2002 Celebration
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2002 Celebration |
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Programs American Institute for Learning Program Descriptions American Institute for Learning Contact The mission of the American Institute for Learning is to empower individuals and families to become productive, self-sufficient citizens through a holistic approach incorporating innovative learning, personal development, and economic opportunities. The institute ensures that the learning environment is empowering by respecting the cultural heritage of all participants. Participants have valuable knowledge, skills, and insight that are the foundation for all other learning. The program’s largest impact on the Latino community comes from providing services that help Latino youth and families create better lives by completing their education, setting career goals, and acquiring employment skills. Since 1980 the institute has been providing services, refining programs, and developing a one-stop comprehensive service model in downtown Austin. Families served by the program represent Austin’s most challenged population: 60 percent are Latino, most are female, and virtually all survive at the lower 70 percent of the poverty level. The institute’s programs teach participants to apply skills in real-world contexts, resulting in a community service project or the development of a product. Construction skills are taught through Casa Verde Builders, which builds environmentally sound homes for low-income families. In the Environmental Corps, students work to improve the community’s quality of life through cleanups, trail construction, and environmental education. In the Cultural Warriors program, youth express their feelings, experiences, and concerns through theater performances. At the multimedia production center, students learn computer, video, and graphic skills and have created award-winning CD-ROM products and curriculum about drug and alcohol addiction and recovery programs. Curricula in the project-based areas integrate learning across multiple academic content areas. For example, students in the Cultural Warriors theater troupe master writing, English, and communication skills, as well as learning acting techniques. Environmental Corps students focus on environmental science but also gain social studies, business, math, and language arts competencies as they complete their projects. To ensure that participants can successfully reach their goals, the institute provides, support services such as child care, parenting training, counseling, health services, and education. This comprehensive, personalized approach is one of the main reasons for the program’s success. AVANCE, Inc. Contact The mission of AVANCE is to strengthen the family unit by providing direct support and education services to low-income Latino families, enhancing parenting skills that nurture the optimal development of children, promoting educational success, and fostering the personal and economic success of parents. AVANCE evolved into a comprehensive continuous program by responding to the needs of the community. All services are bilingual and located in Latino communities. AVANCE serves approximately 6,000 Latino parents and children a year. This population is characterized by several generations living in poverty, an 80 percent high school dropout rate among parents, a high degree of stress and isolation, lack of knowledge about child development, significantly high potential for child abuse and neglect, and lack of marketable job skills. Parents of children under age 3 attend weekly classes for nine months, where they learn the importance of children’s basic developmental needs, their roles as their children’s first and most important teachers, and ways of alleviating the stress that impedes effective parenting. Participants are also educated about their rights as parents, encouraged to take an active role in shaping their community through neighborhood watches and other collaborative efforts, and introduced to resources such as public libraries, community colleges, public transportation, public health services, housing assistance, substance abuse treatment, and crisis intervention counseling. The parenting classes are followed by English as a second language, GED, and college classes, as well as job skills training. Children attend early childhood classes and, once they turn 3, follow a sequential path that can include Head Start, tutoring, mentoring, recreation, and eventually college. César Chávez Academy Contact The César Chávez Academy is an alternative school that was initially designed to serve youth expelled from the Ysleta Independent School District. Prior to the opening of the academy, the school district discontinued all educational services for expelled students. Today the academy gives youth a second chance to continue their education in a safe and nurturing environment. Its mission is to develop the intellectual, physical, and social capabilities of the students within an educational environment that is healthy, safe, caring, trusting, and challenging. The overall educational focus is on acceleration rather than remediation. The staff have high expectations for the students and hold themselves accountable for students’ success. Since its founding, the academy has expanded its program to include youth in at-risk situations. Students are eligible for admission through the court system, by order of a juvenile court judge. Students from the Texas Youth Commission living in a halfway house in El Paso are also assigned to the school. The Alternative Behavioral Class is a noncategorical placement designed to serve students in grades 7 through 12 with severe emotional or behavioral disorders. The focus of this program is improvement of student behavior for gradual mainstreaming into the student’s school. The modified curriculum is taught by a special education teacher. The student populations attending the school have special needs that must be addressed. Classes contain a heterogeneous group of students, and a buddy system is encouraged. Individual and group counseling sessions are coordinated by the Communities in Schools (CIS) program. Community agencies are also invited to participate in a variety of sessions. César Chávez Academy is also committed to students’ cultural needs and reinforces the Latino value system. For example, male students are encouraged to attend sessions promoting the concept that they are hombres nobles and not simply machos. Guest speakers throughout the year remind students of the history and richness of their culture. Approximately 30 percent of parents are monolingual Spanish. At the academy they know there is no language barrier, and they are encouraged to participate in cultural celebrations throughout the year. Contact CHANCE, an educational publication in English and Spanish, covers social and health issues and resources for Houston’s diverse communities. Written by experts in the fields of law, sociology, psychology, environment, and health, the articles help the Latino community understand their rights and responsibilities, identify their needs and available community resources, and realize the value of education. Founded in 1994, CHANCE fills the gap between the mainstream media and Latino media sources that do not have an educational focus. CHANCE founders saw the need for quality information in Spanish that would help the area’s rapidly growing Latino population better their everyday lives and help them take advantage of services already available in the community.. The publication staff is composed of two full-time workers and one part-time volunteer; all are bilingual. Working cooperatively with the public schools enables CHANCE to have an impact on the quality of education available to Latino students. In Houston, nearly 50 percent of Latino students drop out of high school before graduation. The use of the publication as a classroom resource and study guide connects students with agencies that help them stay in school. CHANCE cooperates with local schools and businesses on several projects, including the Pepsi Outstanding Students of the Month, recognizing middle and high school students for their academic achievements and community involvement; the Cultural Adventure Project, which publishes articles by students; the Fiesta Fun Project, sponsored by Fiesta Mart and consisting of a monthly page devoted to the fun of learning; and the Appreciation and Recognition of Talents in the Schools Project, publishing paintings, drawings, poems, cartoons, and posters created by children. School participation in these projects has increased from seven in 1994 to more than sixty in 1996. Circulation has grown from 10,000 copies in 1994 to 30,000 copies in 1996. Coca-Cola Valued Youth Contact The Intracultural Development Research Association’s program, Coca-Cola Valued Youth, is a cross-age tutoring program for high school students considered at-risk of leaving school before graduation. The program’s principle objectives are to reduce dropout rates; enhance students’ basic academic skills; strengthen students’ perception of self and school; decrease student truancy and disciplinary referrals; and form school-home-community partnerships to increase the support available to students. The instructional strategy incorporates classes for tutors, tutoring sessions, field trips, role modeling, and student recognition. Seven important tenets express the program’s philosophy: all students can learn; the school values all students; all students can actively contribute to their own education and that of others; all students, parents, and teachers have the right to participate fully in creating and maintaining excellent schools; excellence in schools contributes to individual and collective economic growth, stability, and advancement; commitment to educational excellence is created by including students, parents, and teachers in setting goals, making decisions, monitoring progress, and evaluating outcomes; and students, parents, and teachers must be provided extensive, consistent support in ways that allow students to learn, teachers to teach, and parents to be involved. Coca-Cola USA provided a grant to begin the program in San Antonio; 34 schools in California, Florida, Idaho, New York, and Texas are part of the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program Network. The program is often adopted by schools in impoverished districts, with a high percentage of children having limited English proficiency. Families face severe economic problems and see education as critical to their children’s success. Those tutored are primarily middle school students; many have been retained once and are overage. The tutors are adults who volunteer their time and effort to make the program a success. Don Hale Cultural Warriors is a youth-centered arts program that uses theater to develop academic, interpersonal, and professional skills. Designed for disadvantaged youth, the program provides a safe forum for exploring issues of social importance to self, family, and community, culminating in creative expression and artistic achievement. Young Latinos have the opportunity to discover their identities, find Latino role models, and discover a validation of their culture. The program is sponsored by the American Institute for Learning (AIL), whose mission is to empower individuals to become productive, self-sufficient citizens through a holistic approach incorporating the arts, innovative learning, personal development, and economic opportunity. Founded in 1992 to develop the theatrical abilities and entrepreneurial skills of AIL participants, Cultural Warriors has expanded to provide culturally diverse performances for schools and community centers and to provide training workshops for teachers and counselors using arts-integrated teaching techniques. Participants ages 16 to 24 are guided by a drama facilitator as they write, produce, and perform original theater pieces. The Cultural Warriors method encourages young people to draw on their experiences and heritage to create monologues and skits. The group is ethnically diverse, and participants learn from one another as they explore dimensions of their developing identities. Youth are encouraged to draw on their preferred language styles in their artistic work. Resulting pieces are often a mixture of Spanish and English. Local and national guest artists lead workshops for the youth, exposing them to a variety of artistic disciplines and styles. Recent Latino guest artists have included Cherríe Moraga, Raquel Salinas, Evangelina Vigil Piñon, Pedro Garcia Matías, and Ruby Nelda Perez. The Cultural Warriors often take their performances to elementary schools, focusing on predominantly Latino and African American low-income neighborhoods. Most of the children have had little or no access to live theater and are transfixed by the sight of young people on stage with whom they can identify. El Jardín Elementary School Contact El Jardín Elementary School’s mission is to foster self-esteem, cultural pride, and academic excellence among 1,300 students in grades pre-K–5. The second largest and oldest school in the border city of Brownsville, with a population that is 88 percent Latino, El Jardín is unique in its faculty commitment to the acquisition and maintenance of the child’s first language and the involvement of parents and extended families on all levels. Since its founding in 1926, the school has served as a model for developmentally appropriate practice, and it recently incorporated a multiage program for pre-K and kindergarten. Parents and grandparents are incorporated into the curriculum, and extended family involvement is enhanced with the school-based Parent Resource Center. Parenting programs include workshops on topics ranging from developmentally appropriate practice to communication with and guidance of children, the importance of culture, and family literacy. Parents are treated as partners in the educational process and serve on various committees and projects. Monthly workshops address issues of substance abuse prevention, substance abuse treatment, family violence, and violence in the media. T school clinic provides immunizations, health care, and HIV education for students and their families. In addition, high school students volunteer in the Lead Academy, tutoring children and encouraging a spirit of community between the different age groups. El Jardín cooperates with local businesses, banks, and restaurants, and works closely with community agencies, such as the Migrant Education Council. Educational partnerships with the University of Texas at Brownsville contribute interns, employees, and volunteers to El Jardín. A field-based collaborative project with the university, called the Early Childhood Partnership Project, places undergraduate and graduate student interns from the Early Childhood Education Department in pre-K–grade 4 classrooms. With a teacher-mentor, interns work in the child’s first language while incorporating relevant, developmentally appropriate cultural activities. Each year, the school awards three scholarships to graduating seniors who attended El Jardín. El Paso Children’s Day Care Association, Inc. Contact: The El Paso Children’s Day Care Association is one of the oldest continually operated day care facilities in Texas. While the center is located in one of the poorest inner-city areas of El Paso, known as the Segundo Barrio, it also serves low-income families from other areas of the city because of its proximity to bus lines and downtown employment. About 100 children ages 2 weeks to 8 years attend the program, although enrollment sometimes swells to 150 depending on factors such as business closures, new babies, and family problems. The program was created in 1916 to answer the pressing need for child care among the women in the neighborhood who left home daily to do domestic work. Children were being locked in their tenement apartments, where they were at risk in case of fire, which happened frequently. Today the center provides the best education possible in a full child development program that is accessible to children regardless of economic status. With child care tuitions on a sliding scale, the program offers the best to every applicant. Children receive nutritious meals and the best developmental, bicultural and bilingual curriculum, which in turn helps them succeed in their “life tasks,” social or educational, in the family or the community. Center staff use language and culture to enhance the program, with the goal that all children will be bilingual by the time they enter first grade. They also use stories, songs, and holiday celebrations to make each child aware of their Latino heritage and to help them appreciate other cultures. With the help of numerous funders, the center has been able to provide the best in classroom equipment, as well as age-appropriate classroom toys and materials. Local donors furnish new clothes, including winter coats, for every child. In addition, the center collaborates with local museums and businesses to provide services at free or reduced rates in order to further enrich the students’ life experiences. Volunteers donate decorations, games, and birthday gifts so that each child can enjoy a birthday celebration regardless of the family’s economic status. The center also helps the predominantly Latino staff get grants and scholarships so that they can earn associate’s degrees in early childhood development. Ensueños del Futuro Contact: The mission of Ensueños del Futuro, which means “dreams for the future,” is to reduce the rate of substance abuse among at-risk Latino youth ages 7 to 17 and their families. Ensueños del Futuro staff are committed to addressing the use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs through a program of prevention, intervention, and education in the Heights, an inner-city neighborhood in Houston. The program is part of the Family Service Center’s School of the Future Partnerships, an alternative approach that enhances the physical, emotional, intellectual, and behavioral development of children through integration of public, private, and volunteer services. Ensueños del Futuro uses school-based, in-home, and extracurricular activities to implement a culturally and linguistically appropriate, individualized series of intervention activities and referrals that provide families with the education and resources to interrupt the onset or progression of substance abuse in the early stages. A team of six family intervention specialists and an intervention counselor—all of whom are certified as Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselors—provide intervention and support services year-round to address the needs of participating families. The Family Service Center maintains a bilingual, bicultural staff and offers culturally responsive services and curriculums, providing information in Spanish or English. At-risk youth who participate often have a genetic or environmental relationship with an alcohol or drug abuser, are reenrolled school dropouts, are pregnant or have children of their own, are victims of sexual, physical or emotional abuse, or have committed a delinquent act. Over 75 percent of participating parents did not graduate from high school, and 82 percent have family incomes of below $15,000 a year. Ensueños del Futuro routinely works with AVANCE, the Bay Area Women’s Center, the Houston Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, the Depelchin Children’s Center, the Texas Center for Immigrant Assistance, the Women Infant Children Program, and many other organizations to ensure that clients receive appropriate referrals and have access to critical resources. The program, which is provided to families at no cost, is based on a 10-week, age-appropriate drug prevention curriculum that covers topics such as decision-making, drug use, and self-esteem and promotes cultural awareness and functioning families. Focus on First Graders Contact Focus on First Graders brings together community resources to impact the educational achievement of children living in at-risk situations by providing their families with support services to help children achieve academic success. The early intervention and dropout prevention program is designed to provide children in pre-K through third grade—and their families—with a variety of services at the most accessible site available: the school. It represents a unique collaboration between the school district and community agencies to establish a comprehensive, integrated system of social and educational services linking community, health, social, and counseling services with the school. The program began in 1990 when the El Paso Independent School District was selected to participate in the Texas Community Collaborative Institute for Children and Youth. School districts gathered teams of education and community leaders to learn what it means to collaborate and how collaboration can produce better outcomes for children. By focusing on the range of academic, social, emotion, economic, and family issues affecting students, those who teach and work with students can be more effective. The program’s intent was to assess, identify, and redefine the delivery systems of each agency. Focus on First Graders’ family intervention specialists serve as liaisons between the families, the school, and the many agencies that the families use, and as translators accompanying parents to their children’s appointments. Children receive all services, including testing, in their native language. In addition, the program refers families to community agencies and resources; offers parenting classes, individual and family therapy, and tutoring; and takes students on field trips to enrich their view of the community. Counseling services are provided by area organizations. Parenting classes are held on each campus, and community speakers address topics requested by the parents, including welfare reform, immigration laws, nutrition, and drug and gang awareness. James Bowie Elementary Estudiantina Infantil Contact: The James Bowie Elementary Estudiantina Infantil is a music program for third- through fifth-grade students at the elementary school. Although many of the students who join the estudiantina have never picked up an instrument, they soon learn the correct way to hold their instruments, use the guitar pick, put the instrument away, and care for it. They learn to perform on guitars, vihuelas, guitarrones, mandolins, bells, and voice. One of the most important effects of the program, which was founded in 1994, is that it enhances students’ self-esteem. After learning to play an instrument, students feel important. They believe they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. Learning to play an instrument requires discipline, but the enthusiasm and determination the children bring to the task makes it easy for them to learn. They also discover that, through desire and determination, anything can be accomplished. Students rehearse every morning before school, after school, and on occasional Saturdays. They play the instrument of their choice and begin performing when they become proficient. If they wish to learn another instrument, they partner with another student who plays that instrument and they learn from that student. Because the Estudiantina Infantil is a new concept for the elementary grades, the students perform similar songs to high school groups: “Cariño,” “Solamente una vez,” “La Llorona,” “Amor Eterno,” and others. The instructor makes teaching fun and strives to show students that music is not hard or overly technical. She praises the students frequently and notices that they try harder when they are encouraged. Ninety-six percent of the students attending the school are Latino, and 80 percent are economically disadvantaged. Singing songs in Spanish that tell a story helps students better understand their culture and gives them a sense of pride in their heritage. Non-Spanish-speaking students learn to appreciate the culture of their Latino friends, which in turn helps to create harmony and a deeper understanding of cultures. K.I.N.D.E.R. Clinic Contact K.I.N.D.E.R. (Kids and Their Families in Need of Drug Evaluation and Rehabilitation) Clinic is the only clinic in Harris County devoted exclusively to the long-term, comprehensive health care and case management of children exposed to alcohol and drugs in utero. The clinic’s mission is to provide effective, accessible, and culturally sensitive primary health care to children exposed to alcohol and other substances during pregnancy and their family members, regardless of their ability to pay. The impacts of illness, injury, and behavioral stress on these children are particularly severe, given the potential for long-term effects on health status and productivity. Most drug-addicted women have social and medical problems that interfere with obtaining medical care and follow-up for themselves and their children. The clinic plays a leadership role in seeking the development of comprehensive programs, incorporating the physical and social environment with an altruistic and human concern for the prevention and treatment of in-utero drug exposure. Located in the world-renowned Texas Medical Center, the clinic’s main site opened in January 1994. Staff soon realized the patients’ primary caretakers had many unmet medical and social needs, and services were expanded to families of the children. The clinic also accepts patients with in-utero HIV exposure. Once a patient enters the system, several services are provided in one visit, following the one-stop-shop approach. Patients and their families are treated with kindness and respect using a culturally competent approach. The staff has linguistic fluency in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, and French. Most patients come from difficult socioeconomic backgrounds and fragmented families, factors that increase their risk for health care neglect. An incentive program has been established to encourage mothers, guardians, and other caregivers to keep medical appointments. Incentives include educational materials, books, baby diapers and care packages or discount coupons for diapers, strollers, high chairs (given when three sets of immunizations are completed), transportation aid (bus tokens or paid parking expenses), and paid gasoline expenses. In January 1995, the clinic opened its first outreach clinic at the Shoulder, a facility providing inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment. This satellite office is more accessible for families who live in Southeast Harris County. In conjunction with the Shoulder’s Special Mother’s Clinic, K.I.N.D.E.R. mothers can schedule OB/GYN appointments on the same day as their children’s pediatric appointments. In June 1995 K.I.N.D.E.R. Clinic opened a second outreach clinic at L.B.J. Hospital, which is more accessible for families who live in Northeast Harris County. In September 1995 the clinic opened the Door to Recovery outreach site, providing services to families in the Northwest Harris County area. Kyle Family Learning and Career Center Contact The Kyle Family Learning and Career Center is a collaborative, comprehensive family and workforce literacy program dedicated to the provision of educational and economic opportunity to predominantly Latino families. Latino families in the Kyle area are challenged by linguistic, cultural, and rural isolation. The center is a friendly place where parents can improve their English so that they can help their children succeed in school and enhance job opportunities. Quality child care, home visits, and transportation are important supports. Collaborators include Community Action Inc., of Hays, Caldwell and Blanco Counties (which includes Head Start, Even Start, and the Family Service Center); the Hays Consolidated Independent School District; the Rural Capital Area Private Industry Council, Inc.; the Ten-County Adult and Continuing Education Cooperative, and the Texas Employment Commission. The collaboration began at a meeting called by the Hays County judge in 1990 to draw attention to the fact that the Kyle area was the poorest in the county. High numbers of limited-English-proficient, Spanish-dominant families resided in unincorporated neighborhoods similar to the colonias along the Texas–Mexico border. Today the center provides child care and transportation during school hours, allowing parents of young children to accomplish educational family and career objectives. Located in a historic building that was renovated primarily through donated labor and material, the center is a one-stop family resource center for the entire community. The center currently has partnerships with Hastings and H-E-B and expects to create new business partnerships with implementation of a GED-to-work transition project. Laredo-CATCH Contact Laredo-CATCH is affiliated with CATCH (Community Access to Child Health), the American Academy of Pediatrics’ national initiative to improve children’s health care access at the community level. Laredo-CATCH implements this initiative in Laredo and Webb Counties, an area that ranks second in the nation in child poverty. The program acts as a catalyst to promote the work of other community health care providers. It is not a system of health care or the definitive answer to access problems, but it is the starting point for the partners committed to CATCH’s mission: taking care of children, not just the child. The program consists of volunteers representing public and private agencies who care about this issue. Group members help create public awareness by speaking to local service organizations and other groups about conditions in the colonias, which lack not only primary health care, but also basic water and sewer services. Another vital activity is organizing convivios de salud, or health fairs, in the colonias, to bring health services directly to the people who need them. A third activity is a community-based research project to assess the health care needs of children 0 to 5, the primary Laredo-CATCH target population. Laredo CATCH was founded in 1992 by Dr. Pedro Castañeda, Jr., a Laredo pediatrician, and his wife, Lupita, out of concern for colonia children’s health. Initially working with county and state politicians, Mercy Regional Medical Center, Gateway Community Health Center, and other entities, they realized that the problem required a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach. Letters were sent to over 60 organizations inviting them to help form Laredo-CATCH. The response was overwhelming, and the coalition meets regularly to plan activities and services. Laredo-CATCH continues to receive solid community and national support. Los Murales Project Contact Los Murales began in 1990 as a way to preserve and promote El Paso’s more than 135 murals. Since the project’s inception, collaborative efforts by the Junior League and other organizations have restored or created 36 murals. In the project, artists mentor youth throughout the painting of a mural. At each mural unveiling, students’ positive contribution is celebrated and they are given a chance to use their talents and to experience pride in their accomplishments. Students are paid for their work. Artists have demonstrated positive alternatives for self-expression to thousands of Latino children through the project, which builds communication and promotes cultural sensitivity and respect for the cultural values found in Latino neighborhoods that are impacted most by the project. Murals have aided in communal identity and gang intervention while serving as gathering places for religious and cultural celebrations. For example, a common theme in the murals is the Virgen de Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico and heroine of the Chicano movement. On her feast day each December 12, matachines dance and people light candles, pray, and sing at the wall painted with her image. The project’s goals are threefold. First it seeks to provide a forum for the creation, preservation, and promotion of quality mural art in the El Paso area, in order to promote community history and tradition, the city’s diverse cultural heritage, and the beautification of our city through mural art. Second, the project strives to help vulnerable youth gain self-esteem and to provide them with a positive way to express themselves, a challenging and nurturing environment where they can feel successful, and the opportunity to work together. Finally, the project aims to educate students in the El Paso Independent School District and the public about muralism. Mano a Mano Sin Fronteras Contact The mission of Mano a Mano Sin Fronteras is to build friendship and understanding between Mexican and American youth and to prepare young leaders on both sides of the border to address community development issues in their own communities. Attracting more participants each year, this summer program sends American and Mexican youth to work for a month in YMCA community development programs in each other’s countries. Although the exchange lasts only a month, participants make a one-year commitment. Mano a Mano, established in 1991 with funding from the Kellogg Foundation, was developed from a model created by leaders from YMCA of the United States and the Mexican Federation of YMCAs. The program has four components: the Community Development Conference, Exchange, Challenge Conference (the setting of “back-home goals”), and Local Involvement. Program objectives include the promotion of volunteerism as a problem-solving mechanism, especially among Latino youth; the sensitization of participants to border problems; the development of community action programs in border towns; the development of contracts resulting in ongoing partnerships among YMCAs in Mexico and the United States; and the provision of opportunities for youth to be agents of change at the community level through voluntary service and education. Over 270 youth have participated in the exchange component. Participants share their experiences with local youth groups, assist with the selection and preparation of the following year’s exchange team, and help organize an educational conference for local communities. With this ripple effect, the total number of people impacted by the program at the local level surpasses 5,000, although the actual number is unknown. Neighbors in Need of Services (Niños), Inc. Contact The Neighbors in Need of Services (Niños), Inc. Head Start Program is a developmental child care program with 29 sites. The sites are located in Texas’ southernmost counties, Cameron and Willacy Counties, which are among the nation’s least economically developed areas. The program serves 2,549 children, the majority of which fall well below national poverty guidelines. Partnerships with other organizations have allowed the program to expand to other campuses, including centers at the Texas State Technical College, the Catholic Diocese, and the Public Housing Authority. One organization, the Third Medical Party, helps children and their families obtain health screenings and services. The Brownsville Independent School District provides services to children with special needs, as well as GED and English as a second language instruction to parents and transitional activities for children in Head Start. Nine other school districts have provided special needs services and counseling to children and families. Parents play an important role in the program. In 1990, parents took control of the program to ensure that it was serving Latino families. Each program site is represented by a parent in the Head Start Policy Council and Parent Center Committees. Parents assist in making decisions for the agency and contribute their time and effort to improving the program. The agency supports parents with child development instruction, personal financial management training, strategies for children with special needs, and community resources. In addition, the program raises funds to provide scholarships for parents and former Head Start students. Most of the teaching staff are former parents of Head Start students. Their dedication to the program and to the betterment of the lives of the families it serves is unsurpassed. Parent/Child Inc. Contact Parent Child Incorporated (PCI) of San Antonio and Bexar County, Texas, evolved from the umbrella of EODC, the Community Action Agency of San Antonio, and Bexar County. As a result of EODC relinquishing its Head Start grant, PCI made its humble beginning in February 1979 as a vibrant and financially sound agency founded by Blanche Russ. The agency opened with 800 children and 200 employees. Today PCI’s mission is to provide quality, comprehensive services that utilize a holistic approach to assist at-risk children and families in attaining a better way of life. The agency’s professionally trained staff are committed to reaching children and building families, as well as developing and nurturing partnerships among parents, boards, staff, and the community. PCI meets the needs of the Latino community through respect, being sensitive to and supportive of the culture and language. Most program staff are native to San Antonio and/or have been direct recipients of the agency’s services, and 75 percent are bilingual. Culture is an integral part of service delivery to Latino children. The learning environment is designed to reflect the diversity within the Latino community. Areas are labeled in both English and Spanish, and materials are reflective of the different groups within Latino culture. The program’s health service providers respect practices that the Latino culture uses. Family services and parent involvement staff working with families are reflective of the culture in San Antonio. San Antonio Education Partnership Contact: The San Antonio Education Partnership was established in 1988 to promote educational excellence and attendance ensuring that students achieve professional and financial success in the future. The coalition of partners in the program has remained a constant: the corporate sector, COPS/Metro Alliance, seven school districts, local colleges and universities, and the City of San Antonio. The program works by providing incentives to students at participating high schools in San Antonio, Texas, as well as motivation and support for students to remain in high school through graduation. Scholarships are available to those who fulfill the program criteria and wish to continue their studies at an accredited college or university in San Antonio. The partnership targets students attending fifteen area high schools; 1,695 students completed the program in 2001–2002 and received renewable scholarships to local colleges and universities. About 89 percent of these students were Latino. Since 1989, the partnership has awarded $6 million in scholarships to nearly 7,000 students. To participate, students in grades 9–12 sign a commitment form stating that they will achieve established standards of attendance and scholarship. Over 20,000 students did so in 2001–2002. The form, which is also signed by parents, serves as a written promise to adhere to the terms outlined by the Education Partnership. Each student agrees to earn a grade average of at least 80, achieve an attendance rate of 95 percent, and meet all school requirements for graduation. Counselors and advisers help guide students through the commitment process and the college application process. Advisers participate in classroom presentations, parent meetings, school assemblies, and orientations to motivate students to commit to the program’s criteria. They also conduct “stay-in-school” activities, which reward achievement and provide incentive for students to attend class. Recent events include involving Bank of America employees in seminars designed to help students make good life choices and participation in a Young Men’s Young Women’s Conference sponsored by San Antonio College. Advisers also coordinate SAT preparation courses, financial aid workshops, and attendance at precollege workshops and conferences. Rising college costs and changing financial aid trends, which focus more on loans, continue to place a burden on low-income Latino families like those served by the San Antonio Education Partnership. Fifty-seven percent of the 2001–2002 high school graduates would not have received any other scholarships. In addition, decreased opportunity and access to higher education make acquiring the enhanced knowledge-related skills and abilities needed for better jobs a major challenge. By providing higher education and better job opportunities to young Latinos, especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, the partnership is strengthening the current families of these individuals, as well as their future families. San Antonio Prefreshman Engineering Program Contact Since the summer of 1979, a partnership consisting of area universities, school districts, and local, state, and national public and private sectors has conducted the San Antonio Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP). The program’s purpose is to identify academically achieving middle and high school students in the greater San Antonio area who are potential engineers or scientists, and to give them the skills to successfully pursue future engineering and science studies. Women and minority students are special target groups. Since a significant number of minority students come from low-income families, PREP charges no tuition or fees. This academically intense summer program stresses the development of abstract reasoning and problem-solving skills and careers in engineering and science. Participants receive class assignments and laboratory projects and take examinations, including a final exam in each course. They are expected to maintain a minimum average of 75 during the program, and the final grade is reported to the school. During the school year, many PREP students participate in an academic cocurricular program conducted by the San Antonio Alliance for Minorities in Engineering. When PREP began 20 years ago, some believed the program was doomed to failure because students would not want to spend their summer studying mathematics and its applications. Many people thought minority students would not succeed in such a structured and disciplined environment. To date, 7,146 students have successfully completed at least one summer of San Antonio PREP; 79 percent have come from minority groups, 54 percent have been female, and 45 percent come from low-income families. Although fully 50 percent of participants come from economically at-risk circumstances, San Antonio PREP has proven that under the guidance of competent and caring teachers, students can acquire the educational preparation to succeed in college. PREP scholars develop abstract reasoning skills and problem-solving skills, as well as the technological mastery they need in order to thrive in an increasingly technological society. San Antonio Public Library Contact The San Antonio Public Library has provided citywide programming for children since its inception. In 1988 the library created an office for the coordination of children’s library service, whose mission is to provide children and young adults with informative, educational, entertaining, and culturally enriching books and other library resources, facilities, and professional services. The Children’s Services Department aims to increase the literacy level in Bexar County by providing children free access to books and information that will enable them to become better readers, better students, and better citizens of their community. On the third floor of the main library building, which was completed in 1995, visitors find the Children’s Services Department, with its child-sized furniture and checkout desk, as well as computers to search for materials. Freestanding sculptures invite children into the reading area. A special room for performances houses the Enchilada Players, a group of volunteer high school students who present reader’s theater productions for children. Toddler storytimes, preschool programs, and puppet shows have been a mainstay of children’s services for many years. The library has also made a concerted effort to better serve its young citizens by providing them with a customized, child-friendly, graphic interface search tool designed for the developmental and intellectual needs of young library users. Another online electronic catalog, Catalita, is designed for Spanish-speaking library users. Saturday Morning Reading and Immunization Program Contact The Saturday Morning Reading and Immunization Program at Seton East began in 1994 to address the increasing number of childhood diseases in Austin during the early 1990s. Seton East’s mission is to promote the well-being of the client as a whole with dignity and respect, including physical, psychological and spiritual needs. Many of Seton East’s clients are children, and virtually all patients are working poor. The Saturday Morning Reading and Immunization Program has both an immunization component and a literacy and child development/parenting program. Each Saturday morning for the past three years, Seton East has provided free immunizations to children ages 10 and under, arts and crafts, schoolwork tutoring, and literacy training for both children and adults. The program involves parents with their children in an interactive learning environment. If parents are unable to attend the full morning’s activities, they are encouraged to leave their children under the care of Seton East staff, complete their errands, and return to enjoy time with their children. Parenting, family, and individual counseling is available as needed. All instruction is delivered in Spanish and English. The program is sponsored by the Daughters of Charity National Health System and funded by the 3M Foundation. Immunization serums are donated by the City of Austin. At the Saturday Morning Program, children are encouraged to speak Spanish, and Spanish books are provided to all children. Literature and instructions to patients are printed and delivered in Spanish, and almost all staff at Seton East are bilingual. Many of the children attending the Saturday Morning Program learn about it from teachers at school, and the message is dispersed through community outreach centers, social groups, and neighborhood meetings. The strong tradition of family within the Latino community has greatly added to the program’s success. In turn, by encouraging Spanish-speaking children to be proud of their language and heritage, Seton East has helped strengthen ties between neighborhoods, families, and children attending the program. Southmost Elementary School Contact The mission of the Southmost Elementary School is to provide a quality educational curriculum that fosters optimum child development in the areas of social, emotional, physical, and cognitive growth. In order to accomplish this goal, the program does not limit itself to serving the child, but includes the entire family. The program provides comprehensive services with sensitivity to issues of first language, migrant status, and culture. Southmost Elementary serves approximately 550 children in grades pre-K–5 in Brownsville, Texas. The population is over 99 percent Latino, and most students live in varying degrees of poverty. The school includes many families from Mexico, children in transition due to migrant farmworker status, and families seeking social and economic stability in their own community. Staff is encouraged to be sensitive to the unique conditions of each family and respond to the issues of consistency, stability, and bonding. While socioeconomic needs are a focus, attention is also focused on parent empowerment. The school meets the needs of students in several major areas. Curriculum at each grade level clearly articulates a commitment to high standards in education. Success is achieved through preparation, careful planning, and the dedication of every student. In addition, staff are encouraged to seek advanced education degrees to enhance their abilities and skills. Democratic leadership of the school empowers teachers to take risks, seek creative solutions, and work more closely with families. The first language of the children and families is a priority at Southmost. The staff is bilingual, and all communication, materials, and visual aids are in the families’ dominant language. Parent information bulletin boards are posted on each teacher’s door. Children are not used as translators; they are encouraged to completely develop their first language and build a strong foundation for future learning. Culture is encouraged through art productions, theater, and participation in community events that celebrate regional history. Parents, teachers, and administrators have a fundamentally strong partnership of respect. The school creates an open environment, which is critical given the extensive research showing that many migrant and immigrant parents feel isolated from the formal school climate. Program staff show an exemplary level of professionalism, coupled with sensitivity to the unique cultural and social issues of their constituency and a rare dedication. The program is academically excellent, and children demonstrate their educational progress through standardized tests scores, as well as a portfolio assessment process. Texas Migrant Head Start Contact The mission of the Texas Migrant Head Start program is to work sensitively with families and children ages 0–5 and to help parents become empowered individuals who can independently strive for excellence. The program serves families who migrate to work in agriculture from one region to another. Parent involvement, mental and physical health, social services, disabilities, and education are integral parts of the program’s success with migrant families. The program began in 1969, when it was discovered that although Head Start programs were helping thousands of low-income children across the country, none were equipped to serve the special needs of migrant children. Every year, these children and their families follow the ripening crops, winding their way from Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin, through the Texas Panhandle, and home to South Texas, where many families spend the off-season winter. Most Head Start programs follow a standard school schedule, opening in August and closing for the summer in May. By the time the migrant children arrived in South Texas each September for the winter, there were few or no program slots left. The Indian Migrant Program Division and the Texas Migrant Council grew out of an urgent need for services adapted to the moving patterns and schedules of the migrant population. Today, approximately 3,400 children and their families are enrolled in Texas Migrant Head Start. Over 96 percent of the children are Latino, and 93 percent are Spanish-language dominant. One of the most valuable aspects of the program is its staff; over 85 percent are former migrant workers. This unique feature truly connects the home and center relationship. Staff are bilingual in English and Spanish, and culture and language are top priorities in the program. This is particularly important in regions and states where “English only” is a strong agenda. All communication and visual aids use the language of the families. Texas Migrant Head Start talks to families and growers in local communities, anticipating the movements of migrant families and adjusting their services according to their needs. From mid-September until May, the program operates out of South Texas. From June until October, the program follows the migrant stream through North Texas, Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin, providing some of the best early childhood learning facilities in the country. The center also offers special features such as extended hours and weekend services to accommodate the work schedules of the parents of migrant children. VAMOS Scholarship and Mentoring Program Contact: The mission of VAMOS is to provide financial support in the form of renewable scholarships to deserving Hispanic students in Hidalgo County, Texas, for the purpose of completing a postsecondary education. VAMOS is a nonprofit organization run primarily by volunteers. It is based in the Rio Grande Valley deep in South Texas, a thriving area along the Mexican border. Although over 88 percent of the valley’s population is Hispanic, only 4 percent of Hidalgo County residents age 25 and over have a college degree, compared to more than 10 percent statewide. By offering financial assistance and mentoring, VAMOS hopes to encourage an increasing number of young Hispanic students to complete a postsecondary education, thereby reversing this disparity. VAMOS, or the Valley Alliance of Mentors for Opportunities and Scholarships, was founded in Hidalgo County in 1996 by a group of 62 local businesses, civic leaders, and community members who saw a dire need to improve educational opportunities for Hispanic students in South Texas. Many of the founders were first-generation college students and recall the obstacles they faced in obtaining a higher education. Yet they recognize that their educations opened doors and allowed them to advance their careers. In an effort to remove some of the barriers that youth in South Texas aspiring to a college degree still face, they started VAMOS to raise scholarship money for talented low-income students. As of 2001, the program had awarded over $1 million—through major events such as an annual golf tournament, an annual “three-point shoot-out,” and an annual gala—to more than 130 deserving Hispanic students Hidalgo County. In 2002 VAMOS will sponsor four-year scholarships to 60 students for study at a university of their choice, 15 two-year scholarships to South Texas Community College, and 15 two-year scholarships to the University of Texas-Pan American. In May 2001 the first cohort of scholars graduated from various schools across the country, and they are eager to help the next generation of scholars. Scholarship recipients are monitored throughout their four-year education to ensure that they are registered for at least 12 semester hours and maintain a GPA of at least 2.75. Volunteers are currently developing an aggressive mentoring program to ensure that every VAMOS scholar earns a college degree and either obtains a career-track job or gains admission into graduate or professional school. Through a range of strategies, including social events, mentoring workshops, and one-on-one meetings, the mentoring program is developing into an integral component of the VAMOS “safety net.” VAMOS also visits area high schools to speak with students about college and financial aid opportunities, and offers workshops on how to apply for financial aid and scholarships. |