Potential

"It is a serious thing," says Lewis, "to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no 'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal."
--C. S. Lewis, From The Weight of Glory.

This quote by C. S. Lewis is a favorite of mine...and is one we should definitely remember when we face our Esperanza students each day. We must not only see our students for who they are today but also their unlimited potential.

Awakening a Love for History

Abigail Adams, writing one of her many letters to her husband, John, who was off in Philadelphia working to put the Declaration of Independence through Congress, wrote, "Posterity who are to reap the blessings, will scarcely be able to conceive the hardships and sufferings of their ancestors."

We are the ones reaping the blessings of those who paved the way for us. We have so much to learn from these courageous souls who didn't know how things were going to turn out. They were living in their present, just as we do. Reading biographies, autobiographies, historical fiction, trade books about events, etc. will give us a much richer understanding of historical times than memorizing dates and events.

David McCullough who has a great passion and love for history and has written a number of books about history told BYU students at a forum assembly on the 27th of September 2005, "...pursue it [history] avidly, with diligence, with attention. I hope you do this not just because it will make you a better citizen, and it will; not just because you learn a great deal about human nature and about cause and effect in your own lives, as well as the life of the nation, which you will; but as a source of strength, as an example of how to conduct yourself in difficult times...But I hope you also will find history to be a source of pleasure."

We owe it to our Esperanza scholars to awaken in them a love for history.

Esperanza Scholars

It is my hope that we will call our students scholars and that we as educators can set the example. It is for this reason that I had a strong interest in Dr. John W. Welch's acceptance speech for the 2011 BYU Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award that he gave last Tuesday.

He based his remarks on a quote by Joseph Smith: "Thy mind, o man, must stretch." Dr. Welch encouraged all his listeners to expand their minds, discover new things and seek for flashes of inspiration. We want no less for our Esperanza scholars (both students and educators). He went on to say that discoveries require hard work and going the extra mile--over long periods of time. We must continue to believe that an answer is out there somewhere.

Dr. Welch's remarks support BYU's mission statement which states in part, "....stimulating setting where a commitment to excellence is expected and the full realization of human potential is persued." We, too, want to provide this type of environment at Esperanza for our scholars.

"Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears the Crown"

Some great words of William Shakespeare are giving me some food for thought this morning: "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown." (King Henry IV, Part II, act 3, scene 1, line 31)

Needless to say, I have not been declared a queen with a literal crown but as the leader of Esperanza's founding group I figuratively feel the weight of a leader's crown. President Gordon B. Hinckley mentioned these same Shakespeare's words in a speech he gave at BYU on November 4, 1969 titled The Loneliness of Leadership. There are numerous times "the crown" of leadership has caused me to experience deep loneliness. Therefore, this talk by Pres. Hinckley found at http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=1131 has given me great solace.

In the Bible Moses was feeling the heavy weight of his leadership responsibilities when his father-in-law gave him some wise advice about delegation. (Exodus 18) Jethro counseled Moses that he would surely wear away and all the people with him unless he learned to delegate because he was unable to do the work alone. As I learn to improve my delegation skills there are also some things others can do to help lift the load:

• Apply the principles from the story A Message to Garcia



• Remember the phrase--"Do more, better, and before expected"-- when asked to do something



• When something is not completed at the requested time, say when it will be done rather than give an excuse

It will take the work of many people to make Esperanza an exceptional school. I, like Moses in Exodus 17:11-12, am so appreciative of the times those around me have stood beside me and held up my hands when they were heavy so that our work can go forward.

Disclaimer: Although I have a made references to the Bible and to an LDS (Latter-Day Saint) prophet in this BLOG posting it is not my intention to mix church and state. I only use these references because they so perfectly represent the points I am wanting to make.

Serendipity

Chocolate chip cookies were invented by Ruth Wakefield when she attempted to make chocolate drop cookies. She did not have the required chocolate so she broke up a candy bar and placed the chunks into the cookie mix. These chunks later morphed into what is now known as chocolate chip cookies. Because of a serendipitous experience we now have a favorite cookie.

I first heard the word serendipity when I was doing my student teaching many years ago when our student teacher supervisor, Della Provost, introduced it to us. I have loved the word—not only for the way it sounds but for what it means. I like these two definitions:

1. discovery of something fortunate: the accidental discovery of something pleasant, valuable, or useful
2. gift for discovery: a natural gift for making pleasant, valuable, or useful discoveries by accident

The first noted use of "serendipity" in the English language was by Horace Walpole (1717–1792). In a letter to Horace Mann (dated January 28th 1754) he said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of".

It has truly been a delightful serendipitous experience to discover how Dr. Purkey’s Invitational Education, Dr. Glasser’s Quality School, and Dr. Haberman’s STAR teachers are intertwined since we have chosen the three to be the foundation of Esperanza Elementary.

The Most Powerful Predictor For Success

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700138197/Teachers-at-top-schools-cite-collaborative-efforts.html?s_cid=fb_share

The above is a link to an article published by the Deseret News on May 23, 2011 about the top ten and lowest ten performing schools in Utah. The schools that performed the worst attributed their scores to high poverty, high mobility, high percentage of minority students (mostly Hispanic), high numbers of students who are English Language Learners. Five of these schools came from the same school district. The Executive of Curriculum and Instruction of this district said that no other district that even comes close to the demographics of their district.

We at Esperanza will be intentionally addressing similar issues because of the population we want to serve. It is extremely important that we not blame the victim which has become an accupational disease of education according to Dr. Martin Haberman in his book Star Teachers: the Ideology and Best Practice of Effective Teachers of Diverse Children and Youth in Poverty.

The most important reason, according to Haberman, that STARs want to learn more about their students' out-of-school lives is they want to make learning more meaningful and relevant rather than a reason as to why they can't teach them. How a teacher explains and thinks about these issues is the most powerful predictor of his/her success in teaching diverse children.

A Culture of Reading

Dr. William Purkey says that he only needs a “whiff” to know if a school or classroom is inviting. I want that to be true of Esperanza as well as the fact that it will be obvious from a whiff that everyone at Esperanza loves books and learning.

To create this kind of environment is not sufficient for students to only learn how to read. Studies show that half of America is aliterate which means the quality or state of being able to read but uninterested in doing so. One third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives and 42% of college graduates never read another book after college. (Source: Jerold Jenkins, www.JenkinsGroupInc.com)

We want our Esperanza students to love books and be lifelong learners. The educators at Esperanza must set the example. Educators who are avid readers their enthusiasm flows from their personal lives into the classroom. Yet, research is indicating that teachers don’t read any more often than other adults in the general population. One study of 224 teachers pursuing graduate degrees found that only half had read one or two professional books in the previous year, and an additional 20% said they had read nothing in the last six months or one year. (Source: www.trelease-on-reading.com)

I feel that we should start now with those who hope to work at Esperanza to become avid readers by doing the following:

The principal/instructional leader needs to talk about and share books and professional journals for research shows that teachers read more who have principals who do this.
On the Generación Floreciente website (www.generacionfloreciente.org) there is a professional Book of the Month.

Invite teachers to join me on Goodreads (www.goodreads.com) I have been introduced so many great books by friends on Goodreads. It’s similar to what I remember as a young woman doing-- a friend and I found a list of suggested books and we spent one summer challenging each other to read them.

Encourage teachers to participate in a book discussion group—maybe meeting from 7:00-8:30 one day a week (or month).

The love of reading is something that is caught, not taught. Therefore, we need to first develop this love ourselves.

Incredible Resource

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/brochures.html

This whole website is an incredible resource on literacy for parents, educators, and policy makers. Many of the resources are in English and/or Spanish.

Wonderful Program

Program gives girls Quinceanera, confidence and direction - ksl.com

This sounds like a wonderful program. The goal is similar to the Hispanic Mother/Daughter Program that we plan to implement for our 6th grade girls.

Following in Mohammad Yunus's Footsteps

The story of Mohammad Yunus is fascinating. He is the man who established the Grameen Bank (means Village Bank) in Bangladesh in 1983 because of his commitment to eradicating poverty. His work started by giving a personal loan of small amounts of money to destitute basketweavers in Bangladesh in the mid-70s. Grameen Bank provides micro-loans on terms suitable to the people that they can pay back and that sparks personal initiative to create a flourishing business. Yunus also teaches the people a few sound financial principles such as advancing discipline, unity, courage, and hard work in all walks of their lives. Over 97% of the Grameen Bank's loans are paid back, a recovery rate higher than any other banking system.

We could do something similar at Esperanza. We could give each student a $1-$5 loan to start a business after writing a simple business plan. The students would pay the money back plus a small interest rate. They could divide up their profits so that 10% went to an education fund, 10% went to a charity of their choosing, 30%-50% went to refining and expanding the business, and the rest the student could use for himself or herself.

This plan would reinforce the entrepreneurial spirit that many of our families already have.

Wholesome Traditions Are Inviting

As I listened this morning to the BYU devotional speech given by Ed Adams about traditions I thought how perfectly it fit with the Esperanza training we had yesterday on Invitational Education.

Wholesome traditions that we intentionally employ will play an important part in making Esperanza inviting. It would behoove all of us to think of traditions that would make Esperanza inviting for each of our stakeholders--educators, parents, students, Board members, members of the community.

Being inviting also means cheering on other schools. Ed Adams gave examples of some colleges that are finding ways to support opposing sports' teams such as inviting them to tailgaiting parties and cheering when they score. In a similar manner we want to think of specific traditions Esperanza can employ to be inviting to other schools.

According to Ed Adams basic research has found over the years a relationship between group behavior in the public sphere and the perception of that group. Yet, not only do we want Esperanza to be perceived internally and externally as the most inviting place in town but we also want this inviting spirit to be manifested in the life of each person involved with Esperanza...and to let that spirit attend him/her in all aspects of his/her life.

"The Cracked Pot"

Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Learning more can often make someone feel inadequate. It is important for everyone who will be working at Esperanza (as well as Board members, parents, and students) to remember the beautiful lesson from the story of "The Cracked Pot."


A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfections, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work and you don't get full value for your efforts," the pot said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it hadleaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure. The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house." Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots.

Codfish and Catfish in the Same Tank

Many years ago, fishing for codfish in the Northeast had become a lucrative commercial business. The fishing industry recognized that a great market for codfish existed all over America, but they had a major problem in the distribution. At first, they simply froze the fish as they did all their other products, and shipped it out across the country. But for some reason, after the codfish was frozen, it lost its taste. So the owners decided to ship the fish in huge tanks filled with fresh seawater. They thought for sure that would solve the problem and keep the fish fresh. But to their dismay, this process only make matters worse. Because the fish were inactive in the tank, they became soft and mushy, and once again they lost their taste.

One day, somebody decided to put some catfish in the tank with the codfish. Catfish are a natural enemy of codfish, so as the tank traveled across the country, the codfish had to stay alert and active, and be on the lookout for the catfish. Amazingly, when the tank arrived at its destination, the codfish were as fresh and tasty as they were in the Northeast. (This story came from the book Your Best Life Now Journal by Joel Osteen)

This story has important messages for us. First, a challenge to any aspect of what we are doing at Esperanza has the potential to make us stronger as we find evidence to support our decision. Second, we need to be careful that in our desire to help our students be successful that we not take away all challenges they face as those very challenges may have the potential to make them even stronger and better able to make a difference in the world.

Being a Reader and Writer

When I left the Dual Immersion Academy charter school on May 14, 2010 I made a commitment to continue growing and learning to be prepared for the next chapter in my life. Because of that commitment I read 289 books since that day. I intend to continue reading this next year with a special focus on doing some narrow reading like reading all Ann Rinaldi's historical fiction books.

Yet, a quote by Arthur Helps, a writer (1813-1875)-- "Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought"--gave me some food for thought. Therefore, this next year I'm also going to focus on doing some writing:

• Write in my reflective journal


• Write a daily BLOG posting


• Write poems based on the book Rose, Where Did You Get That Red? by Kenneth Koch

Being readers and writers is important for all Esperanza educators to do if we are going to set the example for our students.

A Lesson From the Freedom Fighters

Last night we watched a documentary about the Freedom Riders. The courage they had is an inspiration. They stayed true to their cause in spite of the heinous trials and afflictions they faced.

This true story is a reminder that no matter how just our cause is there is no guarantee that we won't face opposition. In fact, if there is no opposition the cause is probably not big enough. As Albert Einstein said, "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

It is important for those of us founding Esperanza to remember this...and not give up our commitment to the cause when opposition appears.

Creating a Safe Environment at Esperanza

An article titled New rules, new administrator help curb Kearns gang problems posted on KSL.com's website yesterday gave me some more food for thought concerning safety at Esperanza.

I feel a safe school is a high priority. Some ways we can build that safe environment at Esperanza are:

• Have a dress code for uniforms that we enforce


• Be the most "inviting" place in town


• Have every staff person (and parent) commit to knowing the name of every student in the school


• Focus on building and nourishing relationships with colleagues, students, parents, and community members


• Do whatever it takes for every student to experience success and build on that success.


• Involve all Esperanza stakeholders in such a way that they feel Esperanza is their school.


• Encourage and teach all staff members how to be "warm demanders."


• Be fair--not equal


• Use suspension as a consequence only as a last resort

The bottom line is that we want to keep on teaching ALL students not only for the students' benefit but our community needs well-disciplined and educated citizens if it is to grow and flourish.

Not Everyone Will Like Us

Kevin Eikenberry shared on his blog 5 lessons we could learn from Elvis Presley. One thing that particularly struck me was the one that said embrace those who embrace you. He then went on to explain that being influential doesn't mean everyone has to agree with you, see your vision, or even like you. In fact when trying something new that is bold and different will make some people very uneasy.

Esperanza Elementary in itself is something new and different. Then there are certain aspects of the school that are new and different. In order for us to be successful it is critical that we stay focused on what we want to accomplish and not be swayed because someone happens to be critical of what we are doing.

Persuasion Is Essential

As I listened this morning to the rebroadcasting of Dr. Cory Leonard's BYU devotional speech that was given May 3, 2011 I gained some new insights about the importance of persuasion. As we start our new charter school, Esperanza Elementary, we will be involved in many situations that will require persuasion as we discuss issues surrounding curriculum, uniforms, report cards, professional development, discipline, budget, etc. Therefore, the timing of this speech couldn't have been better.

Dr. Leonard reminded me that even though persuasion can be used inappropriately it is an essential part of our lives. Being persuaded is just as crucial as being persuasive. How we deal with both can have a profound impact on lives. To reap the greatest benefits in both instances we need to open our hearts and be longsuffering, meek, and charitable.

What Is Most Important

I just finished reading the English translation of Cien Años de Soledad (100 Years of Solitude) by Gabriel García Márquez. I had already read it in Spanish. I was reminded of a comment made by Dale Rees when he worked in the district office for Salt Lake City. He was speaking of students reading The Diary of Anne Frank in Spanish--He said that 10 years from now students wouldn't remember whether they had read it in English or Spanish, only that they had read it.

Too often people (sadly, even some educators) equate intelligence and knowledge with speaking English. Although our committed goal at Esperanza is for all students to eventually become biliterate--listening, speaking, reading, and writing--in both English and Spanish I don't want us to ever forget that English and knowledge/intelligence are not synonyms. Hopefully that will help us all to not become overly concerned when a student, especially in the early grades, may be seeming to lag behind in English OR Spanish. Growing and learning isWhat what is most important, no matter what language. Once the language is learned the knowledge can be transferred.

Learning From the "Miss Saunders" Story

I recently read an article titled In Praise of Principals (in Hard Times) by Elena Aguilar. As I pondered on the thoughts and suggestions in this article I was reminded of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy theory.

Every educator is probably aware of the Pygmalion effect and the self-fulfilling prophecy as it relates to students. One of my favorite stories that is allegedly true is the following.

A school teacher somewhere in America (lets call her Miss Saunders) was given the task of supervising the worst class in the school - the one where other teachers dumped their worst students.One day Miss Saunders was talking with the principal in his office, about her students, when the principle had to answer a phone call. The principal turned away from his desk for a minute or two, and since the file on her class was lying open on the desk Miss Saunders leaned across and read the top sheet on the file.She was amazed to see that it was a list of the students, with their IQ scores. Amazed because all of the scores were well over a hundred. In fact a couple were over 150.Armed with the knowledge of how intelligent her students were Miss Saunders' attitude changed completely. Instead of thinking the students were stupid, ignorant or lazy Miss Saunders began to treat them as the "gifted" students she now knew them to be.And of course it had fantastic results. From being a class of losers it became one of the top three classes in the school as far as their test results, etc., was concerned. Moreover the students became far better behaved, more attentive, took better care of themselves, and so on.At the end of the year the principal congratulated Miss Saunders on doing such a brilliant job with such "unpromising" students."Unpromising?" said Miss Saunders. "But I sneaked a look at their IQ scores one time and they all rates as 'superior', 'gifted' or even, in two cases, 'genius'."The principal thought for a moment and then burst out laughing."Are you talking about the figures on the top sheet of the class file?" he asked.Miss Saunders nodded."Well I hate to disillusion you," said the principal, "but those aren't their IQ scores. They're their locker numbers!"

Although it is extremely important for teachers to treat students as if they were capable, it is just as important for principals to have the same kind of expectations for teachers and vice versa. After all, all humans whether they are children or adults, tend to behave as they are treated.

Lesson Reminder From an Abscess Tooth

On Monday I was suffering from excruciating pain which I later found out was caused by an abscess tooth. Pain relievers such as aspirin and Tylenol weren't helping. The pain relieving effects of Ibuprofen only lasted for a few hours. Even though I was still able to complete some important work in spite of the pain I was suffering, I didn't produce my best work because my focus was on the pain more than the work.

This experience taught me a very important reminder as to why we want to make Esperanza Elementary a Community Learning School. Because we are specifically targeting low socioeconomic students toothaches will not be an unusual occurrence... and it is difficult for students who are suffering with a toothache to concentrate on doing their best schoolwork.

In order for our students to do their best work we need to address all the issues that could interfere with their learning. For this reason, we want to have professionals such as dentists make regular visits to our school to provide pro bono services for our students whose families can't afford dental care for their children.

Support for Esperanza's Violin/Mariachi Program

Last Friday--May 6th--a presidential advisory panel issued a report that makes the case for expanding access to arts education in schools, arguing that the arts hold great potential to bolster student engagement and academic achievement.

Decades of research show strong and consistent links between high-quality arts education and a wide range of empressive educational outcomes. Integrating the arts with other classroom subjects is yielding some particularly promising results. Yet, especially schools with low-income student populations are given less exposure to the arts because of budgets fueled by an emphasis on subjects of high stakes testing.

The timing of this report is especially important to support the violin/mariachi program we are planning to make part of our Esperanza Elementary experience for all students.

Nudged to One's Unique Niche

On Saturday evening I attended a presentation by Shannon Hale, the author of the Newbery award winning book The Princess Academy. Her experience as a writer has some invaluable lessons.

She shared that when she was in graduate school everyone in her cohort received assistantships except for her. She was told by one of her professors that only the best writers were given assistantships which meant that she must be regarded as the worst writer in the cohort. Yet, she continued to write.

Shannon had also received her share of rejection letters which she had laminated altogether. She unrolled the list which covered a considerable area. She said that in spite of the hurt caused by each rejection she continued to write emphasizing that each rejection nudged her closer to her unique niche.

These lessons from Shannon's life are important for all of us who will be part of Esperanza Elementary.

The Importance of Mothers and Education

The fact that today is Mothers' Day seems to be an appropriate time to discuss the importance of mothers in a child's education. Mothers in any culture are important to the education of their children but they have special significance in the Hispanic culture.

In the Hispanic culture, mothers exert a powerful influence on their children. Yet, many are not modeling education and career aspirations. It is the expectations, involvement, and role-modeling of the mothers that will have the lasting impact on their daughters’ educational development.

For these reasons we will start a Hispanic Mother/Daughter Program for 6th grade girls at Esperanza patterned after the very successful program Dr. Josie Tinajero started in El Paso, Texas many years ago.

Why 6th grade girls? We need to start as young as possible as pattern of school failure starts early. Decisions young girls make will affect their options in middle school which will then affect their high school options. The program is a deliberate effort to intervene at a time when girls are still open to academic and career options, and they aren’t yet in the greater social and academic pressures of middle school.

It is less expensive to invest in programs that work for our Hispanic young women such as the Hispanic Mother/Daughter Program than it will be to pay later in welfare checks and treatments centers and/or prisons.

Goals and Objectives

Build the self-esteem of both mothers and girls.
Encourage both mothers and girls to complete high school and college.
Acquaint the girls and mothers to higher education and professional careers.
Raise the girls’ and mothers’ aspirations for educational and career opportunities.
Improve the quality of academic preparation for higher education.
Increase Hispanic parental commitment to higher education and help mothers to become more effective role models.
Introduce community role models.

Hispanic mothers need to be taught the gift it is to be their daughter's primary educational advocate... and the Hispanic Mother/Daughter Program is one of the best ways to do that.

Birthdays Are for Celebrating

Because today is my husband's birthday I have been thinking about birthdays...and how we want to celebrate birthdays at Esperanza. A birthday is special because it is the day to specifically celebrate someone.

For Esperanza students we might want to consider doing the following to celebrate:

• When making the morning announcements the principal can wish students a Happy Birthday who are celebrating their birthday that day.



• One day each week the principal can have lunch with all the students who had a birthday that week. The principal would give each student a small gift, preferably a book that maybe a business partner could help sponsor. Each student would also get a birthday cupcake.

Note #1: For students who have birthdays in the summer their 1/2 birthdays could be celebrated.

Note #2: Teachers would be encouraged to find ways to celebrate birthdays in the classroom.

Note #3: Parents would be encouraged not to bring birthday treats as it disrupts the classroom and it could make students feel left out whose parents don't bring birthday treats.

Birthdays of teachers and staff members also need to be celebrated. Esperanza's social committee could be responsible for how this is to be done. Over and above this the principal might want to find ways she can celebrate the birthdays of staff members.

Finding ways to celebrate birthdays is one way to give inviting "blue cards" to others and thus help make Esperanza Elementary the most inviting place in town.

Navigating Two Worlds

Research studies indicate that Hispanic learners who are most successful have learned to navigate well in the dominant culture without sacrificing their heritage culture. This can be especially significant for our lower income Hispanic learners.
There are some things we plan to do at Esperanza Elementary to specifically address this:

• Teach all students to be literate in English and Spanish so they write and speak in both languages at a high level.


• Expose all students to what well educated people in the dominant culture know as well as acknowledging the contributions of their heritage culture. The intention is to widen their horizons.


• Expose students to the lifestyle of higher income people. For instance, taking them to cultural events (plays, operas, ballets, symphonies, etc.) and to nice restaurants. This is something Salome El-Thomas did with his chess winning students.


• Expose students--and their families-- to higher education institutions. Dr. Josie Tinajero developed an excellent Hispanic Mother/Daughter Program for 6th grade girls with this being the goal. We plan to implement this program at Esperanza as well as the Hispanic Father/Son Program Dr. Tinajero later developed. There is also a program called Adelante developed by some University of Utah professors we might want to emulate.


• Find mentors for students.


• Involve students in tutoring and mentoring younger students.


• Teach them financial skills. Many of them(and/or their parents) already have an entrepreneurial mindset that can be tapped into.

Students who can navigate two worlds will be richer--personally as well as probably financially. Thus, students such as these will also enrich our community and nation.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo All Year Long

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Although we plan to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Esperanza Elementary it is important to remember that one day celebrations are not sufficient if we desire to provide a multicultural education for our students.

Therefore, the following are some of our goals:

• Half of the books in our school library will be in Spanish or be bilingual, the majority of which will be written by Hispanic authors. We will also have a multicultural section in the library with books about other cultures.


• History will be viewed from different perspectives.


• The contributions of Hispanics--and other cultures--in the areas of art, music, science, government, literature, etc. will be celebrated.


• Students will be taught and given opportunities to be involved in making a difference in the community.


• The way things are done in other cultures will be recognized. For instance, the way division is taught, the number of continents, which day is considered the first day of the week, learning styles, grammar rules, etc.


• We will involve Hispanic parents in ways that are comfortable to them rather than demanding they participate in ways prescribed by the white, middle class. To help us achieve this, the Funds of Knowledge" concept developed by Dr. Luis Moll and Dr. Norma González will be incorporated.


• Labels and signs in the school building as well as all communications will be in both English and Spanish.

While doing all these things we will avoid stereotyping. Although we will do our best to better understand and respond to the Hispanic culture, we will also recognize that each family has its own unique culture. For this reason we will make a commitment to become acquainted with each family on an individual basis.

Celebrations such as Cinco de Mayo are fun but they will be even more fun when they are "icing on the cake" rather than the cake itself.

A Quality Charter School Application

"It is my pleasure to inform you that your application will continue in the evaluation process." We received this message yesterday from Marlies Burns, the Director of Charter Schools at the Utah State Office of Education. Our application was returned along with this message. It had comments from "readers" on how we could improve our application.

Needless to say, we are excited that our application has made it thus far. Yet, in spite of our "sweat and tears" efforts to make it a quality application, it can still be better. The word quality itself implies that it can always be improved upon. This is what we have learned from Dr. Glasser's quality school theory which will be a foundation for Esperanza. If we want to teach our students about what it means to do quality work it appears that we are having an opportunity to set the example.

National Teacher Day Ponderings

Jim Collins reminds us in his book Good to Great that we must have the right people on the bus and in the right places. Because today is National Teacher Day I am pondering on what needs to be done so we have these right people on our "bus"--Esperanza Elementary.

First, we need to create a quality, excellent school built upon correct principles--a school that will attract high calibre educators. Second, we need to remember that qualities and predispositions to work with our student population are more important than skills. It is a whole lot easier to teach skills than it is to teach qualities and predispositions. Third, we need to invite high calibre educators/people to join us. Fourth, we need to hire high calibre people even if we don't have a specific position for them, yet.

If we do these things our students will be the beneficiaries which is why we do all that we do.

The Joy of Founding Esperanza Elementary

One of the greatest joys of founding a charter school is that you are able to take everything you have learned over the years through both theory and practice that makes a difference for children...and design a school of your dreams. The joy that comes from this commitment helps to overcome all obstacles and setbacks.

Founding Esperanza Elementary has been an incredible journey, and we have only written and submitted the application thus far. We are patiently (or impatiently) awaiting our approval. To actually see in reality what we have envisioned will make it all worthwhile.