A High School in Queens Strives to Connect
October 8, 2010
It’s hard enough being a teenager. Really, it is.
Immigrants coming to the United States, documented or undocumented, face a staggering array of extra obstacles. Discrimination, language barriers, unfamiliar cultural traditions, lack of knowledge about social structures, low wages… all of these things, and more, must be confronted by people who move to the U.S. Now imagine you’re an immigrant high schooler who barely speaks English and (remember this: it’s important) one of your main goals is fitting in.
As if high school isn’t hard enough already?
One high school in Queens has fashioned itself into an environment where Latin American immigrant high school students can continue their education in Spanish while simultaneously learning English. They get to focus on academics in a language that they already understand. And the school also teaches its students about practical things, like how to buy a metro pass. The non-English speaking H.S. population in New York City has a 30% graduation rate. Pan American International High School wants to change all that by giving its students a place to belong.
Maria Hinojosa visited the school to find out more—to hear from educators, administrators, and students. Take a listen.
Right-click here to download an .mp3 of this segment.
Our visit to the Pan American International High School was produced by Xochitl Dorsey and Mincho Jacob, with help from Cecilia Vaisman.
See some of the students at Pan American International High School. Photos by Xochitl Dorsey.
“American Dreamer: Sam’s Story” A Winner at Third Coast
We congratulate our colleagues at Long Haul Productions on the news this week that “American Dreamer: Sam’s Story” has been chosen as one of the Best of the Best for this year’s Third Coast Competition.
The four-part story of an undocumented High School student making decisions about how to continue his education aired here on NPR’s Latino USA. It was produced by Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister, and edited by Latino USA’s Katie Davis.
Learn more about the competition and explore other great radio pieces. Listen to Sam’s story again.
LATINO VOTER TURNOUT
Photo: Dailyfortnight on Flickr
A
new study by the
Pew Hispanic Center shows that registered Latino voters support the Democratic party by and large. But the study also resulted in some troubling data about the likelihood of Latinos actually getting out and voting in the midterm election. Maria discusses the study with Mark Lopez, Associate Director of the Pew Hispanic Center.
Right-click here to download an .mp3 of this segment.
Read a summary of the study
here.
Read the full study
here.
LOU DOBBS & THE NATION
This week, The Nation published reporter Isabel Macdonald’s investigative piece (“Lou Dobbs, American Hypocrite”) on the former CNN host and executive’s alleged use of undocumented workers to care for horses and his estates in New Jersey and Florida.
Dobbs has been a vocal critic of undocumented immigration and the hiring of the undocumented. In an interview with Univision in March of this year, Dobbs said that “the illegal employers who hire illegal aliens” should face felony charges. The Nation claims that Dobbs used contractors who hired undocumented workers.
Dobbs said on ABC’s Good Morning America on Friday that “I never, ever used a contractor as a way in which to indirectly hire an illegal immigrant purposefully. Never, never, never.”
MARIO VARGAS LLOSA WINS NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE
The novelist’s ear hears what many of us miss and for a generation now, Mario Vargas Llosa has commiitted to paper what he has observed: indignation, brutality, joy and folly. The Swedish Academy this week announced that the Literature Prize is going to the Peruvian writer.
The announcement was greeted mostly with enthusiasm in Latin America and elsewhere, because Vargas Llosa is widely admired for his skill as a writer. But he is not without his detractors, because of his conservative politics. Vargas Llosa has been critical of the Latin American left — especially the governments of Cuba and Venezuela.
Here’s a handy guide from The Guardian to catch up with the Nobel laureate’s work.
The prize will be awarded in December.
DORA THE EXPLOITED?
Caitlin Sanchez, the teenager who has provided the voice to Nickleodeon’s hugely popular animated franchise, “Dora the Explorer,” is suing the producers of the series, claiming she was pressured into signing a contract and then cheated out of millions of dollars.
The New York Daily News quotes the actor’s attorney, John Balestriere, as saying, “I’ve never seen as convoluted and inscrutable contract as I’ve seen here.”
Viacom International, which owns Nicklelodeon, says the suit is without merit. Sanchez spoke with Latino USA in August of this year, as Nickeodeon was celebrating Dora’s 10th anniversary on TV.
Immigrants coming to the United States, documented or undocumented, face a staggering array of extra obstacles. Discrimination, language barriers, unfamiliar cultural traditions, lack of knowledge about social structures, low wages… all of these things, and more, must be confronted by people who move to the U.S. Now imagine you’re an immigrant high schooler who barely speaks English and (remember this: it’s important) one of your main goals is fitting in. 
One high school in Queens has fashioned itself into an environment where Latin American immigrant high school students can continue their education in Spanish while simultaneously learning English. They get to focus on academics in a language that they already understand. And the school also teaches its students about practical things, like how to buy a metro pass. The non-English speaking H.S. population in New York City has a 30% graduation rate. Pan American International High School wants to change all that by giving its students a place to belong.
