share and listen, they are able to learn from one another and hear new perspectives. Additionally, FEI gave parents the opportunity to stay on top of current news during the pandemic and discuss topics directly affecting our community.
After Rosa’s participation in HFSV’s Aprendizaje Digital (Digital Learning) workshops, she expressed that her biggest takeaway is that technology isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it is an incredibly timely resource for parents and, now that she has been given opportunities to learn the basics, she is energized to continue learning even more. She believes that if parents take time to learn about technology and find the right resources, it can bring about very fruitful opportunities that will benefit an entire community.
Rosa noticed that many more parents participated in the workshops and even in school meetings. “We are able to stay updated and know what’s happening at our children’s schools, and be able to advocate and ask school leaders what steps they are taking to ensure that our students succeed academically”. Rosa shared how technology has allowed parents to be virtually present during parent school meetings and be at work at the same time. In some instances, she was able to be at several Zoom meetings at once!
“Thank you! It’s a pleasure and honor that you asked me for this interview because HFSV, FEI, DCP and all other programs who contributed to these parent programs have given me way more than I can give back. Thank you so much for everything!”