For Denesse Bolaños, working at the Harris County Department of Education’s Adult Education Learning Center is a personal endeavor.

HCDE’s April Employee of the Month said her life experiences enable her to relate to adult students who walk through the center’s doors, especially those taking classes to learn English or who need translation or interpretation assistance. She is especially sensitive to students who have loved ones stepping in to break language barriers.

“Being the child of immigrant parents and being the eldest daughter, I have always been placed in the helping role,” said Bolaños, who was born in El Salvador and immigrated to the United States with her family at seven years old. “I have always been the translator for my parents.”

But Bolaños’ skills were not saved for just her family. She said her mom would bring her to neighbors’ apartments to help them with translations too.

“My mom would bring me on over to the neighbor and say, ‘Denesse can call and she can help you figure out what’s wrong with your bill,’” Bolanos recalled.

Bolaños said this actually worked to her favor, building her problem-solving and critical thinking skills while sharpening her ability to relate to others.

HCDE’s Adult Education program, which served 6,000 students annually, supports students with obtaining their High School Equivalency (HSE) Diploma in addition to learning English and completing workforce certifications. As a program manager, Bolaños is intimately involved with students earning their high school diploma. She oversees a team which runs the in-person program as well as the virtual component in the western portion of Harris County. As part of her duties, Bolaños ensures processes are in place to support students while checking to make sure teachers and staff have what they need to best support program participants.

“This is definitely a place that I know I’m supposed to be at,” Bolaños said. “I see the faces of the students. I see the faces of the people that walk through our doors, and I can’t help it to think, that’s my mom, that’s my dad or that’s my aunt. And the little kid right there with their parent – that’s me. So, it’s very personal.”

Last school year, 275 HCDE Adult Education students completed and earned their HSE diplomas. The record number is approximately 100 more than the previous year and 150 more than 2022-2023.

Bolaños had a hand in raising those numbers and helping increase the number of students who could attend the graduation ceremony. In previous years, the number of attendees was capped due to the availability of graduation regalia. To address this issue, Bolaños teamed-up with staff from HCDE’s Grants division as well as the Education Foundation of Harris County to find a community partner to help. Thanks to these efforts, The Graduation Store donated 15 caps, gowns and tassels for the event.

Afterward, Bolaños sent The Graduation Store owner William Loveday a personalized thank you gift including a framed certificate with photos from the graduation.

Trina Silva, executive director of the foundation, said this type of gesture exemplified why she nominated Bolaños for Employee of the Month.

Bolanos and Silva have an interesting history. Bolaños is Silva’s “Little Sister” in Delta Xi Nu Multicultural Sorority from Sam Houston State University. Their personalities from college remain true today: Silva is the social butterfly, while Bolanos is the more reserved co-star.

 “I definitely took her out of her shell,” Silva laughed. “But she has this calmness. She’s always been really great at listening and showing me about self-reflection. I admire her for that.”

Added Bolanos: “I’m the more serious and quiet type but I really learned from her in regards to taking chances and bringing on challenges. She’s always had that supportive relationship with me where I know I can come to her with any problem.”

The friendship matriculated into adulthood even as regular communication fluctuated.

Until Bolaños’ first week at HCDE, which coincidently was also Silva’s first week with the Department. The two were scheduled to begin the same Monday but Silva was in an auto accident. She came in later that week, meeting with Chief of Staff Danielle Bartz at the Adult Education Learning Center during renovations to the main administration building. Bartz happened to be housed in an office right next to Bolaños.

“I peeked my head in and there she is,” Silva said. “It was crazy because I hadn’t chatted with her in a while, but it was so exciting.”

“I thought she was visiting. It’s just funny how the world works,” Bolaños said.

As Silva watched Adult Education’s numbers grow and the impact Bolaños quickly made at HCDE, she wanted to celebrate her hard work. Their text conversations and end-of-year reflections became the fodder Silva needed for the nomination. Bolaños said finding out she was nominated for Employee of the Month was a shock but super special to her as it came from someone she considers a mentor and friend.

“I see such growth in her, especially from that shy person I knew in college,” Silva said. “She’s grown to be this professional who’s very strong in everything that she does. She really cares about students, she really cares about her colleagues and she really cares about the mission of HCDE and education in general. So someone who’s deserving of being the employee of the month is exactly who she is.”