College? Guilt By Contradiction For Young Latinas

In my Hispanicize 2014 recap, I made reference to a series of skits presented during one of our lunches by Orgullosa called The Nueva Latina Monologues. The skits tackle the ambicultural^® Latina experience, that of being able to slip innately between two cultures. They treat as an asset, rather than a deficit, a skill that many of us may have been confused by, or did not know what to name.

By the way, it's not a ability unique to Latinas.

Para Colegio And 'Guilt By Contradiction'

Here's a video clip of The Nueva Latina Monologues' second skit Para Colegio | Go. It's about a conversation a young Latina has with her mother about wanting to go away to college and her mother's reticence, much of which stems from cultural norms. The daughter wants to be independent and self-sufficient, to see the world. The mom is afraid of letting go.

It may appear on the surface to be a familiar, or mainstream conversation, but it's not. First-generation Latinas, or Latinas who immigrated to the U.S. at a young age are often held to a cultural norm that expects them "to prioritize family responsibilities above school." Enter guilt by contradiction: parents, mothers specifically, want their daughters to have the opportunities they never did, but don't want to see their daughters go. Of course it's different for sons. The conversations we're having at home need to change if we're to address the disproportionately high dropout rate experienced by Latinas, relative to their non-Latina peers.

Watch the video. I'm sure more than one of you will be able to relate.

Sources

Making Education Work for Latinas in the U.S. (2013), The Civil Rights Project
Latina Power Shift (2013), The Nielsen Company

ESPN Deportes' Carolina Guillén Opens Up About Her Career

Notice: This is not a sponsored post.


When I was presented recently with the opportunity to interview ESPN Deportes' Venezuelan-born sports journalist Carolina Guillén, the first thing I thought about were my students. I recognized that Carolina's extraordinary success as a sports journalist in a mainly male-dominated field could inspire my students to explore career paths outside of their comfort zone.

Carolina's provided some valuable insight and advice based on what's she's encountered on her journey. She's also shared what she plans to do after her daughter's birth (Yes, she's expecting!).

Thank you, Carolina!

Interview With ESPN Deportes' Carolina Guillén

Carolina, what did your parents, especially your father, say, when you told them you wanted to be a sports journalist?

My father was very concerned about my career choice due to the lack of women in that file. Plus, he wanted me to manage his business in Venezuela. However, 15 years later, he is extremely proud knowing he had nothing to worry about, as I have been able to grow and succeed in the sports journalism field with the "worldwide leader in sports!"


Can you share how your love of sports started, was there a trigger?

I come from a very sports-oriented family - so ever since I was young, I knew sports were going to be part of my future, as it has always been a big part of my life. Can you imagine the daughter of a Real Madrid fan not watching the matches?


What was the biggest obstacle or barrier you overcame to get your first shot at becoming a sports journalist?

Being the first female field reporter covering sports for TV was the biggest obstacle for me. Once I broke through into the field, everything got easier!


Can you talk a little about your mindset and how you broke through? Did you ever doubt yourself?

There were a good amount of skeptics, but I didn't pay attention to their criticism. Times were different back then, but my mindset was: focused on my job and do it well. I knew I needed to swim against the tide and overcome all the stereotypes.


What are your plans after your daughter is born? Will you continue to report for ESPN Deportes?

My family life is very much in tune with my professional career, so I don't foresee any slowing down. I will continue to work with ESPN Deportes till the very end, especially now with MLB season starting. I will take a short and sweet maternity leave period, and come back stronger than ever!


What advice would you give preteen girls who've come to hear you speak about how you became a successful sports journalist? What steps would you tell them to follow? What things would you tell them NOT to do?

The key is to respect the field, and the field will respect you. People can tell when a woman knows or doesn't know about sports. Always behave as a professional committed to your work and to the information you are providing to your audience. Image is a big part of this career, so don't jeopardize it - especially in arenas full of men.


Are there any books or resources you'd recommend they seek out to learn more?

There are a ton of materials and resources out there for every field - you just have to know where to look. Plus, when it comes to your career, you have to be passionate about it and keep yourself informed with the latest news to ensure you stay at the forefront of your industry. The sports industry is not the only competitive field out there.

WHERE DID MOMMY'S SUPERPOWERS GO? by Jenifer Gershman

Disclosure: The author provided me with a copy of the book to review. Opinions, as always, are my own.

WHERE DID MOMMY'S SUPERPOWER'S GO? by Jenifer Gershman

 

Helping Young Children Cope With Stress

To be effective, school guidance counselors need to be agile. It's imperative that we possess the requisite skills to address the spectrum of social and emotional needs diverse student populations experience. Students face all types of stressors that sometimes lead to depression, which in turn affect their being able to access the curriculum. The stressors are as varied as the students themselves and include peer pressure, poor self-esteem, adjustment issues, domestic violence, abuse, poverty, homelessness, crime, bereavement, or coping with a critically ill parent or loved one. When available, age-appropriate resources, such as books, are a blessing to the helping profession. I recently came across one such book.

This Author Writes From Personal Experience

Author Jenifer Gershman

Jenifer Gershman's WHERE DID MOMMY'S SUPERPOWERS GO? is a poignant story told from the perspective of a young boy whose mother undergoes treatment for a serious illness. The boy's sweet narrative voice and the book's beautiful illustrations guide child readers through his journey, as he watches his mom lose her "strength," copes with her absence as she undergoes treatment, and later notices how her appearance has changed when she returns home.

What makes this book special is that the author who wrote it writes from experience. WHERE DID MOMMY'S SUPERPOWERS GO? is the book she wishes had been available to her to read to her four-year-old son as she underwent high dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplants for a rare blood disorder, that if left untreated, could've taken her life.

I'm grateful to have another tool to add to my school guidance counselor's toolbox. WHERE DID MOMMY'S SUPERPOWERS GO? is a book I would be comfortable reading with a young child because of the compassionate manner in which Gershman handles the technicalities of illness, sadness and a child's capacity to understand both.

To Learn More About The Author Or To Order A Copy: 

Author's Blog
Facebook Page
To Purchase

Jenifer and her son.

School Lunch Policy Goes Awry

Source: USDAgov

I consider myself fortunate to have stumbled upon a School Guidance Counseling program that places a heavy emphasis on social justice, doing what's in the best interest of the child, while maintaining confidentiality. A semester of ethics illustrated how difficult that charge is when so many constituencies are involved: the student, peers, parents, administrators, teachers and outside agencies. It may seem an impossible task, but when the physical and mental well-being of a child take precedent, the best course of action does reveal itself.

School Principal Gets Fired When School Lunch Policy Goes Awry

What sensibilities should we expect of our educators? I use "educator" broadly because in an education setting, educators include everyone from the school bus monitor to the janitor. Shouldn't we expect ten times more from our teachers and administrators? I read an article in the Huffington Post recently about a principal who'd lost her job after a nine-year tenure because she'd opposed a school lunch policy that humiliated children whose lunch accounts no longer had a balance, or were close to zero.

Is It Ever Okay to Humiliate a Child?

What kindness or empathy does a school show to children whose hands are "stamped" red in front of their peers? A great lesson in The Scarlett Letter! Children living in poverty, or other challenging situations such as homelessness, endure enough pain in their lives without having to be publicly shamed. This case really is not complicated and the answer seems obvious. Deal directly with the parents and not the children. The question I ask is simple: How is this policy in the best interest of the child (never mind maintain confidentiality)?

I'd encourage the educators who defended their decision to enforce this policy to revisit their own school's website, where it states under one of its Points of Pride "A caring school environment where every student is known and valued."

Just some food for thought.

Source: Flickr/Tim Lauer

Are you all familiar with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and how each stage relates to human development? Yes, I know. It's pretty basic stuff, Human Development 101, but here you go.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Source: Wikimedia/FactoryJoe

Adjusting My Sails

Most of October and the entire month of November don't feel real. A lot has happened. So much in such a short period of time that trying to remember it all makes my heart race.

Latism came and went
Halloween
A couple of online book clubs
My son's eleventh birthday
Single-handedly building Richard and Samantha's new coop
Sending Richard to live on a farm
and Thanksgiving.

With Christmas and New Year's so near, I reflect on 2013, grateful for the many blessings I've received.

Change swirls about me. My internship at the middle school has revealed where I've known all along that I can make the biggest contribution. I can't help but be a little anxious as 2014 approaches. I feel the direction of Sincerely Ezzy changing.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement.

You know who you are.

We Start At A New School This Week

We start at a new school this week. As some of you know, our son attended a small, private school close to home, and when I say "small," I mean K-8-under-one-hundred-students-small, where everyone knows your name. We're moving for a number of reasons, but the only one that matters to us is that our son requested it. He's ready to experience life outside his small brick building. Both Mom and Dad are a little nervous, because this will be a big change, not to mention culture shock for him. There will be no daily chapel, children aren't expected to hold doors open for their elders, he won't eat his lunch at his desk, nor will he be expected to attend eighth grade graduation each year. Having said all that, despite all that we'll miss that made his previous school special, we're proud of him for advocating for himself, stating that he's ready to make new friends, while firmly and confidently letting us know that he is not going to be siting at the peanut table, either.

Today we attend his new school's Fourth Grade Meet-and-Greet, where we'll drop in to the class, meet his new teacher, other parents and classmates. It's a huge fourth grade wing at a school that will be the equivalent of a small high school for a middle schooler used to a small brick building. I'm grateful beyond words for the role the school adjustment counselor, in addition to the other supports, that are being made available to make his transition as comfortable as is possible, for a ten-year-old, transferring to a new school. I can only imagine the anxiety a family must experience if they or their child are new to the country and don't speak the language. What supports are available to them? As a student of school guidance sitting on the other side of the table, I empathize with these concerns, and for that I'm also grateful.

This week we'll be chronicling a lot of firsts. We're not expecting everything to be perfect and we welcome the unpredictability and excitement that starting something new brings. I came across a wonderful article written by Dr. Michele Borba, a renown and multi-book published, parenting expert. The article is titled "Helping Kids Fit In to a New School and Make Friends." She makes some wonderful recommendations you might find helpful if you have a child starting at a new school.

Is there anything special you've done to ease your child's transition to a new school?

Year Two of Grad School -- Over!

Some course materials ... except for The Great Gatsby. Had time to sneak it into my reading. :-)

I can breathe! Returned from my back-to-back trips to Hispanicize and a much needed family vacation to the end of my second year of graduate school. Can't believe I just typed those words. They look bizarre on the page: second year of graduate school. I've survived it all! Presentations, role-playing, writing and reading assignments. This week sees the end of my 100-hour practicum at the middle school, then a short breather before summer school starts next month.


Meetings, Meetings and More Meetings

I've been exposed to A LOT at the middle school: initial and three year IEP meetings, transition from middle school to high school meetings, 504 meetings, parent-teacher meetings, administration-guidance meetings, student group meetings, counseling sessions with students. In short, I've gotten a broader glimpse into what the job of a school guidance counselor entails. How they're able to cram so much into their days, know the names of the over two hundred students they're assigned, and keep it all straight -- I don't know! Often they don't eat lunch, run from one meeting to the next, when they're not on the phone with parents, community services, or filling out the reams of paperwork that mandated. A good amount of endurance and a healthy sense of humor are required.

Being a parent myself and having the experience of going through the IEP process has helped me to appreciate being on both sides of the table.

Tim Wise: White Privilege, Racism, White Denial & The Cost of Inequality

Multicultural Counseling Weekend

One of the best experiences I had this semester took place over several weekends, both Saturdays and Sundays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Crazy, right? Truth is I couldn't wait to get to  Multicultural Counseling for Children and Adolescents. We tackled some pretty heavy-duty material that made some uncomfortable, while reaffirming the experiences of others. Racism, stereotypes, micro-aggressions, a close inspection of our own biases and assumptions, and advocacy for underserved populations were just a few of the topics we covered.

What I didn't know before starting this program at Cambridge College is that the role of the school guidance counselor is evolving into one of being an agent of social change. Be ready to make yourself heard.

Microagressions and Stereotypes Matching Lesson

Here's an interesting classroom lesson ... matching microagressions to their corresponding stereotypes ... the class did a pretty good job of identifying the pairs. Encouraging to know that educators entering the profession have a high-level of awareness that will help all of us effectively advocate for students and their families.

Micro-agressions and Stereotypes Matching Lesson

This colorful class project has been hanging on one of the walls of our building since I started school. The bright colors, symbols and energy depicted in it make me smile every time I walk by it. Yup, even adults do art projects in school. :-)

I'm anticipating the future and am already thinking about looking for a job in the spring. I cannot wait for either school or the internship to start in the fall. In the meantime, my husband and son are happy to have my undivided attention and I'm happy to just "be."

Feeling blessed.

1987 McKinney-Vento Act: Protecting the Educational Rights of Homeless Children

Over a million homeless children are in need of educational assistance in the United States.
The 1987 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act provides that support.

Families with young children now account for 40% of the nation's homeless population and in the course of the year, more than 1.3 million children are homeless. 

(Source: National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty) 

During my school guidance practicum at the middle school this week, I learned about a federal law and educational resources available to homeless children. These services are provided by the The Office for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. The law is called the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and it was passed in 1987 to protect the educational rights of homeless children who who are not able to advocate for themselves.

McKinney-Vento makes provisions for each school district to have a  McKinney-Vento Liaison who helps locate homeless children and their families to provide them with educational support and referrals to local services and agencies.

One in every 45 children in the U.S. is homeless each year. 

(Source: America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness, National Center on Family Homelessness)

Homeless children lead unpredictable lives. For most, school provides them with the only sense of stability they know, and often the only two meals they'll see during the day. Everything -- their relationships, academics, behavior, physical and emotional health and safety are affected by the transient lives they lead. Think about it for a second. How could a homeless child concentrate enough to learn or be able to develop meaningful relationships if they're hungry and constantly on the move?

Over 40% of the children who are homeless are under the age of five. Ten percent of all children live in poverty.

(Source: National Center for Homeless Education) 

What causes homelessness for many of these children? Following are a few of the most common causes per the Office for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth:

• Lack of affordable housing
• Deep poverty
• Health problems
• Domestic violence
• Natural and other disasters
• Abuse/neglect

During my research for this post, I found two great videos. This first one was put together by a group of students who interviewed several McKinney-Vento Liaisons. It's inspiring and illustrates how much these educators care about the children and families in their districts.





So what are homeless children's McKinney-Vento Rights?

• To go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there.
• To stay in their original or last school even if they move to another.
• To get transportation to their original school.
• To immediately enroll in a new school.
• To automatically receive free breakfast and lunch at school.
• To receive Title I services.
• To receive all the educational and supplemental services that all other children are provided.

In Massachusetts they also have:

• The right to immediate enrollment.
• The right to choose what school to attend.
• The right to transportation.
• The right to participate in the same programs and activities as other students.

This next video was produced by the Anoka-Hennepin school district discusses McKinney-Vento and how students are identified.





The video outlines the warning signs that educators should look for that might suggest a student is homeless:

• Erratic behavior and attendance
• Tardiness
• Numerous absences
• Lack of personal records needed to enroll
• Inability to contact parents
• Lack of participation in school activities and field trips
• Unmet medical and dental needs
• Lack of immunization or medical records
• Poor personal hygiene
• Respiratory problems
• Skin rashes
• Chronic Hunger
• Fatigue
• Disengagement in class
• Isolation from former friends
• Mood swings
• Abrupt changes in behavior

(Source: Anoka-Hennepin McKinney-Vento Homeless Grant Video)

School guidance counselors and all other educators, from the school bus driver to the cafeteria worker, who come in contact with children at school, are charged with helping to identify these children. I encourage you to find out who the McKinney-Vento Liaison is in your district and ask them if there are any school supplies, book bags or other items you might be able to donate.

Please visit the following sites to learn more about McKinney-Vento and homeless children and youth:

• Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
• National Coalition for the Homeless
• Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program
• Horizons for Homeless Children

The Secret Behind Resilience

What explains resilience?

Am I the only one who's ever wondered why some people are more resilient than others? For example, why is it that in a home where siblings are exposed to some kind of neglect, trauma or abuse, some are able to develop strong coping skills, going on to lead rewarding lives, while others don't?

I found my answer in a New York Times article my first semester of graduate school. It shook me. Prior to reading A Question of Resilience by Emily Bazelon, I'd never really considered the "nature" part of the "nature vs. nurture" argument for human development. Saying that someone was just "born" a certain way seemed too easy an explanation, like voodoo. As far as I was concerned, a person's environment and upbringing explained everything.

What I discovered in the New York Times article is that resilience is born out of both a person's genetics and environment.

"While children of average intelligence or above were more likely to exhibit resilience, the researchers noted that good relationships with adults can exert an effect that is as powerful, if not more, in mitigating the effects of adversity." Emily Bazelon, New York Times

Even though scientists have been able to identify genes that determine physical attributes, such as hair and eye color, genes that explain our psychology had remained a mystery. That is until a group of researchers identified 5-HTT, a gene that regulates the brain's serotonin levels. They discovered that the pair of genes in 5-HTT comes in two variations, two long alleles or two short alleles, with the short allele being the equivalent of getting the genetic "short end of the stick."

"Researchers are discovering that a particular variation of a gene can help promote resilience in the people who have it, acting as a buffer against the ruinous effects of adversity. In the absence of an adverse environment, however, the gene doesn't express itself in this way. It drops out of the psychological picture." Emily Bazelon, New York Times

We should all hope to have the protection of the long version of 5-HTT. Turns out that people carrying the long set are found to be more resilient, while those carrying at least one short allele are prone to developing depression and/or anxiety. The good news is that even if a person carries a short allele, it remains dormant until there's a trigger: stress or trauma.

The end of the New York Times article mentions a genetic test being made available through doctor's offices to test for the gene. What do you think? Would you want to know which set you carry?

Even though I'm fascinated by the topic and will be exploring it more as it relates to children in schools, I'm not sure I'd want to know.