Biola Elementary<\/a> at CUSD in the migrant education program. Ceballos conducted home visits with migrant families, helped families access resources, and helped transport children to and from school.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cThere was so much need, I remember doing [home] visits until 8 or 9 p.m.\u201d Ceballos said.<\/p>\n
As she gained the trust from the community, Ceballos started asking parents why they wouldn\u2019t participate in after school programs or attend board meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told me, \u2018it\u2019s that they don\u2019t treat us with respect here, they don\u2019t treat us well,\u2019\u201d Ceballos said. \u201cParents told me, \u2018they don\u2019t speak Spanish, they make us sign papers that are all in English. We don\u2019t understand them but we still sign them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Immediately, Ceballos stepped in to translate documents from English to Spanish, connected parents to additional resources and personally drove undocumented families to doctors appointments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ceballos recounted a time when an undocumented mother approached her about taking her son to hospital because of tooth pain. The mother was afraid the doctors wouldn\u2019t treat her son due to her status.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ceballos said, \u201cLet’s go right now, they are going to treat him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The road to family liaisons\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Ceballos\u2019 work in the migrant program expanded, she realized she couldn\u2019t handle all the work alone, especially on a part time basis. The district increased her hours and hired an additional translator to ease workflow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Families of English learner students began approaching Ceballos for help with their needs, and she felt obligated to continue providing resources. Her supervisor allowed her to expand her work priorities to include English learner services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through this, she learned that some families required liaisons who spoke languages other than Spanish, like Hmong and Punjabi.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Slowly, Ceballos started to request family liaisons \u2013 one per each year. She was frustrated by the pace, thinking that she would retire not seeing liaisons at every school.<\/p>\n
The real turning point came when parents began complaining about mistreatment at one of the school sites. Ceballos told the parents to go before the board to ask for more resources \u2013 and to ask for more liaisons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was necessary that parents have someone to communicate with on a daily basis about what was happening at their school,\u201d Ceballos said. \u201c[The board] had to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2023, the CUSD board approved liaisons for each school site.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ceballos considers the family liaison network as one of her biggest accomplishments, aside from seeing the growth from generations of students and families she was able to serve.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I like to say that wherever you go, make sure to leave that place better than how you found it,\u201d Ceballos said. \u201cHaving arrived [at CUSD] being the only [liaison] and now leaving with many\u2026knowing that I fought with everything I had to help families. I left the foundation ready, and from there it depends on who\u2019s in the seat next.”<\/p>\n
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fresnoland.org\/2026\/08\/17\/nora-ceballos\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fresnoland.org”>Fresnoland<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fresnoland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/cropped-Fresnoland_FacebookProfile.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
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