GIVING KIDS A BOOST

Funds to help students transition to higher grades

Horizons Albuquerque receives $65,000 grant to help kids transition to higher grades.

For the past three years, 12-year-old Joshua Tafoya has spent six weeks every summer back in school, a student in Horizons Albuquerque’s program.

Through the program, he’s worked on not only his math, science and reading skills, he’s also learned to play guitar, participated in a jackrabbit survey in Socorro and practiced yoga.

“They don’t realize how much they’re learning because they’re enjoying it so much,” said his mother, Tillie Velasquez.

Horizons, which will serve 122 students this summer, was named the recipient of the $65,000 Educate2Elevate collaborative grant from the NM Funders Collaborative on Friday.

Velasquez also has found support through the program; once a month, she attends a workshop aimed at teaching parents how to interact with and help their children learn.

Kids in the program also receive after-school tutoring throughout the school year.

Horizons executive director Juaquin Moya, who founded the program in 2014, said the grant will be used to build out its middle school program, focusing on helping students to transition from elementary to middle and middle to high school.

“This is a very important part of our long-term vision,” Moya said.

It’s the grant’s first year, which was intended for programs that serve middle school students. Thirteen funders contributed $5,000 each.

Joanna Colangelo, grants and community outreach adviser for the Albuquerque Community Foundation, said they hope to increase the grant to $100,000 next year.