AURORA, Colo. — Until early this year, Alberto, 11, had never stepped into a classroom.
The closest school was many miles from his village in Venezuela, and Alberto’s father never allowed him or his mom, Yuliver, to stray far, according to mother and son. The school charged them far more than their budget allowed.
“I want to learn to become somebody in life,” Alberto said through an interpreter. “I’m going to be a lawyer or a doctor. I wanted to go school, but dad wouldn’t let me.”
Yuliver, who has a third-grade education, stepped in as Alberto’s teacher, sharing what she knew about numbers and letters. He wanted to know more. (The surnames for Alberto and Yuliver have been omitted, as well as those of the other migrants, due to concerns about privacy or safety.)
Last summer, Yuliver and her son left their home country, walking through deserts and jungles across two continents before they arrived in Denver, where Yuliver’s sister lives, six months later. Alberto is a fourth-grader in the suburban Aurora Public Schools. He has learned enough English for his teachers to hide their smirks whenever he makes an inappropriate and witty pun. In math, ,…
