Please Introduce Yourself here

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Permalink Reply by Rey Hernandez on February 17, 2009 at 3:15pm

Where were your born?
I was born in El Paso, Texas.
What is your dream career? What do you hope to do to attain that?
I am living my dream now. Currently I am Deputy State Director for Arkansas LULAC and plan to run for Director.
Who has most inspired you?
Texas State Representative, Paul Moreno was my first inspiration.
What is your favorite city in Arkansas?
Parthenon, AR.
What's your favorite book?
Anything by John C. Maxwell.
What is your favorite type of music?
I like everything and especially if it has a Latin beat.
What are your hopes for the Arkansas LatPro group?
I would like to see more Latinos go into teaching. Future generations of Latinos need to see more teachers like themselves as they grow up.

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Permalink Reply by LANYON on February 18, 2009 at 3:54pm

Rey:
This was my posting on two of the LatPro groups:
This Network for Latinos is a good forum to address two issues: jobs and education. These are intertwined, must be addressed separately, and require extensive participation. The prevailing question is: "Will families be willing to sacrifice their traditional belief that a university degree is a MUST to become rich and famous in this society?"

As a Civil Rights Coordinator, I worked in the Vocational Technical Education system for some time and, to my dismay, discovered that it was very difficult to convince Latino families that their children DID NOT have to go to the universities and obtain a sophisticated and expensive degree. Vo-Tech education is FREE or quite inexpensive, and it gives the student a skill to fall back on during difficult times when an income means survival. Not only that, Vo-Tech also encourages students into "non-traditional" courses that offers more interesting options to a skillful career. However, this technical education did not carry the "status symbol" that universities promote. Nowadays, entrepeneurship is critical, and we all know that everyone always needs a beautician to do manicures, barbers to cut hair, technicians to do the hospital work, electronics specialists, mechanics to fix cars..... carpenters, electricians, plumbers, masons and horitculturists for those pesky jobs that take most of our leisure time.

Just as well, the Jobs of the Future will be based on electronics, computers, sophisticated instrumentation that requires individuals with many years of preparation in order to understand their intricacies, manipulate their programs, and put them into action in the appropriate work environment. However, for many years there has been a deliberate move within the public school system, from High School through the University years, to "channel" female students AWAY from the Math&Science courses, thereby giving them a substandard preparation for entering the workforce that demands this knowledge.

I would like to hear comments in this regard, because just like many Latinos have experienced or perceived some form of discriminatory evaluation regarding the language barrier, so have they experienced and perceived discrimination regarding their enthusiasm and interest in pursuing careers that require math&science courses, other than the "traditional" female careers promoted by the academic elites.

Also, I'm searching for ideas and a methodology to promote an infinite number of "academias" that will teach, tutor Math&Science courses to prepare our Latino students for "The Workforce of the Future". Additionally, this must be complemented with a program of mentorships, tutorships, assistantships, and scholarships that brings them into the world of business in a seamless transition.

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