Immigration Reform & Bilingualism

Mass on the Dolores Mission Plaza

Jesuits!

On Sunday afternoon, Fr. Scott Santarosa hosted the entire California Province of the Society of Jesus (which includes all Jesuits in California and Arizona, as well as all Jesuit ministries such as schools, parishes, JVC, Homeboy) for a mass to pray for and rally for comprehensive immigration reform.  In attendance were many representatives from all of the Jesuit organizations in the region, including most of the JVs and some verb students and staff.  The mass was beautiful; it was outdoors, bilingual, and really well planned. During the homily, 4 testimonies were given about the impact of current immigration laws and the effects on families, homes, students, and jobs.  At the end of the mass, the California Provincial read a letter to President Obama and each member of Congress, signed by all the Jesuit Provincials in the US. The letter echoes a letter signed by all the US Bishops a few months ago. The letter delineates 5 reasons why immigration policy should be reformed.  At the end, there was a response by a few local elected officials, all Latino, who spoke of personal reasons why they too feel strongly about immigration reform. 

DM School + Papel Picado that says "reform immigration"

Yesterday, the experience of the mass was punctuated by a conversation with one of my students’ mothers. Maria  lives in Nickerson Gardens with four of her five children. Her husband and oldest son, who is 14, live in Honduras. Maria only speaks Spanish and told me that she does not have documents here.  For this reason, she can’t leave to go visit her family in Honduras, and they cannot get here. I didn’t probe – though she was sharing without my prompting I didn’t want to be invasive. I was stunned by how matter-of-fact she was in telling me her family’s story. She spoke of how hard it is to have her family split up, and how her son wasn’t able to attend schools here like his brothers and sisters.

The conversation actually began with a discussion of something close to my heart, which is perhaps why I was so reluctant to round the kids up.  Maria spoke about the difference between her daughter’s experience in schools with bilingual teachers versus her son’s with English-only teachers. At BC, I took a few classes on bilingual education and learned a lot about Massachusetts laws, which control the amount of English spoken in classrooms. (Now I’m inspired to look into the CA laws…)  Maria told me that the teachers (las morenitas , meaning brown-haired and  probably latina) who spoke to her daughter in Spanish made her do double the work, a common theme in bilingual ed, because she was learning to read and write in both English and Spanish. Now in 6^th grade, she can do both well. But her son, my student, is in 3^rd grade and refuses to speak in Spanish at home. He has only ever had English speaking teachers (las rubias, meaning blondes and monolingual) and is borderline defiant when it comes to speaking in Spanish or learning to read and write.  This is actually fairly typical, but very hurtful for many families.  More on this to come, I hope!

Thanks to all of you who read this consistently! It means a lot, and I know I post pretty frequently which might be hard to keep up with.   Sending love back East, or wherever you may be! <3 

Carving Pumpkins & Earthquake Drills

For the past 3 weeks, I have been planning Halloween-based crafts for my kids to do when they finish their homework and “enrichment” activities.  I realize that this year, I will be a loyal Michael’s customer and learn more about the arts and crafts industry than ever in my past. My kids LOVE foam. They love  gluing googely eyes, pipe cleaners, and paper onto pre-cut foam shapes (stars, bookmarks, pumpkins, ghosts, etc).  They also love popsicle sticks; in fact I’ve caught a handful of students trying to hoard a hundred or so extra popsicle sticks in their backpacks so they can take them home. While, naturally, I don’t advocate stealing and do get pretty angry with them, I step back and realize most of them don’t have the basic crafts supplies at home that I grew up with: no crayons or markers or construction paper or perler beads or hot glue guns.  I can’t let them take too much stuff home, though, because then they’ll have nothing to do the next day at Urban Compass.  Unfortunately, that logic doesn’t work on most 8-year olds.

This week, my craft bug followed me home.  We invited all the LA JVs over on Wednesday night to carve pumpkins with us.  It was so much fun! Everyone came up with their own really creative ideas.  Here are some pictures:

carving with some of Ita Ford

Casa JD + Andrew show off their pumpkins

DK's pumpkins proudly on the mantle

 Unfortunately, we came home on Saturday afternoon to find this...

3 days later, mold attacks
(the one still standing is mine! but it too is fatally mold infested and now in pumpkin heaven)

 During the Verb school day this week, I experienced two “Wow, I DO live in So Cal” moments.  The first was on Monday when the Dean came over the intercom to announce that we would be operating on a “Rainy Day Schedule.” Rainy days (with real rain, not just the fog and mist that hang around quite often) are so rare and so confusing that the school day gets a little changed up. The biggest implication is that students have to stay in their classrooms during lunch instead of being free to roam the (outdoor) corridors and hang out at the plethora of picnic tables on campus.  The second was Wednesday, when we participated in “The Great California Shake Out,” a state-wide Earthquake Drill.  Everyone at the school practiced the “Drop, Cover, and Hold On!” and reviewed what not to do when an Earthquake strikes (apparently it’s a myth that standing in a doorway is the safest thing to do!). Many scientists are predicting a rather powerful Earthquake to hit So Cal in the next few months, so it’s good to be prepared!  

For Spirituality night this week, Julie led us through the Rosary as a group. She did a great job explaining the history and intention of the Rosary, and made it really easy for us to do as a group by preparing handouts with all the prayers and mysteries written out and explained.  I had never said the Rosary in a group before, and it was pretty powerful.  I have seen more rosaries here in LA than I have ever seen in one place (except maybe the Vatican?) because many students at the Verb wear enormous wooden rosaries around their necks each day. I’m not sure if this is a fashion statement or religious statement, but they are pretty neat either way.

USC Rose Garden

Weekend recap: Friday night was Theresa’s 30^th birthday party at a bar in Venice. We went and hung out with some Verb staff and got to see some pretty eclectic people on the dance floor. On Saturday, I took a walk to USC’s Rose Garden, a beautiful little sanctuary in the middle of the city.  I spent a couple hours there eating lunch, reading, and enjoying being “away” from the city, even though I was smack dab in the middle of it.  It’s so lovely to have roses in full bloom in October!  Last night we watched the Phillies lose (so sad) at the ESPN Zone at LA Live downtown.  And today, we’re off to a mass at Dolores Mission, where all the Jesuit missions in the California Province are gathering to pray and lobby for immigration reform. The expectation is for over 500 people! 

Life's about the journey...

…not the destination.  We’ve all heard this, or something like it, before.  Today, John, Cara, and I experienced a quite tangible example.  While Zach and Julie are off leading a service trip for Verb, the three of us took off for Topanga State Park where we hiked for about 7 miles.  Going into the trip, we knew it wasn’t the best day to hike to the Parker Mesa Overlook, but that didn’t stop us. Despite the excessive fog, we started our climb.  When we finally reached the overlook, huffing and puffing, we were about 1,300 feet higher than we started. We were also, quite literally, in the clouds. I’m sure the promised view is magnificent on a clear day, but today all we saw was fog.  We’ll have to go back sometime to see what all the excitement is about, but for today, the trip was about the journey: a couple hours, a couple community-mates, a couple miles, and a couple snacks.  It was a combination of great exercise, time to get away from the city (although, fun fact: Topanga is the only State Park completely in a city’s limits!), and something like an adventure.

There's a lot more mountain behind those clouds!

A very happy John and Cara back at the car

Hiking was an appropriate weekend activity after our Spirituality Night this week, where Cara walked us through the Native American Medicine Wheel. The wheel is comprised of the four directions, each of which is associated with a natural element, animal, and series of personality traits. We took time to reflect on each of our personalities, and how they work together to form a balance within our community.  (If you’re curious, I am a “deer,” represented by the South, and known as the “keeper of the heart.”)  At least one description fit each of us really well, but we also commented on how we can be different ‘directions’ in different situations.  The whole exercise was good affirmation of the balance within our community, and also allowed us to discuss good ways that differing personality types can work together.

I think that Carolyn the deer at home is very different from Ms. Z at work.  There is no doubt that I take on some North/West qualities when trying to control my ever-more rowdy kids.  I’m not really one for raising my voice, but I go home from work most days with a sore throat from trying to get their attention.  Also, in the midst of the controlled chaos of each afternoon, I sometimes lose sight of where my students are from, simply because they act so, well, normal.  Yes, I know normal doesn’t really exist, but kids are kids no matter where they are. The positive and nurturing environment we try to provide at Urban Compass lets them be kids – for better or for worse – each day.  This means they will still fight with me if they don’t want to do their homework or will be brutally honest and tell me when my hair looks bad.  They are defiant and annoying and loving and hilarious and hard on themselves and mean to each other and simply delightful.  On Tuesday, I had to sit two different groups of students down to ‘have a conversation’ about how they were treating each other on the playground.  I don’t know how effective I was, but by intervening I show them a. that I care and b. that what might fly at school or home will not fly with us. 

Now, Friday: Yesterday was the end of Latino Heritage Month.  The celebration has been going on all month at the Verb and culminated yesterday in a mass with a special Latino flare: music in Spanish, bilingual readings, and a special student reflection. Fr. Scott from Dolores Mission came to say mass.  At the beginning, the names of all the Latin American countries were called out, and students would stand to represent where they or their families were from.  Most were from Mexico and Central America and a few of the islands.  Afterward, some parents donated a delicious meal of Tamales and rice.  (A HUGE perk of being a JV is that we are the first to get leftovers…yum!)  The celebration was topped off by a Mariachi band that performed at the end of mass and during lunch.  Best. Day. Ever.

Pumpkin Festival

“I am so not ready to be a parent.”

The line above is a text message that I sent my roommate, Julie, at approximately 4:22pm on Saturday afternoon.  We were both spending the afternoon chaperoning the first Urban Compass field trip of the school year.   The field trip was to the Pumpkin Festival at the Kidspace Musuem in Pasadena. It was a giant outdoor festival with moonbounces, live music, crafts, games, pony rides, a petting zoo, and food trucks.  A sponsor made a donation so that each of our students received tickets to play games and get food in a special gift bag. Overall, the day was great for the kids! They had a blast getting their faces painted and dragging around the volunteer chaperones from game to game in the heat, which they hardly seemed to notice.  For me it was fun, but an interesting combination of stress, a glimpse into the “other” LA, and exhaustion.  On either end of the festival was a 12-passenger van experience that left me more than a little frazzled.  I had some issues parking upon arrival (I won’t go into details except to say I had to be rescued by Marcus, our part-time staffer).  Also, our failed caravan on the way home left me rambling through downtown Pasadena, which was beautiful but not exactly where anyone in the car wanted to be after a long day in the sun.  But we finally made it back to Watts safely, and after a quick spin through the projects to drop the kids off, I was home. 

At one point in the afternoon, one of my first graders and I got separated from the rest of our group, so we spent a solid hour together.  I took him to the petting zoo and moonbounces. (Petting zoos and I were not made to be friends, but that’s another story.) I watched as wealthy Pasadena parents who all looked so perfectly put together in their designer shorts and bags captured their toddlers enjoying the quintessential fall activities with their fancy cameras.  I watched as my first grader – who has more energy than any child I’ve ever met…times 10 – got some not-so-nice looks from parents whose children he pushed by in line for the slide or to pet the baby goat.  I, the maternal figure in the situation, in turn got some not-so-nice looks. But I didn’t really care…he was having fun. And while their children probably get to do nice things like pet baby goats whenever they so please, my little guy lives in the projects in Watts where most animals in the area are strays. But kids are kids and they don’t notice that stuff, so he was having a grand old time and was oblivious to the looks he was getting.  However, the whole day left me questioning how on Earth people keep up with their kids’ energy.  I only have them for 2.5 hours each day, and that alone wipes me out. Then again, I don’t plan on having 35 children, so I think I’ll be okay.

Later that evening we hosted the LA JV houses for a party to celebrate Zach’s completion of the LSAT. He took it Saturday morning and had been studying for many many hours a week (usually early in the morning – impressive!) so we were all happy for him to be finished.  On Sunday, John’s parents took us all out to eat for dinner since they were in town to visit him and our lovely home.  I spent most of the day recovering the energy and sanity that I had lost during the Pumpkin Fest, so it was nice to get out of the house J

Much love and many thanks to my faithful readers! 

Week 9

Work

A bit about my day to day responsibilities at work…

Before the students arrive, I do a lot of running errands (getting snacks, going to the bank, buying craft supplies at Michaels) for Theresa. I also help her write grants and am in charge of lining up the Verbum Dei volunteers. I really enjoy the exposure to both sides of this non-profit; I plan the programming but also help out with development, volunteer recruitment, and all other aspects that keep the organization alive.  That is the beauty of being so small, but it also means that every aspect of running Urban Compass ultimately falls on Theresa, which is stressful to say the least. I really appreciate the value of my role as her right-hand person because she simply could not do everything by herself.

We pick the students up around 2:30 at 112^th St. School next door.  After an hour of playtime and snack, we divide the students into 3 rooms by grade. I am in charge of the Kindergarten and First Grade classroom, where I have 14 students each day.  Never would I have ever imagined myself as an elementary school teacher, but now it doesn’t seem nearly as scary as I thought!  I adore my students, but definitely use a lot of “tough love” to show that. Keeping them on task doing their homework is so hard. They are all very social and energetic…I still can’t imagine teaching 20 of them for an entire day.  Every five seconds someone is yelling “Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!” or grabbing my arm or hitting someone else or running around the room (or worse, running out of the room).  It’s mayhem, but I love it.  Even when I was student teaching, I preferred a chaotic classroom to a dead quiet.  This chaos, however, is not comparable. To top it off, I have 3 sets of twins in my class – 2 of which are identical. You can imagine the confusion that causes!

Now that I have learned the ropes at work with the kids, I am starting to put a lot of time into planning the academic program for my class each day.  I’m finding the whole process of learning to read simply fascinating.  Each day, depending on their homework, I tutor students about rhyming, blending sounds, sight words, and decoding.  Everyone is on a different level, which is tough.  I try to put together individualized activities for each student, which is really fun for me. 

Community

Monday:  Our support people, Maria and Krista, brought over dinner and a guest: Sister Eileen, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet.  Sister Eileen lives in a community of three sisters right around the corner from us. Her house is literally on the other side of our block! After a delicious meal, Sister Eileen spoke to us about community living; she has 63 years of experience living in community so could speak quite well to the subject. She gave some great insight into community life. I was surprised and comforted that many of the things she spoke about apply directly to our JVC community, despite our drastic demographic and age differences.

Tuesday:  Maria gave our house two tickets to see a play downtown at the Ahmanson Theatre. After drawing out of a hat, Cara and I were the lucky recipients! We went to see Leap of Faith, a musical starring Brooke Shields.  It was phenomenal! The story was about a traveling revival made up of a pastor and a gospel choir that preyed on small towns across the country to make money.  The music was outstanding and our orchestra seats were amazing.

Wednesday:  Our FJV friend, Rose, came over for dinner. (You may remember we attended her glow-themes 30^th birthday party in September.)  Rose kept us entertained all evening talking about her JV experience, her time in NY, her job, and the dating scene in LA.

Thursday:  For community night, we watched Food, Inc, a documentary about our nation’s food industries and the many secrets that are well kept from the consumer. Afterwards, we tried to talk about how we can be conscious consumers and chose products that are not processed unethically (meaning that the animals, workers, and earth are not harmed in the processing).  Unfortunately, this is very hard to do on our small food budget each month since local, organic, free-range, etc products are typically more expensive.  This, of course, if part of the problem since so many people in the country live on budgets similar to or smaller than ours. We vowed to start doing more research on prices before we shopped, and to try to act on what we learned in the movie.

Friday:  TGIF! Zach, Julie, and I met up with Cara and John (of Casa JD) for happy hour downtown. Afterward, we hung out at Casa JD which is our closest neighboring LA house (in Koreatown). It was great to spend some time with them just hanging out because we hadn’t seen most of them in a few weeks!

Cocktail Party & Brotherhood

On Friday evening, Casa DK got all dolled up for a cocktail party in San Marino. The event was at the home of the president of Urban Compass’s board of directors.  The party was thrown to honor four “first ladies” of Urban Compass. These ladies from San Marino and Pasadena have donated incredible time, money, and donations to our program and definitely deserve some recognition! Everything about the party was elegant– the cocktail dresses, the hours d’oeuvres, the open bar, Theresa’s speech, the live music, and the honorees.  We closed up shop a little early on Friday so that we could get ready and make it to San Marino by 7:30. I found it kind of funny to go from running around like crazy with the kids and making bead crafts to getting dressed up for such a formal event for that very program all within an hour! 

Casa DK with Theresa

[Sidenote: This was probably most dramatic way possible to break the rice and bean diet from last week! We succeed in our simplicity challenge, but not without becoming sick and tired of our very simple meals.  During Spirituality Night we talked about the idea of solidarity and how it related to our diet for the week, which was probably good because otherwise it would have been hard to stick it out.]

On Saturday morning, the retreat junkie me got a great fix.   Zach, Julie and I headed back to the Verb to help out with the freshman retreat.  The theme of the retreat was Brotherhood, designed with the intention to give the guys time and space to get to know each other and bond, which they definitely did.   Admittedly, I was nervous about my ability to relate to the kids as a small group leader for a couple pretty good reasons: I’m not a boy, I’m not 14, I’m not Black or Latino, I don’t have brothers (heck, I didn’t even have many friends that were boys when I was their age!), and I didn’t go to a single-sex Catholic school.  However, the beauty of the retreat was that the facilitators weren’t the ones talking much about Brotherhood. Two talks were given, one by an alumnus and another by the principal, and a panel of seniors came to answer questions from the freshman. Both talks touched on the concept of true vs. false brotherhood.  Some of the important take-away messages for the boys were that their class of 80 young men will become their brothers over the next four years. The Verb is very much a family, and each class of boys in another generation. 

One thing I couldn’t help noticing was the power a ball can have in a group of guys.  The entire high school campus turned into a soccer and/or football field during any free time, with teams of 30-40 guys running, pushing, jumping, and tackling each other.  It was hilarious, and I couldn’t help but notice how inclusive everyone seemed, and how easy it was to get involved.  I find it hard to imagine a class of all girls bonding over something so easily and quickly!  I was also pumped when the boys voted to watch The Sandlot over Remember the Titans at night.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Remember the Titans, but The Sandlot is a classic that I did not expect them to be so excited about. This movie will always make me think of my cousins Thomas, Jeff, and Scott.  Theirs is a truly special brotherhood :) 

With each new interaction that I have with Verb students, I realize more and more how powerful a Catholic high school education can be.  As a product of public schools and only having taught in public schools, I had always seen myself teaching in a public school once I “settle down” and am done volunteering.  Now more than ever, though, I realize that I like the idea of working in a Catholic school. During the JVC application process, I was considering volunteer teaching programs in Catholic schools (and still am for the future).  I’m so grateful now that my very secular placement is part of the Verbum Dei community!! 

Anyway, I’m exhausted now – staying up til the guys went to bed, sleeping on the floor of Zach’s office and waking  up at 4am for my shift to patrol the corridor does not make for the best night’s sleep, but it was absolutely worth it.  (And after hearing the score,  I don't even feel that bad that I couldn't watch BC play ND...though I was thinking of our epically disastrous RV trip out to South Bend last year and all my friends gathered in Boston for the game all weekend!)