Grateful Teacher, Kelly Carr

 Despite my initial hesitancy, I started doing home visits four years ago.  I decided to try a few and see how it went. 

Not only do Parent Teacher Home Visits open up doors to improved communication, they build trust and caring between the parents and me. This had been missing in the prior years of my teaching experience. 

“How did school and home come to be so separate?” I thought, and I began to consider how this separation was affecting my young students, many for whom, this was their first experience with formal schooling. 

Each year since then I have increased the number of families I visit using the best practices model of Parent Teacher Home Visit Project.

 During the 2012-13 school year I approached David’s mom, Harmony, about doing a home visit.  I selected her because David was extremely shy, and was having a hard time separating from parents when it was drop off time for his afternoon Pre-K class, even though it was two months into the school year. 

I was wondering why David was having such a hard time separating from his family.  Had he not been socialized with other adults and children before age 4?  Was his family enabling the behavior by not letting him be independent at home and babying him? 

I went with an open mind and had a wonderful visit.  David was playing on his bike and scooter in the front yard, building ramps and jumping them, while mom watched hesitantly, but supportively.  He was clearly a very independent child.   I also noticed a trampoline in the backyard and neighborhood friends stopping by occasionally to play.  He clearly had lots of interaction with other kids. 

 Mom and I visited and I got to know about the family, their interests, and their hopes for their son's future.  I learned that Harmony’s mom had been a Parent Involvement Facilitator in Hawaii and that Harmony wanted to be more involved in the school, but wasn't sure of the procedures to do so here. 

My visit made our classroom more comfortable for David, as he saw me as a part of his inner circle now… a part of his family.   Shortly after our visit, David’s daily anxiety about separating from his parents was gone, and he was opening up to me and others in the classroom, making friends, and enjoying school more. 

This visit helped me see that my assumptions about why David was shy were incorrect.  He just really loved his family and didn't quite trust me yet.  I am so thankful for Harmony opening her home to me which positively changing the course of her child’s school year.

I shudder to think of all of the missed opportunities that would have been if I had not made this home visit.  It makes me consider all those other students and families in past years that I missed. 

Looking for the Land of Opportunity ~ Maria Valen

My sole motivation to come to the US from Mexico was to have a better life for my children, thinking about their education and economic needs. So I came to the US looking for the Land of Opportunity!

I got to the border with the hope of being able to cross with my 2 children, ages 3 and 6. The person helping us cross promised me that we were all going to cross together but as soon as we got to Tijuana, Mexico, they separated me from my children.

I didn't know what was going on or where they were taking them. I was in great distress thinking I was never going to see them again. I was only able to talk to them by phone.  I found out one of my children was sick and they both had gotten detained by authorities while trying to cross. 

On their second attempt to enter, they separated my children from each other. My 3 year old managed to cross first and he got to the US safely, but I still didn't hear anything from my 6 year old son. At that point, all I knew was that one child was in the US and one in Mexico. I waited in agony until I knew my other son arrived in the US.

So my time came to cross. The “coyotes” stuffed me in the trunk of a car with 2 other women. It was scorching hot and they told us to hold our breath as long as we could to not set off the immigration radar. I was scared and anxious the whole time.

My children and I finally reunited in the US. It was a traumatic event for my children that scarred them for months. We all remember this experience as so traumatic.

Now, my children are making the most of their education here in the US and  they strive to achieve their goals.

We have hope that one day all the hardship we went through will be worth it, when we get to be citizens of the United States.

Nevada State Senator

Nevada State Senator, Moises Denis, Champion for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

I want to speak to you about why immigration reform is a justice issue.

In the Bible, there are many expressions of concern for the stranger, for the foreigner.  For example, after the children of Israel had been delivered from bondage in the land of Egypt, the Lord commanded them, “thou shalt not oppress a stranger:  for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 23:9).  In other words, they were reminded that they should remember what it was like to be a stranger, an outsider.  They were reminded to remember what it was like to be vulnerable and defenseless, lacking in social influence, and far from family and friends.  They were to remember this and to treat strangers with fairness and consideration.

It is often said that America is a nation of immigrants.  Almost all of us can trace our roots to immigrant ancestors.  In my own case, my parents came to this country as refugees from Cuba.  They arrived in dire circumstances and had to struggle to make a new life for themselves and their children.  Other Americans can trace their roots to ancestors who fled from religious persecution in France, from famine in Ireland, from pogroms in Russia, or from the enclosure movement in the highlands of Scotland.  Every new calamity has brought a wave of immigrants to our shores.

Today people leave their places of birth and migrate for the same reasons our ancestors did—to be safe, to meet their needs for food and shelter, and to better their lives. Violence, environmental change, and economic conditions often motivate immigration. Armed conflicts, violence against women, ethnic cleansing, and genocide are some of the acts of violence that drive people to migrate. Environmental conditions that have led to migration include droughts, floods, radiation and toxic pollution.

Economic factors are currently the primary driving force underlying immigration worldwide.

Undocumented immigrants are often denied the civil rights protections of citizens, paid less than citizens, and labor in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. In the United States, increased border security has forced immigrants into dangerous border crossings where basic human needs such as drinking water are ignored.

Undocumented immigrants and their families live in constant fear of deportation. This fear affects access to educational opportunities, health care, and police protection. When deportation occurs, the result is destroyed dreams and broken families—partners separated and children taken away from their caregivers or forced to return to a place they do not know.

Unfortunately, after a generation or two, most Americans forget the hardships and suffering of their ancestors.  They no longer can say that they “know the heart of a stranger.”  They view each group of new arrivals with suspicion, distrust, and resentment.  In some cases, they express that resentment by passing laws that bear down harshly on the stranger, the immigrant.  The Bible warns against this practice:  “Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country:  for I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 24:22).

Let me be clear.  Most Americans are fair-minded.  They would not attack or rob or cheat someone just because he was an immigrant.  But some sins are social in nature.  Some injustices are deeply imbedded in the laws and customs of the society in which we live.  When we give our tacit approval to unfair laws, when we fail to struggle valiantly against these injustices, we become complicit in the sins of our country and our generation.

That is why I believe that immigration reform is a matter of fundamental justice

Thank you and may God bless you for your efforts.

Sam Mendoza

Sam  Mendoza, Dreamer

I am 18 years old and a student at Hug High School in Reno.

I was born in Leon Guanajuato, Mexico. When I was 8 years old, one night my dad woke me up in the middle of the night to leave for the United States.

It was a long hard journey by my parents and me. We crossed a fast moving river and I was very afraid of drowning. We walked for many hours through wet and muddy farms. When a helicopter circled overhead, we ducked down in a ditch. We had to hide for days before we crossed, with no food or supplies, except for a salami. 

After a lot of struggle, we eventually got to the US.

5 months ago my dad went to get his drivers’ license renewed and while there, he was picked up and arrested by ICE (the Immigration Control Enforcement.) It became up to me to pay the rent and buy food while he was in jail. I worked 3 jobs while also going to school. I sold hot dogs, worked at the flea market, remodeled houses. But because I am a kid and was undocumented, I wasn’t even paid the minimum wage. They gave me $6 or $7 an hour. It was very hard.

Finally we got loans to get my dad out of jail. He is now working on a ranch so we don’t get to see him, but he sends us money. He has to go for a hearing soon and we are afraid that he may be deported. Then what will I do?

I don’t want to drop out of school, but I may have to if my dad is deported. That would be such a disappointment, because I am taking Advanced Placement and Honors classes and have my heart set on a career in public policy!

I was able to get my deferred action papers so now I can legally work and apply to college. But I am worried about how I will continue with my education if my dad is deported.

I am very glad my parents brought me to the United States to get a good education, but it can be hard to survive. I wish for immigration reform so my family can all stay together and my dad can take care of me and my mom. 

Sybella Pope-Sears

Sybella Pope-Sears, Crusader for Student Success Through Parent Teacher Home Visits

I began doing Parent Teacher Home Visits years ago in other school districts and now continue them in Washoe Schools, where I am teaching at Kate Dunn Elementary School.

I started this because I had a student in the first grade whose attendance was such a problem that she missed a whole half year of school. This child was woefully behind. When I visited her mom at home, I showed that I cared about her child.

I learned that the mom had several very young children and it was a big struggle to get the first grader out the door to school. I showed how much I valued her child and her education. I began to see improvement after that with the child’s attendance and performance. So I made another home visit to reinforce our relationship. It worked!

After that, I began doing home visits whenever I could. When I did home visits in inner city Richmond, California, it was a wakeup call me. My students were worried for my safety getting to their homes. What about their safety as children getting to school?

By stepping into their world, I built buy-in.  They saw that I genuinely cared. So they were willing to try harder in school. I saw the direct connection to my students’ motivation.

Another student I had was the son of gang members. This student was gone for a week from school. When I did a home visit, I realized the volume of issues at home the student was dealing with. But the father shook my hand and agreed to try harder to get his son to school And it worked. This student, who had not bought into school previously, began to care, try and perform.

The message that Parent Teacher Home Visits give are: You are worth my time! You are important! I have a better future in mind for you!

Susan Mayes-Smith

Why a Principal Supports the Path to Citizenship - Susan Mayes-Smith

I am Susan Mayes-Smith, Principal of Truckee Meadows Community College High School.  I have been an educator in theWashoe County School District for the past 22 years, with many years spent at the elementary or middle school levels. I have been personally motivated to assist a number of undocumented mothers with U.S. citizen children find a way to gain legal status, with or without the hope of ever becoming a US citizen.  

In some cases I was successful as I sought out immigration lawyers and found legal loopholes.  At best, mothers were awarded a legal work permit that had to be renewed on a regular basis.   Even so, the work permit is merely a short term band-aid for our U.S. citizen children. 

Research by Family Unity, Family Health Coalition, shows that many of the 4.5 million children in the US with one or both parents undocumented, suffer from anxiety and fear of losing a parent to deportation or have already experienced separation from one or both parents who have been deported. 

The study addresses the impact of fear, anxiety and grief on families, health care systems and schools across the nation.  In 2012, there were nearly 100,000 removals from families with US citizen children, with devastating impact on those children affected by those removals.

I shudder to imagine children living through the horror of seeing immigration authorities storm a child’s home and take away his mommy or daddy or both, and then to be left with an aunt, a cousin or and adult sibling to care for them.   It happens over and over. 

It breaks my heart that some parents, threatened by the broken immigration system, decide to self-deport hoping for a future chance to re-enter the country legally. They pack up their US citizen children to move in with strangers in a strange country and enroll in a strange school without any of the educational opportunities a US citizen has right to.

A Pathway to Citizenship for parents of Washoe County School Children, and all our nation’s children, will contribute to healthy, happy families.  And children will have a better educational experience if their parents could become more engaged in their children’s education if they didn’t feel as though they had to be looking over their shoulder at every turn for the authorities who can separate them from their loved ones.

I firmly support a Path to Citizenship.

Paula Guzman and her daughters

Paula Guzman, U.S.Citizen Married to an Aspiring U.S. Citizen

I was born in Sparks, Nevada and graduated from Sparks High School. I moved to Oregon in Nov.,1994, where a few months later I met my husband and the father of my daughters, Ramiro, who was born in Mexico. Rachel was born in Reno and Angelica was born in Oregon.

Ramiro retired after working for the Mexican Army for 22 years. He would go for months at a time into remote mountains to capture the drug cartel.  He didn't work for the U.S. but what he did benefited the U.S.

Ramiro came to the US on a Tourist Visa. Then he worked hard on farms and his bosses asked him to return each year.

In 1995 after he and others completed their seasonal work on a Christmas tree farm, the owner of the farm called the immigration authorities and Ramiro was detained. The judge said that Ramiro had to leave the country by Nov. 1996 or be deported. Ramiro had to be out of the US for 10 years before he could reapply for a Green Card.

It was difficult for me and the girls to move to Mexico, but we did, to be with him and keep our family together. It was hard for us in Mexico. There was a lot of violence. We heard gunshots and grenades at night. We would sleep on the floor in the room furthest from the street so we wouldn’t be hit by bullets.

Many of our friends and neighbors were murdered by the drug cartels. They would hang people from the bridges, and cut up dead people and display the body parts to scare everyone. Even our pastor’s son was kidnapped and held for ransom.

After 10 years of waiting in Mexico, my daughters and I came back to the US in 2011 so they could have a good education and we wouldn’t be around all the violence.

I wonder every day if I made the right decision. Ramiro’s papers still have not been approved. He is still waiting. He has filed all the documents, but the immigration system is broken.

My girls and I miss him terribly. We are often sad and try not to cry all the time. 

Rachel had been planning for her Baptism & 15^th Birthday  "Quince Años" since she was 9. She even designed her dress. But we didn’t have the big party because her dad wasn’t here with us.

Our hearts ache for him. The girls love being back in the U.S. They love school here and all they are learning also being with family. But Romero is not here with us. 

Christian Arroyo

Christian Arroyo, His dad is a New American Immigrant

My name is Christian Arroyo. I am 8 years old and a 2^nd grade student at Marvin Moss School in Sparks.

My mom, is an American Citizen. My dad has no green card.

My dad takes me to karate and the park. My mom gets me to make plays and draw. I love being with both of them and both of them are very special to me.

Because my dad has no papers, I worry that he could be arrested any time. And then I would not see him.  I love him a lot.

I need my Mom and my Dad in my life.

When immigration reform gets passed, please make it cost less. Then people who do not have a lot of money can stay here. Then I know that I will have my Dad in my life while I grow up.

Thank you for caring!

Sam Mendoza

Sam  Mendoza, Dreamer

I am 17 years old and a student at Hug High School in Reno. I was born in Leon Guanajuato, Mexico. When I was 8 years old, one night my dad woke me up in the middle of the night to leave for the United States.

It was a long hard journey by my parents and me. We crossed a fast moving river and I was very afraid of drowning. We walked for many hours through wet and muddy farms. When a helicopter circled overhead, we ducked down in a ditch. We had to hide for days before we crossed, with no food or supplies, except for a salami. 

After a lot of struggle, we eventually got to the US. 5 months ago my dad went to get his drivers’ license renewed and while there, he was picked up and arrested by ICE (the Immigration Control Enforcement.) It became up to me pay the rent and buy food while he was in jail. I worked 3 jobs while also going to school. I sold hot dogs, worked at the flea market, remodeled houses. But because I am a kid and was undocumented, I wasn’t even paid the minimum wage. They gave me $6 or $7 an hour. It was very hard.

Finally we got loans to get my dad out of jail. He is now working on a ranch so we don’t get to see him, but he sends us money. He has to go for a hearing soon and we are afraid that he may be deported. Then what will I do?

I was able to get my deferred action papers so now I can legally work and apply to college. But I am worried about how I will continue with my education if my dad is deported.

I am very glad my parents brought me to the United States to get a good education, but it can be hard to survive. I wish for immigration reform so my family can all stay together and my dad can take care of me and my mom.

It is important for the costs of immigration not be $4,000 as that is so much money. My family of 4 lives on only $15,000 annually, so how could we afford $4,000 each? It could prevent us from becoming citizens. And then I would very unhappy.  

Mario Gomez and Nivia Lucas

Mario Gomez and Nivia Lucas

We arrived in Reno from our home country, Guatemala.  Mario got here first, he came in 2004 and then I came in 2006.

We had met in Guatemala and had a daughter.  She was three months old when Mario left to come to Reno.  Two years later, I followed and she had to stay behind until we were able to get her.  She is now in the fourth grade and going to school here in Reno.

The separation was hard on us and on our little girl, but we came here looking for a better life.  The very bad economic situation in Guatemala was the main factor for us to migrate to the United States.  When you add the violence and the corruption, we had to leave.

We wanted a better life for our daughter and for us.  We came here looking for work.  It was not easy, but we persevered and found work and we are still employed.

Both Mario and I finished high school in our country and I have finished 2 years of college.  We both thought we knew English, but it has been hard to learn the language.

We both want to get our high school equivalency (GED) in order to be better with our English so we can continue to improve.

Immigration Reform for us will mean stability.  Our dream is to move forward, raise our children, buy a house and have more opportunities to succeed.  We want to have our own business, so we can help create jobs for others.  That is our dream.

We would like to encourage Congress to please pass comprehensive Path to Citizenship.  It would be a great benefit to keep our families together.

Ms. Kamaria Osayande

Ms. Kamaria Osayande is a Kindergarten teacher at Peavine Elementary School

“To begin a great school year, I always ask myself this question. What can I do to establish an influential relationship with my students to help them be successful learners?  And the answer is the same from year to year.  Focus on building positive relationships with my students and their parents.  There are two sides to teaching—the academic side and the people side.  Parent Teacher Home Visits provide you with the opportunity to engage parents in their children educational process.

My experience with Parent Teacher Home Visits has been positive for the most part, some parents are hesitant to agree to a scheduled home visit, because of a lack of trust regarding the personal relationship we may have at the time.  I’m a demanding teacher and I don’t except excuses from my students or their parents.  I’ve had parents to dislike me and my teaching methods and because of our Parent Teacher Home Visits program, understanding and appreciation becomes the focus in the relationship.  So their attitudes change with invested time in this process.

Our Parent Teacher Home Visits program has helped me to establish a lasting relationship with my students and their parents.  And there’s one reality that none of us can afford to ignore:  Students are more cooperative and perform at higher levels when they have a good relationship with their teacher.”

  

Helen Housby first grade teacher/ warrior at Katherine Dunn Elementary School, Sparks, Nevada

Helen Housby first grade teacher/ warrior at 

Katherine Dunn Elementary School, Sparks, Nevada

“My first experience with Parent Teacher Home Visits occurred about twenty years ago.  Katherine Dunn Elementary School was considered a middle class, neighborhood school back in those days, and I was a middle class white female teacher trying to understand why some of my students had poor attendance. We were trying to motivate the parents to get their children to school on time. Parent Teacher Home Visits had not been part of the school’s culture.

I met with a mom and her three kids who were students in my class.  They lived in the Marina Gardens apartments on Howard Drive, which were considered ‘low income’ apartments. This visit had a profound impact on my teaching career.

The circumstances that the family lived with were difficult, yet I found that the family did care about their children’s future. They were not living in the kind of order I was used to, but they cared. I learned to change my assumptions and grow as a person.

I learned to alter my teaching methods to meet the needs of my students. I found resources for connecting the families to other needed services, because I saw firsthand what those needs were.

By building a relationship with the families, I began to see improvement in the students’ attendance and I knew I was on the right track. I am a firm believer in Parent Teacher Home Visits.”

Hug High School Advocate, Scott Barclay, for Parent Teacher Home Visits

Scott Barclay, Hug High School Advocate for Parent Teacher Home Visits

I've been doing home visits with parents for 2 years now, after our principal suggested that we do them to build relationships with families, and not for the reasons that we had done them in the past (truancy and grade problems.)

I randomly chose parents who I didn't know yet, and found that I had to tell them right away when scheduling the appointment that their child wasn't in trouble.

One family was a single mom with four kids, with the oldest sister missing school because she had to watch the younger ones while the mom looked for work. I was not judging, but developed a connection to the mom. Here I was, a big white guy with this tiny Latino woman, in her house. But my positive attitude and her welcoming helped bridge our differences.

The mom knew I cared and she found me trustworthy enough to tell me about their struggles, including those concerning immigration, and not be scared. I became a resource to the family. Now, the child is doing really well in school and is college bound. The mom even initiates conversation and calls me regularly for advice or with questions. I feel like she thinks of me as part of her family.

What a gift these families are giving me to let me enter their homes and share their lives. When I visit, many feed me and I show my willingness to try what they offer. Being open to what they say and share is then interpreted as the school caring about them. What a difference it make for them, their child, and for me!

Learn more about  Parent Teacher Home Visits: http://engagingparentsinschool.edublogs.org/2011/10/10/the-best-resources-for-learning-about-teacher-home-visits/