First generation Latino students can find themselves at a disadvantage in school. Their parents, many who emigrated from Mexico, may not yet speak enough English or have the formal schooling to help their children with homework, as is often expected by teachers. Even their own language skills and background can be challenged on a daily basis. When students finish high school, the prospect of obtaining a college degree and pursuing a career can feel a bit like going to another world. If they choose the college path, they are headed somewhere no one in their families has been before.  And it can require an act of genuine imagination for both student and parents. A new Puente educational programming grant from the Sand Hill Foundation turns students’ backgrounds into an asset to be cultivated, not a liability – especially their language abilities.  The Sand Hill support supplements earlier grants from Philanthropic Ventures Foundation and the Access to Achievement Foundation. Puente Academic Director Suzanne Abel is using the $35,000 grant – which was awarded in December – to help improve academic outcomes for Pescadero High School and Middle School students, most of whom are Latino. Abel recently spearheaded a partnership with Stanford University, which enrolled Pescadero youth in the Stanford College Prep summer program and a year-long interdisciplinary Introduction to Latin American Studies through … Continue reading New Education grant helps Spanish speakers shine