How an Apathetic Brown Kid Became a Hopeful Latino Educator
By: Rice
Tags: Parenting, Children, Racial Justice, Education, Fatherhood

How an Apathetic Brown Kid Became a Hopeful Latino Educator

You are the difference maker.

Photo by Sebastián León Prado on Unsplash

One by one, cameras slowly awaken, and bright-eyed faces await on the other end — some excited, others bordering anxious and reluctant. I close my eyes softly, inhale deeply, and press the video button. With a glued smile, I happily greet each student by first name. Class has officially begun.

If my camera were on 15 minutes earlier, you’d see me rushing to open my front door, feeding the pets, and glancing over our learning agenda for the day. For the last hour, I’ve been playing chauffeur to our one car family; driving my son to a daycare we can barely afford. If every morning begins as planned, I have the same window of time to physically and mentally prepare to teach my virtual class of 30 fifth graders.

I repeat to myself, “you are the difference maker”.

My Class

I teach in a mostly affluent suburb of Seattle. The families I partner with all elected to learn virtually this school year due to the pandemic. In many cases, parents work for tech companies such as: Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. 73% of my students come from BIPOC homes. Some kids are skiing this weekend, while at least one of my students is caring for a younger sibling as their parent serves food at a restaurant.

Depending on the day, I may see the faces of half of my class for a meaningful portion of time. The kids who use cameras everyday are either 1) academically successful or 2) socially & emotionally confident. In very rare cases, students have both traits, thereby increasing the odds they use their cameras often.

Suffice it to say that I teach a group of students extremely diverse in race and lived experiences. Every ounce of who they are influences how they show up each day.

I love seeing every one of their faces and hearing each unique voice.

Where I Come From

I come from a West Texas city still showing the pains and aches of segregation. The elementary I attended up until 6th grade was both my haven, and an obstruction to my freedom.

On average, 97% percent of students at Guadalupe Elementary are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Hispanic students’ makeup 93% of the student body and black students add a whopping 4% to that total. Basically, if you were a white classmate of mine, you were the obvious outlier. If you had extra money, you didn’t drive anywhere near my grade school.

I looked like my classmates, albeit a lighter shade of brown. My best friend and I continually won the AR Contest (Accelerated Reading) each year because we devoured books and had a natural curiosity to learn. We were able to find fragments of success along the way.

However, when you take a step back, you notice a glaring concern.

Most of the students are not passing state standardized tests. In a state known for its academic woes, my old elementary is sinking (pictured below). And it has been for decades. Many of my teachers were early career educators. It’s also no surprise we lacked funding and resources.

Though I was aware of these truths, they were not and are not the big issue.