Bulletin Report<\/p>\n
For the first time in its history, Gadsden Independent School District advocated for itself at the state capitol, fighting for funding for its dual language program. High schoolers from the district, faculty and staff, and Superintendent Nubia Tarazona attended the trip which was fully funded by Project Jupiter.<\/p>\n
Students, faculty, and staff received recognition from the House and Senate on Bilingual Day, Feb. 13.<\/p>\n
The trip included advocacy support at the Roundhouse, a dinner reception at Eldorado Hotel and Spa attended by legislators and Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, and a recognition ceremony for the school district in both the House and Senate.<\/p>\n
The funding provided by Project Jupiter also included transportation and lodging, meals, a visit to Meow Wolf, and Santa Fe sightseeing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a whole new experience for these students, and we were grateful to broaden their world view and their belief in what the future could hold,\u201d said Superintendent Tarazona. \u201cThis was an incredible educational opportunity for our students to learn about how policy is made and about how to advocate for programs and policies they care about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students got an introduction to advocacy and strategies to champion programs and policies they care about from Community Outreach Organizer of Borderplex Digital Assets and alumnus of Gadsden School District, Jose Ibarra. The students had the opportunity to talk to legislators individually and educate them on the importance of dual language programs in their district.<\/p>\n
During the trip, students met Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, and several House and Senate members.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important that you guys recognize the power that you have as students visiting Santa Fe,\u201d Lt. Gov Morales told students at a dinner reception. \u201cThe one message I want to share: I want you to know that you can compete with anyone across this country and this world. But you need to believe in yourself, advocate, and be open and respectful of everyone. You guys are the future who can bring us together in unity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students expressed excitement about their trip, and many are even considering politically aligned careers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were able to meet with the governor, and she told us a personal story about a father and daughter who shared with her the impact a policy change made on their lives,\u201d said Denise De Anda, a junior at Alta Vista High School. \u201cThis opened my eyes for a career path I would like to pursue, because I really want to help people,\u201d<\/p>\n
Jorge Romo, a senior at Chaparral High School, said he is excited for the opportunity to build career skills and to be represented at the capitol.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a terrible myth that we can do more with less funding,\u201d said district bilingual instructional specialist Jos\u00e9 Reyes. \u201cLanguage is how we connect with one another and dual language skills give students more opportunity in life. I am happy to see that the students have been given the opportunity to advocate for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
GISD, located in Southern New Mexico near El Paso, Texas, serves a high-poverty community, with 100% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. The district\u2019s student population is 96.5% Hispanic, and 47% of students are identified as English Language Learners, reflecting the linguistic richness of the GISD community. Many of these students participate in the district\u2019s growing dual language program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bulletin Report For the first time in its history, Gadsden Independent School District advocated for itself at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":["post-169917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}