Sidney Thorne

Ethics : Mexican- American Culture

Professor Mequette Sorensen
April 14, 2017

What to do When College is Not for You!

Introduction
When deciding on a program to assist lower-income students not only
complete High School, but graduate with a better chance at jobs and better
income, I looked back at my own past, and researched what options there
are today that do the same thing as the school programs I remember from
over 20 years ago. The CTE program today, is similar to the trade school
training my school district had in High school, and already exists to help
students graduate high school with better earning potential then a diploma
alone. This lead to the question, why is it not being utilized more by students
that for one reason or another do not attend college. This was the question
that I was struggling with and wanted to answer for my final project.

I remember a great deal from my personal experiences in High school

and our CTE programs, I was enrolled in the Commercial Art programs and
enjoyed them immensely. We were able to graduate with a certificate of
completion and a year of real world experience if you completed the whole
course, which I only did the first year of. I was introduced to the program
while in a Home-Ec class, which looking back I feel was a little short sighted,
that perhaps the same tour I went on would have been more helpful if it had
been something EVERYONE had gone on, such as part of the English
program. This lead to a number of ideas of what to do, from making the tours
part of English, to full on assemblies giving the information to middle school
students, but that lead to another obstacle, "How do you get 8th graders to
pay attention?"

I had the chance to substitute for the Jordan School district for a time,
and learned from my experiences that the hardest grade to get to take
education seriously is 8th graders. They are too full or hormones and
themselves to pay attention, which lead to another idea, how about a career
day at the Elementary schools to showcase the CTE opportunities and where
they could lead. This reminded me of the Career days my children had in
elementary school and caused me to wonder if things would not have been
better if I had been the one to get the education about what options were
available, I was a stay at home mom at the time and so therefore I knew that
option would not be available to all parents, especially those that worked.

It took a few interviews with various members of the Latin-American

community to really help me nail down how to bring all these thoughts
together into a program that would not be new, not be innovative, but
instead it would bring the information at the best time, to the right people to
help do the most good. My idea of a "program" is less of a program and more
of a educational assist to help make CTE a stronger option for those who for
whatever reason, are not ready or able to make college work.

Parents are the Key

Research has proven that children whose parents are involved with
their education do better, are more attentive and reach further than those
whose parents are not involved. According to a report about parent roles in
education published by AMLE called Parent Involvement ; " Parent
involvement is important to the educational success of a young adolescent
and yet generally declines when a child enters the middle grades (Epstein,
2005; Jackson & Andrews, 2004; Jackson & Davis, 2000; NMSA, 2003). Parent
involvement is defined as having an awareness of and involvement in
schoolwork, understanding of the interaction between parenting skills and
student success in schooling, and a commitment to consistent
communication with educators about student progress."
 Students whose parents push education and talk about the importance
of a college education are more likely to go to college. Parents that push a
higher level of education but allow for trade school help support students
feel accomplished if they take that route instead of a more liberal arts style
college route. The National Education Association posted a spotlight saying
"When schools, families, and community groups work together to support
learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like
school more. Thats the conclusion of A New Wave of Evidence, a report
from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (2002)." This report
spotlighted the results of several research studies all saying that parents
need to be involved in education all the way through the educational
process.

If a parent is fully educated in the benefits of a deep immersion into a

CTE program, how it can lead to better paying skilled jobs after high school,
open doors to higher trade degrees, and provide a better paying future for
their kids, even if they are unable to attend college until the family is in a
better place to do so, they can help a child become more dedicated to their
education. Many parents do not learn about CTE programs or even know the
facts that say a high school graduate can earn about $5,000 a year more on
average with a completed CTE 2 year program, than a high school graduate
without the same CTE training, this statistic was reported by the US
Department of Education to Congress in September of 2014.

Career Night

One of the biggest obstacles in educating parents about CTE career

options at a Career Day, which is the most common type of event, is the
timing. Most children who would benefit most from a completed CTE training
course completed upon graduation, have parents that work hard and could
not make a career day. This does not mean schools should remove career
day altogether, career day helps to get kids excited out the possibilities out
there, Career Night however is for the parents, to help THEM get on board
and know what to expect, how to plan schedules, and to open up a dialog
between them and their students.

The CTE program exists to give technical training to high school

students and allow them to graduate High School with a trade school 2 year
degree. This program is organized differently depending on the school
district, and therefore trying to create a one size fits all program has its
limitations. Most districts start promoting in 7th grade with an intro to CTE
course that all students participate in, requiring a CTE style class every year
until 9th grade when they start accumulating credits for graduation. The
current program sends home flyers to parents, and offers website
information, but unless the parents seeks out a teacher or counselor, they
will not get the information that could help plan for the future, such as
earning potential and careers opened up by the various CTE pathways.

This program is deceptively simple, host a career night for parents at

each elementary school in the District. Each night would have spotlights for
each pathway, showing what can be found along the pathway, including job
opportunities, further education opportunities, and earning potential. The
idea of this program is to get parents involved and educated in the
possibilities for their children's education.

What would it Cost?

Since the CTE program has already been established, the cost of this
program would be minimal. Each district would have costs that would be
based on the programs they have available and how many elementary
schools they have. The formula would be easily described as ( Cost = # of
elementary schools * # of CTE programs the district has * 4 hours + cost of
refreshments ). A two hour Career Night would need an hour for set up, and
tear down, which is factored into the 4 hours needed.

A High School CTE councilor could open the evening with an

introduction, inviting parents to ask questions, giving general knowledge
about the benefits of a student joining the CTE program, and giving numbers
to support the benefits of graduating with a CTE Diploma. Teachers who are
involved in the pathways would need to be involved to answer questions as
well, but most of the displays about the careers could come from high school
students in the programs themselves. How better to get students excited,
than to see the excitement of their upperclassmen, getting ready to head out
into the world, and how prepared they are by the programs they are enrolled
in.

Inviting local business owners to come in and give testimony about job
opportunities that graduating with training in the CTE programs would help
the parents learn how viable the options are. Speaking money and timelines
with parents of lower income families will speak more strongly than anything
else. As much as parents want their children to succeed, there are
sometimes reality makes things difficult, but having an education about
opportunities CTE opens up, should make some sacrifices a little easier to
bear knowing about long term benefits that the sacrifices can bring.

Obstacles to Implement the Program

With a program that is an extension if an existing program, there will

be fewer obstacles then a new program would have. However the slow pace
and approval of state education bureaucracy will definitely be something
that would have to be dealt with before this program could be implemented.
As there is little evidence a program like this would help, and the first year of
benefits would be 6 years after implementation, it would take a great deal of
time and dedicated CTE teachers and staff to make this happen.
 The first measurable indication that the program was doing any good,
would be with higher enrollment numbers of lower-income students in CTE
pathways. Even with increased enrollment, it would not be clear for 10 years
after implementation if the program was truly effective, and therefore
timeframe that would be required before the results were proven, would
become an obstacle in getting funding for the program approved by state
education.

People Committed to the Program

When small business owners are committed to helping out the
community, and working with schools, opportunities open up for students. In
return communities support small businesses that support their students,
creating a strong cycle of support that can strengthen a community. A
combination of students, district leaders, business owners, parents, teachers,
and school administration must all buy in for a program like this to work.

Latin-American communities work hard to support each other by hiring

Latin-American employees, which gives a job base for students studying to
enter trained fields of employment such as automobile repair and home and
business maintenance and repair. Districts like Granite School District and
their CTE director, James Taylor, have built into the CTE programs
connections to the communities they serve, giving support to programs that
offer better careers after high school. The best support and commitment
comes from the small businesses of the local communities, such as Mariscos
Noche Fresca , and Pinata Imports of Kearns Utah. Business skills learned in
CTE programs open doors for small businesses like these to grow and new
business to get started.

Conclusion
 Low income families get trapped in a cycle of poverty when students
do not finish high school. When parents get educated, on what options high
school gives, especially when CTE diplomas are earned, students have a
better chance of completing high school and earning more elevating stress
on the family. A program that educates parents early on in their student's
education would help support them so the student can finish school and
improve their lives later on, even if college is not for them.

Citations

AMLE - Association for Middle Level Education. "Parent Involvement." AMLE -

Association for Middle Level Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
NAPE. "Utah : Career Technical Education (CTE) Profile." UTAH (n.d.): n.
pag.Www.napequity.org. National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity. Web.
<https://www.napequity.org/nape- content/uploads/Utah.pdf>.

"Research Spotlight on Parental Involvement in Education." NEA. National Education

Association, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

Silba, Walter. "What Obstacles Do Latin-Americans Have When Completing High-

School with CTE Training?" Personal interview. 8 Apr. 2017.

U.S. Department of Education. "National Assessment of Career and Technical

Education." (n.d.): n. pag. Www2.ed.gov. U.S. Department of Education, Sept.
2014. Web.

"CTE News." Canyons School District. Canyons School District, n.d. Web. 14 Apr.
2017.

"CTE Facts." USOE - CTE Main - CTE Facts. Utah State Department of Education, n.d.
Web. 16 Apr. 2017. <http://schools.utah.gov/CTE/main/About/Facts.aspx>.

Utah System of Higher Education. "Career and Technical Education." 2015 Annual
Report(n.d.): n. pag. Le.utah.gov. State of Utah, Nov. 2015. Web.
<http://le.utah.gov/interim/2015/pdf/00005145.pdf>.

Granite School District. Granite School District, n.d. Web.

<http://www.graniteschools.org/>.

Utah Department of Education. Utah Schools (government Website). State of Utah

Department of Education, n.d. Web.
<http://schools.utah.gov/CTE/main/DOCS/Month/CTEMonthClassroom.aspx>.

Reflection on Class

SLCC Learning Outcome #1:

 I have a habit of disliking people who spread hate and intolerance. I am
grateful to this class for giving me some knowledge for when I see this hate spread,
I can refute it with knowledge and not feel that I must stay silent for lack of
knowledge. I am grateful for learning more about the history of Mexican-Americans
whom gained that status by the border jumping them. I learned from conversations
outside of class about a local settlement in Utah of Mexican miners which changed
my knowledge of where the most northern settlement was. This knowledge will
help me be able to attempt to educate others who prefer to see things from a
Majority-culture stand point.
As a defender of others by nature, I am glad to learn of the civil rights
struggles of the Mexican-American people because now I have facts I can use to
help defend and support others. Every day I learn more about what this class taught
me, and I look forward to new experiences that will help me discover more of what I
learned from this class. This class helped me learn the stretch of history that I had
not looked at before, as I tend to be rather obsessed with ancient civilizations and
tend not to look beyond that.

SLCC Learning Outcome #2

I have been blessed to attend quite a few Mexican celebrations in my life. I

was able to be in Oaxaca for the Christmas festival, to be in the Yucatan for the
Mexican Independence celebration, and study the Festival of the Dead to theme a
party for my son who was born on November First, The Day of the Dead, or all Souls
day depending on the area and how they celebrate. These experiences were
brought to mind and emphasized as we studied in class, and the experiences
allowed me to feel connected as we spoke about the various celebrations. It
brought home to me, my love for other cultures and their celebrations, their food
and their art.
I was able to learn from Latin-American students in class about their regions
of decent, and learn if the information I have was correct or not, which allowed me
to update the information I have so that I may not spread false information as I try
to share what I know and love with others. Learning that I had been misinformed of
the Cinco De Mayo celebration in the region that fought the battle, was eye opening
and clarifying for me.

SLCC Learning Outcome #3

The hardest part for me of the research project we did was the fact that I
could see the root cause of the problems that are faced by all lower income families,
and I felt helpless to be able to fix the root cause. However as I searched for ways to
ease the symptoms, since that is all I could treat, I ran into roadblocks, namely
"Why don't more take advantage of the resources that are available." Therefore I
needed to research, ask questions of those members of the Latin American
community I could to find out why the resources available were not being used.
The process of interviewing members of the community helped me see issues
that I could address, and it helped me understand the cultural mentality better. This
understanding helped me to formulate a plan that would help to increase the
success of students with graduation rates as well as being able to help to provide
better for families upon graduation which gives incentive to graduate. This idea was
supported and encouraged by those I interviewed and gave me the impression that
this plan would be successful in helping to improve the lives of lower income
families.

SLCC Learning Outcome #4

What impressed me most as I went about learning about the culture of the
current Latino-American culture is the variations that exist. Not just from country to
country but from region to region. I was able to realize why I have so many friends
where I work that are Latin-American, with how personable I am, and wanting to
know things about people, this concept I learned was important and was able to put
a name to as Personalismo.
I also had the experience during the interview that was a compare and
contrast about life growing up, where I was able to help my Latino brother-in-law
feel the need to connect a little more to his roots to be able to teach his newborn
daughter about the cultures he came from. This made me feel like I was able to help
my niece learn about herself in the future as I know how important it is to learn
about where a person comes from.

SLCC Learning Outcome #5

At the completion of this course I feel more aware of the importance of the
Latino American culture on the people. While I have experience with people of a
lower-income status, I was lived in an area that was predominantly of the majority
culture so I was robbed of the chance to grow up understanding the differences of
culture between myself and Latino Americans. I have always had an appreciation
for other cultures and loved the richness that comes from experiencing aspects of
life outside of the majority culture, this class was delightful to be able to experience
more and widen my knowledge which will come in handy in the future as a social
worker.