If Mahboobeh Charkhi and her family had not immigrated from Iran to the United States six months ago, her 15-year-old son Arash would have been denied the opportunity to attend college.
Charkhi and her family are members of the Baha'i Faith, a religion that runs counter to the beliefs of Iran's theocratic government and whose members are considered second-class citizens. Because higher education for Bahai's is prohibited, the Charkhi family immigrated to Reston as refugees.
"Education comes first," Charkhi said through a Farsi translator. "In my country we cannot go to university. They don't permit people who are Baha'i to attend, so we come here."
BUT CHARKHI knew she needed to play a greater role in her son's education in her family's newly-adopted country. Neither she nor her husband speak much English and the culture and practices of their son's school, South Lakes High School, are bewildering.
Now, along with roughly 20 other South Lakes parents, Charkhi and her husband are taking even more action to help their children get the best possible schooling. They have enrolled in a new weekly class at the high school that teaches non-English-speaking parents how to become better involved in their child's lives and education.
The class teaches everything from basic English to the appropriate way for the parent to discuss grades with the child's teachers.
Such a program is particularly needed at schools like South Lakes because of the high number of students in the English for Speakers of Other Languages program, said Principal Rely Rodriguez. English is not the primary language for more than 8 percent of students at South Lakes, according to county records.
"I want them to be able to communicate with the school on those basic things," said Rodriguez, the architect of the new parent classes. "It helps them get involved and understand how America works."
Last Thursday at the high school, the parents attending the program's second class learned how to conjugate useful verbs and toured the school's gymnasium, principal's office and theater. The school's police officer, Dave Tipton, also addressed the parents to explain his role and responsibilities at South Lakes.
"It's so nice to see them have a better understanding about what their kids are doing during the day and what they experience everyday at school," Rodriguez said.
KHOLA NASEER, a Pakistani immigrant who has two children enrolled at South Lakes, said through her bilingual daughter that she is excited that the class will give her enough English skills to help her children succeed in school.
"She says she wanted to learn more English better," said Naseer's daughter, Nosheen Kahn, a 6th grader at Lake Anne Elementary School who learned English in a Pakistani school.
Last Thursday, Khan did her homework while her mother practiced future, present and past tenses at a desk next to her.
For Naheed Aktar, also a Pakistani mother, the classes are a chance to further an education stymied years ago because she is a woman.
"In Pakistan, she only studied a little bit. Fifth grade only," said Aktar's son, Zain Abideen, who is graduating from South Lakes this year. "She's like 'I need to learn!'"
Even the most basic knowledge of English will open doors for the parents taking in the class. English skills are the first step toward a better-paying job and the American dream, said Rouhani Hedayatullah, an Iranian father of five enrolled in the class.
"Without language, you cannot find good job. You cannot find friends. You cannot live," said Hedayatullah, who cleans cars at a Dulles Airport auto rental company.
Like Charkhi, Hedayatullah is an adherent to the Baha'i Faith, and fled Iran six years ago to give his children access to a better education.
Hedayatullah's two daughters attend college, one son graduated from South Lakes last year, one is a sophomore and the youngest will be a freshman in the fall. With a grin on his face, he says he is excited to take the class because it is giving him the language tools to help both himself and his children in their education.
"I love to learn English!" he said.