Friday, January 09, 2015

ACADEMIA CUAUHTLI ACADEMY / CUAUHTLI ACADEMY POSTPONEMENT OF EVENT

FRIENDS,

DUE TO WHAT ARE PROJECTED TO BE ICY WEATHER CONDITIONS TOMORROW, WE ARE POSTPONING OUR INAUGURAL EVENT TO NEXT SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015. SO NO FESTIVITIES TOMORROW. SEE YOU NEXT SATURDAY, WE HOPE AS PER OUR RE-ISSUED INVITATION (see below)—SAME PLACE BEGINNING AT 11AM.

For more information, please contact Larissa Davila at davilaly@live.com (email) or (512) 636-6381 (phone).

-ANGELA VALENZUELA

Cuauhtli Academyhttps://www.facebook.com/AcademiaCuauhtli

You are cordially invited to the inauguration of Academia Cuauhtli (Cuauhtli Academy) that takes place on Saturday, January 17, 2015 from 11:00AM-3:15PM at the new AISD Performing Arts Center located at 1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd., Austin, TX 78723 (see link to map below). Tamales, chocolate, and pan dulce will be served with Performances by Tejano music master Joel Guzman, McCallum High School Ballet Folklórico, Crockett High School Mariachi, Martin Middle School Ballet Folklórico, Bedichek Middle School Mariachi, and El Grupo de Danza Mexica Xochipilli.
Academia Cuauhtli is a language and culture revitalization partnership project for AISD fourth graders attending Metz, Zavala, and Sanchez Elementary Schools that takes place every Saturday at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center located at 600 River St. from January 10, 2015 through May 2, 2015. Instruction will take place exclusively in Spanish in the context of a TEKS-aligned, culturally and linguistically relevant Mexican American and Tejano history curriculum in the areas of local history, immigration/migration, and civil rights—soon to be expanded to women, indigenous heritage, and the cultural arts. All of the curricula developed out of this initiative is (or will be) available to students at multiple grade levels throughout the entire district.
Originating from our community, the Saturday academy is a collaboration between Nuestro Grupo (a community organization), the Texas Center for Education Policy at the University of Texas at Austin, the Tejano History Curriculum Project (an Initiative of the Tejano Monument Project), the Austin Independent School District and the City of Austin’s Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center.

Here are all the pertinent links:

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AcademiaCuauhtli
Map to AISD Performing Arts Center: http://tinyurl.com/AISDPAC
AISD Website: http://www.austinisd.org/academics/cuauhtli
Many thanks to our inauguration sponsors:

• Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Texas at Austin
• Austin Area Association for Bilingual Education
• Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, University of Texas at Austin
• Tejano History Curriculum Project
• Texas Center for Education Policy
• National Latino/a Education Research and Policy Project

Cultural Arts & Literacy Cuauhtli Academy
The Austin Independent School District (AISD) is a diverse, urban district that is making great progress in student academic achievement. AISD is the fifth largest school district in Texas, and serves approximately 86,000 students at 124 schools.

austinisd.org
Cuauhtli Academy

It is with great satisfaction and great pride that we inaugurate Academia Cuauhtli / Cuauhtli Academy—a language and culture revitalization project—at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center. Students get taught in Spanish a Mexican American Studies / Tejano Studies curriculum in grade 4, targeting three nearby east Austin elementary schools—Metz, Sanchez, and Zavala. This involves a partnership involving Nuestro Grupo (our community based organization organized by the Texas Center for Education Policy and the Tejano Monument Curriculum Initiative, both at the University of Texas at Austin and NLERAP, its fiscal agent and national nonprofit organization), the Austin Independent School District, the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department and within it, the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center that is itself a historic achievement by our community here in Austin. This has been a labor of love. Our team is so talented and passionate about the whole initiative. It is quite a beautiful thing. Our inauguration takes place on Saturday, January 10, 2015, from 11:00AM-3:15PM at 600 River St. in central Austin. We will be serving tamales, pan dulce, and chocolate. We will have performances by our district's mariachi and ballet folklorico students. There will be Mexica dancers with copal and they will explain the meaning of the dances. Come celebrate with us if you can. Mil gracias, thanks for all involved (hope I got everybody) as follows: Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Dr. Pauline Dow, Martha Cotera, Oralia Garza de Cortes, Dr. Emilio Zamora, Brenda Rubio, Laura Esparza, Tiffany Moreno, Brenda Ayala, Noreen Rodriguez, Martha Sanchez, Olivia C. Hernandez, Dr. Isabel A. Millán, Larissa Davila, Alonzo René Mendoza, Anthony Martinez, Modesta Trevino, Dr. Christopher Milk, Gina Tillis, Patricia Núñez, Dr. Manuel Xavier Zamarripa, Jessica Ochoa Zamarripa, Julia Hernandez, Kristina Gutierrez, Jesse Gainer, Nancy Valdez-Gainer, Randy Bell, Juan Ramirez, Dr. Ramon Martinez, Dr. Luis Urrieta, Dr. Arcelia Hernandez, Belinda Jiménez, Manuel Martinez, Luis Ramirez, Julia Hernandez, Yvette Cardenas, Fernando Rios, Joanna Sanchez, Juan Oyervides, Kathy Mariscal, Maria Vaso, Dr. Beatriz Gutierrez, Dr. Deb Palmer, Dr. Delia Montecinos, Paola Ferate, Dr. Haydee Rodriguez, A.J. Hope, Jennifer Ross, Beatriz Hernandez, Clarissa Riojas. Special thanks, in particular, to our resident historian, Dr. Emilio Zamora, who inspired this curriculum through the Tejano Monument Curriculum Initiative. Thanks as well to the fantastic AISD team of curriculum writers as part of the Curriculum Writers Cadre, and most especially to our committed AISD dual language teachers who because of their efforts, the curriculum is TEKS-aligned (i.e., adapted to state standards) and is currently available in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 11. We have all become one big family! AISD's Chief Academic Officer Dr. Pauline Dow and ESB-MACC staff, especially Tiffany Moreno, and Laura Esparza from the Parks and Recreation Department have been awesome partners, as well. With a new grant from Humanities Texas, the curriculum will expand to indigenous heritage, women, and the cultural arts. Also worthy of mention is that this has involved the participation of faculty from the following five universities: The University of Texas at Austin Huston Tillotson St. Edwards University South University Texas State University It takes a village, indeed! Our bad weather/rainy day site will be Sanchez Elementary, same time, from 11-3:15 PM on January 10, 2015 but are otherwise meeting in the zocalo of the ESB-MACC. All are welcome to attend this joyful celebration of a broad-based community effort! Sinceramente, Dr. Angela Valenzuela
Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Culture Center, Austin, Texas
at

No comments:

Post a Comment