Volunteers venture to area schools to educate students on activist's life

--- Watch a video about the classroom visit at the bottom of this page. ---

When asked if they knew who Cesar Chavez was, Tina Lando's second-grade class at Marigold Elementary School had a few ideas.

Colton Green said, "An Indian?"

"A fighter?" Olivia Layne said.

"A Mexican?" Izabelle Bryant said.

None of them were quite right, but after a half-hour talk by senior Martha Andrade and junior Jennifer Roman, they had a better understanding on the civil rights leader.

Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, a political student group on campus, led Teach Outs on Monday at five Chico schools to teach students about Chavez, said Jesus Torres, director of university affairs for MEChA.

Seventeen Chico State students spent the state holiday talking about Chavez to elementary and middle and high school students, he said. MEChA has been running the Teach Outs for at least five years. They want students to understand who Chavez was and what he did for farm workers. Chavez, a Mexican-American, isn't always in schools' regular curriculum.

Chavez founded the United Farm Workers, the nation's first successful and largest farm workers union, and worked to better working conditions for migrant farm workers.

This was the first Teach Out for Andrade and Roman, they said. Because they had the day off, they wanted to tell students who might not know anything about Chavez about his life and work.

As part of his campaign to bring notice to the plight of migrant farm workers, Chavez participated in multiple hunger strikes, Andrade told the class. To illustrate the difficulty of Chavez's strikes, Roman brought lollipops and told the students to leave the candy on their desks for the whole day.

The second-graders groaned when they heard the restriction. Some fiddled with the lollipop for the rest of the presentation, but that was the only distraction. The rest of the time they sat attentively, without squirming or whispered conversations with their neighbors.

At the women's second lesson, fifth-grade teacher Steven Christiansen asked what people could do to follow in Chavez's footsteps.

Andrade said to tell others about Cesar Chavez and learn about the food people buy.

Roman had a larger lesson for the students.

"If you see a problem, do something," she said. "Take action like Cesar Chavez - speak up."

Ellen Walrath can be reached at ewalrath@theorion.com

Video by Rodolfo Vazquez

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4 comments

Raymond

Fri Sep 4 2009 15:42

As a new researcher and advocate of el Movimiento, I find it enlightening to know that there are activists "investing" their time in educating children about someone so important in Chicano history. Sure, there may be slander and as with ANYTHING in history, there will be a plethora of aspects one may evaluate and ultimately make the decision to agree with or most practically believe. If you don't want you children involved in the so-called, "indoctrination of children," then don't allow your children to attend. Also a contradictory statement was the idea that we are ALL of European descent. Have you never heard of Native Americans that were present in the Pre-Columbus era...? But then I guess the statement does hold water seeing as how those "conquistadores" were kind enough to pillage our land and rape our women huh? I'm just happy to be given the opportunity to open my eyes, become familiar with higher thinkers that don't just accept the media's layout of how fair America is to Our People and to remain loyal to the impoverished individuals working so that their children (maybe some of whom sat and participated in the Teach Outs) may also grow to become more informed individuals.

Andriana

Tue Aug 18 2009 15:51

Oh, grow up ppl. Mexican, Mexican-American's made this country just as much as the rest of the nationalities co-exisiting in it. We are part of the American history, we have made and grown much of the food and built many of the factories and restaurants that you eat in today, we have picked up your garbage, disposed of your feces, endured discrimination and death. Does the sweat of our ancestor's brow not matter in time. We are not invisible. We will not sell out, and forget our roots and our culture but, we will build a better america for our children and teach them that America was not only founded by "fathers" but, by a union of nationalities including, Irish, German, Mexican, Latin American, English and so on. We mexican american's are not better or no worse then our neighbor's who accuse us and label's us as what they think we are. Not all men are created equal, Not all women raise their young the same. Last but, not least a Mexican is a person of European descent. So technically, we are just as much caucasian as the white collard worker with the blonde hair blue eyes, the only difference is that we just have a little more in us.

StopUSAGiveaway

Sun Jun 14 2009 10:10

Apparently, the movimiento doesn't know that Cesar Chavez didn't want illegals: because he knew the migratory workers were abiding by the law. Amazing how deceitful liars disregard the truth and turn their EVIL hatred into the same: in this case using or indoctrination of childre.
Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness
At least "we the people" will not be where you have directed your hereafter...and that's an eternity!

Ben

Thu Jun 4 2009 22:17

Why is it lauded when members of a separatist organization with strong racial supremacist undertones goes and talks to students about Cesar Chavez? It might as well be Black Panther members going to talk to second graders about MLK. Frankly, I am offended by their racial agitation and other unlawful acts.

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