María del Pilar Resendiz didn’t have the opportunity to study past elementary school in her native Mexico because of a lack of resources.

Now, at age 33, Ms. Resendiz received her completion certificate Thursday for an eight-week computer course offered for the first time by the Dalton Public Schools district.

“I’m very happy,” said Ms. Resendiz in Spanish with her certificate in hand. “At the beginning I didn’t even know how to turn on the computer. Now I can even use the Internet.”

About 20 adults, all of them Hispanic and many with children in the school district, attended the basic computer course to learn everything from how to turn on a computer to how to type and navigate the school district’s Web site.

“It was a wonderful experience for me and, I think, for them,” said instructor Penny Hamby during the last day of class.

“I’ve been teaching since 1972, and this is the most amazing thing I’ve seen. They are so eager to learn, always thankful,” she said. “I wish all of our students in the district were as dedicated as they are.”

The school district will offer the class starting in September with a more flexible schedule, said María Khote, Title I parent involvement liaison for the district.

This year’s computer class was offered from 8 to 9 a.m. on Thursdays at Park Creek Elementary, and an English class was offered twice a week at Blue Ridge International Academy.

Ms. Khote said they will continue with the group that completed the course Thursday but will open new classes for beginners.

“Right now we have enough people interested to fill at least two more classes,” she said. “And other schools are asking us about bringing the program to their schools as well.”

María Sánchez, a Guatemala native who attended the course every week with her 3-year-old nephew José Medina, said her next plan is to buy a computer.

“I know that my daughters are still small right now, but they need a computer for their studies, and we, as parents, need to be up to date to be able to help them and know what they’re doing,” she said.

She has two daughters, ages 7 and 5. In Guatemala she was able only to complete school up to the second grade.

María Martínez, who also finished the course Thursday, said in the 15 years she’s lived in the United States, this was the first computer class she has taken.

“I want to learn more. Everything you do now you can do it on a computer,” said the Mexico native, who said she will participate in the next class.

Mrs. Resendiz said her goal now is to learn English and continue with computer education.

“It was my dream to be able to study again, and it makes me very happy,” she said.

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