A transcript of an oral history of Jason Baca, Science and ESL Biology Teacher at Century High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Mr. Baca arrived at Century High School four years ago and began teaching science to ESL class, ESL-integrated class, and a biology class. Generally speaking, the goals is for ESL students to be mainstreamed after 3-4 years. One of the concerns of Mr. Baca is the involvement of the 'Hispanic parents'. However, both the students and parents seem very positive about programs for Hispanic students. Two of the district liaisons have been Ms. Acuña and Ms. Igigi. Within the school there are also ESL programs based in Cambodian and Vietnamese.
A transcript of an oral history of Charles Cleveland, Social Studies Teacher at Hillsboro High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Mr. Cleveland has been a soccer coach for over thirty years and has worked with many Hispanic students who had previous experience playing soccer. Cleveland has also worked in the Summer Migrant program teaching social studies. During the interview, he also discussed his time spent working in the International High School at Hillsboro High School with the State Model United Nations program. The Summer Migrant program started in 1980 for out-of-state children who left their schools before end-of-term to work in the fields. The program allowed them to take classes that they were missing, and was also a social outlet. The program was held at Evergreen Middle School and Glencoe High School. Later in the interview, Cleveland recalls a summer spent in Guadalajara and his experiences in a foreign country and not being fluent in the language. As a result, he reiterates the importance of both these programs and the integration of students within the school community.
A transcript of an oral history of Pat Cochran, Art Teacher at Century High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Ms. Cochran began teaching at Hillsboro High School in 1991 and moved to Century High School in 1997. At the time of the interview, she was teaching four levels of art. According to Cochran, at times language can be a barrier. Nevertheless, the students are at least visually engaged inlearning rather than listening. Overall, Century does a good job meeting student needs, however, the district could do better. The ESL programs are good, yet Ms. Cochran explains additional spanish lessons could prove beneficial. In class they have studied Frieda Callow and Diego Rivera.
A transcript of an oral history of Francisco Cortez, ESL Assistant at Century High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. At the time of the interview, Mr. Cortez was an ESL assistant at Century High School and also a juvenile counselor for Washington County. He started the Muvimientos Estudental Chicano de Aslan club, also known as M.E.C.H.A. at Century High School to help Hispanic students go on to higher education. It was started in the 1960s by some Hispanic college students in California. The club was replaced by Latinos Sin Fronteras. He also started a soccer club, Azteca, for off-season play. Believes the ESL program is good for students for 2-3 years and then they should be immersed in English classes. Mr. Henry Wiens and Mr. Cortez’s brother helped to start the Summer Migrant program. Feels Hispanic students need more education in civic law, sex education and accountability. He met Caesar Chavez at Mt. Angel Abbey as a child, and marched with him in Hillsboro during the grape and lettuce boycott.
A transcript of an oral history of Ruben Degollado, ESL Teacher at Poynter Middle School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Mr. Degollado is on the Hispanic Outreach Committee which helps parents. Olga Acuña leads the Office of Hispanic Outreach in the district. At the beginning of the program, students start in ESL focusing on language, vocabulary, and American society. Afterwards they move to classes and are then mainstreamed into English classes. Two types of English are taught and are a part of the learning process – BLCS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) and CALPS (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Skills). Degollado was recruited into the Hillsboro School District by Mario Alba for the 1999-2000 school year. During the interview, Mr. Degollado explains his involvement in Unión América, which helps Latino teachers stay connected and get retraining when needed. He goes on to discuss his intended role in administration next year along with Gus Balderas, Adelia Schofield, Mario Alba and Carlos Perez. Principal Mike Scott influenced Mr. Degollado’s decision to teach in Hillsboro instead of Woodburn. Degollado also expresses his thoughts regarding student acclimation. He references research done at Virginia Collier which proved that students who are better acclimated to American culture do better in school. A huge help to this at the high school has been Charlene Rivera, one of the home school consultants in the counseling center. Ms. Rivera is bilingual and is dedicated to helping students adjust. One of the tasks Mr. Degollado has worked on this year has been using the money from the Project Task Grant to offer ESL classes to parents within the community. He also states the recent recognizing of The Office of Hispanic Outreach and now works with NEA.
A transcript of an oral history of Maria Fernandez, ESL/Migrant Facilitator at Century High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Maria Fernandez works with the Migrant Worker Program. Students from Mexico face language and cultural barriers. The Hillsboro Outreach program is providing more agencies to help the students. During the interview Fernandez explains the need for parents to be educated about our system. As a result they would be able to more effectively help their children. The Migrant Worker Summer School program helps kids keep up with English skills as well as classes. However, she retierates the need for more Hispanic mentors for students and parents.
A transcript of an oral history of Jonathon Fernow, Teacher on Special Assignment, Title III (ESL), on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Mr. Fernow is currently the ESL TOSH or Teacher on Special Assignment for the Hillsboro School District for Title 3 ESL. Mr. Fernow has also been teaching in the Migrant Summer Camp Program since 1995. He was born in Argentina and schooled in Spanish thru 7th grade. After attending Gresham High School, Fernow went on to attend Warner Pacific College, where he earned an Elementary Education degree. He has taught ESL at all levels, including at Glencoe High School, J.B. Thomas Middle School, and David Hill Elementary Schools. Also during his career, he was principal at a school in the Cayman Islands. Has been a classroom teacher, Resource teacher, and Head teacher (principal) in the Summer Camp program. At the elementary level teaches basic vocabulary and Spanish Literacy. To transition from ESL classes to English, must receive a 4 on a “Woodcock Muños”. Hillsboro has the highest percentage of students exiting ESL in Oregon. Mr. Fernow wrote a report in 1995 on the drop-out rate of Hispanic students in the Hillsboro School District. It was his thesis project for his Master’s Degree at Linfield College. Some of the causes for dropping out were economic reasons, or starting a family at an early age. Some came to high school with only 3rd or 4th grade education and found school to be extremely hard. There are several programs to help dropouts finish their education, for example: Miller Education, PASS program, Migrant Summer Camp program. Hillsboro District is incorporating SIOP program (Sheltered Instruction Objective Protocol), where every lesson has a direct goal and language objective. According to Mr. Fernow one of the best teaching models is the ESL program as it teaches students in dual-language. The “No Child Left Behind” act made ESL students more visible and schools looking for ways to better meet their needs.The State of Oregon expects 11-13% of ESL students to exit the program after five years.
A transcript of an oral history of Jill Follett, ESL Teacher at Century High School, on Hispanics in the HIllsboro schools. Jill Follett started at Century High School when it opened and was a case manager for incoming students and was an ESL teacher. During the course of the interview, he explains that his feeling that teachers can make better determination of students ready to leave ESL program. The district has the Hispanic Outreach Program and the Migrant Office to help students. Teachers need more training in dealing with ESL students in their classes.
A transcript of an oral history of Saidah Haghighi, ESL Coordinator at Century High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Ms. Haghighi was born in New York. Her mother is from Puerto Rico and her father is from Iran. Growing up, both English and Spanish were spoken at her home. She never learned to speak Farsi. For 10 year of her life, she lived in South America where she worked in a private Catholic boys’ school. In Hillsboro, the district has Spanish Outreach for the community, for parents and adults.
A transcript of an oral history of Jay Hernandez, Teacher at Brookwood Elementary School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Mr. Hernandez has 10-20 students of Hispanic background in his classes and also teaches in the Migrant Summer School program. In ESL he tried to use a more tactile, reality-based learning. Students who can read and write well in their own language have an easier time learning a second language. During the interview he esxpresses the need to show Hispanic parents and students examples of Latinos being successful, going to college and having careers. Furthermore that there should be more consistency and continuity in the ESL programs in all the schools.Overall this would prove extremely beneficial to the students as well as the community.
A transcript of an oral history of Ana Jiminez, Educational Assistant at Brown Middle School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. The interview was conducted by Kathy Chin and Alyssa Larrabee on 5-25-2004; it is labeled “22”. Has a son at Tobias elementary school, feels the school could do more to translate information for parents into Spanish. The Office of Hispanic Relations, headed by Olga Acuña, is working hard to improve parent involvement. Dual immersion programs are good for giving ESL students good basic foundation in Spanish so they can learn English easier.
A transcript of an oral history of Ms. Linehan, Teacher at Indian Hills Elementary School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. The interview is labeled “23.5” and conducted by Kate (Mitchell) and Chelsea (Niumatalolo), in May 2004. Hillsboro has implemented a Spanish Literacy program in which Hispanic ESL students are taught to read in Spanish first, making it easier for them transition to reading English. Ms. Linehan expands on the increase in ESL programs after the 'No Child Left Behind” act went into effect, furthermore, they have become more accountable.The district has also implemented dual language programs in some schools: Henry, Boscoe, and Hill.
A transcript of an oral history of Claude Landauer, English and ESL Teacher at Century High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Students coming from ESL are proficient in English and do well in class, sometimes working harder than non Hispanic students. During the interview, Landauer explains how he would like to see more mainstream teachers that are Hispanic and teachers that speak Spanish. He feels that dual immersion is an interesting idea but challenging, and impossible long-term if teachers are not bilingual. He explains his recent involvement in taking Spanish for educators and his reading of literature from South America and Mexico, as this has allowed him to better understand the culture.
A transcript of an oral history of Berta Lule, Teacher at W.L.Henry Elementary School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. The school is in it first year of the dual immersion program which starts in Kindergarten. It is a choice offered by the school. 70% of students are Spanish speaking. Prior to the beginning of the program some students were lost to Forest Grove and Beaverton schools. The school does still continue to have the option of the ESL program. Ms. Lule was born in Mexico, moved to California at age 5, and then to Oregon at age 9. In 2000 was a part of planning strategies to improve Hispanic drop-out rate. Ms. Lule employs GLAD or Guided Language Acquisition Design training techniques. Some of these techniques include visuals, vocabulary, and writing. The author Alma Florado, from San Francisco, brought a reading/writing outreach program for parents and students to the school.
A transcript of an oral history of Denny Mann, retired Counselor at Brown Middle School and Hillsboro High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Mr. Mann began teaching English and Social Studies in 1967 in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1974 Mann attended Portland State University for graduate school and was a teacher/counselor for the migrant program in Washington County, North Plains. In 1977 he was hired by the Hillsboro School District and was a counselor at Brown Junior High for 19 years. For seven years Mann worked as a counselor at Hillsboro High School. Mr. Mann worked in the Migrant program for 20 years, during which he was a home school consultant, a teacher, and then head teacher/principal. The number of Hispanic migrants continued to grow, coming mainly from Mexico, Texas and California. Teachers in the migrant program were bilingual and classes were taught in English and Spanish. During the interview mann explains that most of the staff was hired from the ESL programs in Hillsboro, Beaverton, and Forest Grove. Students also came from Guatemala, Chile, and other South American countries. In the late 70s to early 80s there was a large influx of Asian students into ESL program because of Vietnam. The first director of migrant education in Oregon was Jose Garcia, previously a Hillsboro High School teacher. The opening of the Virginia Garcia Clinic in Washington County offered free or near-free health care to migrant families which was a huge impact on the community. The availability of free healthcare and a migrant school program have made Washington County a leader in attracting migrant families to the area. The current director of Hillsboro’s migrant program is Henry Wiens.
A transcript of an oral history of Alberto Peirano, ESL Assistant at Century High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Alberto Peirano is a teacher’s aide in an English survival class. He helps Hispanics as well as Vietnamese. Hispanic population is growing, so programs like ESL, English survival, and migrant programs will continue. However, Mr. Peirano expresses his feelings that there needs be more focus on education among Hispanic parents.
A transcript of an oral history of Delia Perez, ESL Teacher at Century High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Ms. Perez began as a community college teacher in California. At the time of the interview Perez was an ESL teacher at Century and was on the committee for the Hispanic Outreach Program in Hillsboro. The program is aimed at parents and educates them on how to become more involved in their children’s education. It is the goal of the program to reach as many as 200-300 parents. There are many programs to help the Hispanic students; Spanish News, the club Latinos Sin Fronteras, Hispanic Outreach, migrant summer program, and Boys and Girls club. James Olmos produced an educational TV series called “Mi Familia”. A Tutoring Program is available after school to help students. Olga Acuña is the director of the Hispanic Outreach Program.
A transcript of an oral history of Gina Rolleto, Teacher at Mooberry Elementary School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Gina is from Yakima, Washington and began as an elementary classroom teacher in Oregon. She saw the large migrant Hispanic community in Hillsboro and became an ESL instructor. Important for ESL to provide a variety of teaching strategies. Focus on content English, which concentrates on teaching academic English needed for school classes. Union America is a group of Hispanic certified teachers and administrators that came out of the Hillsboro Strategic Plan and was begun by Joe Rodriguez, the Hillsboro School District superintendent. Mulberry is a reading-first school where all students are required to have 90 minutes of reading time in English. Part of this program is a reading assessment called D.I.B.B.L.S., designed by the University of Oregon.
A transcript of an oral history of Manuel Ruiz, Head Custodian at Century High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Manuel was educated in the Hillsboro School district, graduating from Hillsboro High School in 1979. Started working in high school with the SETA program, designed to give kids job experience. Was part of the ESL program thru 7th and 8th grade at Poynter Junior High. as a son that goes to Miller Ed., and alternative school with programs (CREATE), for students struggling in regular school. Feels that school sometimes pushes kids through that haven’t really learned what they needed to graduate.
A transcript of an oral history of Roberto Sanchez, ESL Teacher at Glencoe High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Mr. Sanchez came to the U.S. at age 17 and worked his first year here. Later he enrolled at Glencoe High School at age 18, and graduated in 1992. While attending Glencoe High School, Sanchez partcipated in the ESL program. After graduating, he went back to Mexico, but would return to attend Oregon State University. Mr. Sanchez is working on getting parents more involved with their children’s education and school. Some elementary schools have a dual program, where students are taught in English and Spanish.
A transcript of an oral history of Charlie Strohm, Campus Security Monitor at Century High School, on Hispanics in the Hillsboro schools. Strohm is the Campus security monitor at Century High School. He is challenged by the language and cultural barriers when involved with the Hispanic students. Mr. Strohm explains his feelings that the school could do more to help all students understand each group’s culture, to help students integrate better.
