A Culturally Proficient Society Begins in School by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1051648
Publisher: Corwin Press
Published: 2011-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

During my early years in Pueblo, my parents owned and ran a small mom-and-pop grocery store. We lived in the downstairs apartment of my maternal grandparents’ home. All of the extended family, meaning grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, great-aunts, and great-uncles, lived within a three-block area. I recall a wonderful time of daily interactions with the family. Pueblo was made up of ethnic neighborhoods. Although Hispanic, we lived in the Italian part of town, and the extended family members spoke fluent Italian. I recall, as a child, entering a room and the language spoken would change from English or Spanish to Italian. My mother’s father was fluent in five languages, and my last visit with him prior to his death involved him teaching me basic Italian.

At age five, my mother, father, and younger sister (Christine) boarded a train to Los Angeles. There were two reasons for this permanent move. First, the economy was poor, and second, my father wanted to relocate to be near his parents. My paternal grandparents, who had relocated from near Las Palomas, New Mexico, to California in the mid-1940s, owned three houses on a lot. We moved into the middle house, and settled into a time of new family connections. Two years later, we bought the property from my grandparents, and they moved to another home in El Sereno. One of my fondest memories from the next six years was the Christmas Eve get-together.

My father’s five living siblings (two had died in childhood and two as young adults), their spouses, and 21 first cousins would enjoy the holiday spirit. It was a magical time that would not come again, as relatives raised their own families and some moved out of the area or out of state.

Education became an important part of growing up, and I like to think that my immediate family set the stage for this. We moved to Monterey Park, and the expectation was that I would attend college-track classes in high school. All six of us obtained various degrees, with my brother Mitchell and me achieving advanced degrees. I look back with sentimental thoughts, picturing the pride in my Granny’s eyes, as I embarked on my career in education. Beyond that, I was fortunate to enjoy the support and encouragement of my parents and that of my husband Tom Jackson throughout my administrative career. The previous experiences provided the backdrop for my choice of educational leader as a goal.

A second life experience involved my active participation in the teacher union. As a new teacher, I found myself in an elementary school that had most of the officers in the district’s teacher union. They lost no time getting me involved. I assisted with the writing of the first teacher contract in Rowland Unified School District. I actively participated in a union campaign to elect three board members whose job would be to fire the superintendent. This turned out to a real eye-opener after the three were elected to the board. I spent the next 18 months

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