This just made my day! Awesome press on Academia Cuauhtli by the National Education Association. Michelle Yanes, also a bilingual/dual language education teacher at Ridgetop Elementary in AISD, is featured in this story as she is one of our beloved Academia Cuauhtli teachers.
Cuauhtli is Nahuatl for "eagle." We want our children to soar as high as the eagle of which academic achievement is an important part, but we also want them to have the birds-eye view so that they don't get lost in the clouds even as they have analytic depth and clarity. The eagle is also a universal symbol of renewal which is what we all seek in and through this curriculum and pedagogy. Many people give freely of their time and efforts to bring this gem of a Saturday academy to fruition. We are soon entering into our fourth year as an academy.
So looking forward to our weekend events (see previous posts). If you feel like joining us in ceremony, Danza Mexica (Aztec dancing [danza actually means "ceremony" and not "dancing"], feel free to drop by at 600 River, Austin, Texas, at around 9:30AM to observe. This is the first half of our students' graduation ceremony. Speaking on behalf of Nuestro Grupo, the community-based organization in partnership with AISD and the City of Austin's Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, this has been a labor of love that by tapping into those root sources of identity, has indeed been about renewal. It nurtures, edifies, and affirm our children, parents, teachers, and community as a whole.
We hope that rather than abandoning the public schools, Academia Cuauhtli can serve as an example of what all of us could be doing throughout our state and nation. That is, we need to own public education and we can do this by getting involved in school board politics, policy, and elections. We can also do this by developing partnerships like these that help re-shape education in directions that make it responsive to our culturally and linguistically diverse children, youth, and communities.
Thanks a million to Bill Moreno and Sabrina Holcomb for this wonderful story!
Sí se puede! Yes we can!
Angela Valenzuela
c/s
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AcademiaCuauhtli/Bold, new program delivers love and affirmation for Austin’s Latinx students
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Educators work with students at Academia Cuauhlti.
By Bill Moreno and Sabrina HolcombA growing reality for many of the nation’s educators is a curriculum that hasn’t kept pace with the changing face of America’s student population. In Austin, Texas, where students of color number 73 percent and Latino students nearly 60 percent, a grassroots group of educators and community organizations came together to empower students who often feel invisible.
The bilingual curriculum, which is rooted in indigenous ways of learning, is a source of joy and pride for students and educators.
“When our students learn about their roots and ancestors, they become visible,” says Michelle Yanes, an Education Austin member and Academy volunteer. “And when I get to teach in such a powerful way, it fills me up.”
The Academy is a grassroots initiative and true coalition effort:
Housed in the Mexican American Cultural Center, the curriculum is taught
by Education Austin volunteers, written by university professors (in
consultation with public school teachers), and developed with community
organizations Nuestro Grupo and the Austin Area Association for
Bilingual Education. The city of Austin operates the Center and the
school district provides students with transportation.Although classes are held on Saturdays, off school grounds, much of the Academy curriculum has been embedded in the 4th grade social studies curriculum throughout the district.
“We all joined forces to meet our students’ needs and form a human wall of love against hate, bias, and those who would block children in search of opportunity,” says Monserrat Garibay, vice-president of EdAustin.
Rather than divorcing educator development and preparation from students, parents, and community, Academy organizers intentionally included them in the formation of the program instead of viewing them solely as a target audience. Along with deepening educators’ practice in diverse communities, the program also aims to “grow its own” teachers by inspiring a new generation.
The process works. In addition to research touting the success of linguistically and culturally relevant instruction, Academy students have become de facto instructors, eager to share their new knowledge with their peers.
The next phase of the program is a professional development component that will launch this fall, with a grant from NEA’s Great Public Schools fund. Educators will have the opportunity to train and practice at the Academy, while veteran volunteers will mentor fellow educators at their school buildings. The program, which serves elementary students, will eventually expand to include middle and high schoolers.
Buoyed by the success of the program, Academy activists urge other affiliates and school districts to launch initiatives that meet the unique needs of their students and communities.
“This program is very near and dear to many people’s hearts,” Yanes declares. “It challenges the community to think in a different way. Not in a way that targets us or puts us down but in a way we can rise up together.”
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