She read to them in English instead of
Spanish—gulping down her pride as
their pronunciation became better than
hers and they began correcting her.
(Once the children were in high school
and fluent in English, Lupe switched
back to Spanish at home, so that the
children would be fully comfortable
in both languages.) “I saw the change
in them almost immediately,” she
said. “After I helped them with their
homework, they would see me pulling
out my own books and going to work.
In the morning, I would show them
the papers I had written. As I gained
confidence, so did they.” By the next
year, the children had been promoted
out of the Yellow Birds.