DENVER — There's a class at Denver Public Schools (DPS) that students are waiting months to join. It's not kids, but adults getting an education through DPS's Spanish GED program.
DPS operates GED courses in Spanish at a number of community hubs around the metro area.
Carla Duarte, DPS Far Northeast Community Hub Manager, said they get calls every day from people ready to sign up and take these classes. And the classes are full, filling up sometimes months in advance.
The students who make it into these classes say it's helping set them up for long-term success.
Inside DPS's far northeast community hub, a different kind of class is in session. Here, adults come to learn math and everything else they'll need to pass their GED. And all of it's in Spanish.
Through these lessons, this class has become a community.
"We are a very united group. I loved joining this group, because when someone accomplishes something, we're all super excited. If someone tells us 'Hey, I passed an exam!' We all get super excited because we're all in the same boat," said Mireya Villalobos, a GED student.
Villalobos is taking classes because she knows a GED will open up more opportunities for better jobs.
"I was previously pursuing my GED through another school and it turned out to be a fraudulent institution/program, we never got our certificates. I have always been wanting to continue my studies in hopes of getting a better job," Villalobos said.
Now, studying here with DPS and taking these classes in Spanish, Villalobos said her dream of becoming a medical assistant feels so possible.
"It means a lot, I have not mastered the language and it's great that this is offered in Spanish, it's easier to understand," Villalobos said.
At the front of the class, Fabiola Flores teaches students how to plot coordinates. Flores jumped in to help as a teaching assistant as demand for Spanish GED classes surged.
Classes here are always full and wait lists stretch long. Flores said she's not surprised by the demand from the Spanish-speaking community.
"I feel that this is great opportunity for them and that they shouldn't be forgotten. Since it is a Spanish-language program, this definitely helps them reach a goal that they maybe had believed would have never been accomplished," Flores said.
Many students here are new to country. Others have called Denver home for years.
Flores said teaching all her students what they need to graduate and succeed here is a feeling like no other.
"I cannot explain this feeling," Flores said. "I feel like I have put a grain of sand in them and in the moment that they tell me 'I passed my exam' that's when I feel like I have been able to do something for them, I truly feel accomplished."
Villalobos said her coworkers have been telling her she's too old, that she can't do this. But with two exams passed and two more to go, she's ready to prove them wrong with her GED now within her reach.
"I'm turning 49 this year, it might be a big dream, but I don't care. This is something I want to do," Villalobos said. "It's something I want to accomplish, doesn't matter how old I am."
Esmerelda De La Oliva, Director of Community Hubs with DPS, said 48 people will graduate from this program with their GED on June 8th. There's a waitlist of more than 120 people hoping to participate in the coming year.
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