Horizonte program helps moms thrive in education

It's hard to believe that 10 years have passed — at age 7, she played in the shade while her parents worked in the hot summer sun cutting lawns; she helped them with the yard work as she grew up, until becoming a full-fledged mower of lawns who managed to never break a sprinkler head. This June, she is graduating early from high school.

She asked me to write her a letter of support to submit with applications for college scholarships. And what she wrote went straight to my heart, "Please mention the success I have at Horizonte ... my grades and excellent attendance ... (all) ... while pregnant and then having a baby."

While I already knew of the many amazing things they do at Horizonte, I wanted to know more about the particular program that led this young woman to "know that education is the best thing I can do for myself and my daughter."

Horizonte Instruction and Training Center is a high school in the Salt Lake City School District. One of the programs at Horizonte helps teen moms complete their high school education and move on to college. Some might have ended up dropping out of high school and being relegated to a lifetime of poverty; some may have had teen mothers themselves who never completed high school. Many are minorities, first in their families to graduate from high school and now breaking the cycle and going on to college.

Much of the success of the program is due to the dedicated staff at Horizonte who, with a smile, reaches out to every student and offers a helping hand from the minute they walk in the door. The ones that make it to the school are the lucky ones. They are referred by counselors from the other four Salt Lake high schools who see the student failing and in trouble, and who know that parenting can be hard, lonely and with no end. These students get a second chance to meet their challenges and start a new life.

At Horizonte they take regular classes as well as parenting classes. There is a nursery where they can bring their children and share in their care while having a hands-on parenting experience. One of the successful motivating factors in driving them to get an education is they quickly learn that they want what all parents want — a better life for their child. It is an environment that staff has created that lets the students learn from the mistakes they have made and helps them break the cycle of poverty. It's a message staff keeps reminding them about, which makes them determined to get an education.