Alicia Smith wanted to help her biracial children connect with their cultural heritage.
Smith, of Aurora, is Black. The father of her two sons is Mexican.
It s why Smith enrolled the boys in a bilingual program at Johnson Elementary School in Aurora. Her 7-year-old, Alphonse Mendoza, started in the dual-language program in kindergarten and now is excelling academically in second grade, while her 6-year-old, Alano Mendoza, is doing well in first grade. I love the program. It is amazing, Smith said. It gives kids, like, a hunger to want to come to school and know something different. They love their teachers.