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Wine
tax proposal fails in waning days of legislative session
GFU will host Chinese students
Family means giving everything of one's self
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Summer school culture |
Migrant summer school at Edwards Elementary helps
students maintain what they've learned |
By Laurent
Bonczijk, Newberg Graphic
reporter
E-mail Laurent at
lbonczijk@eaglenewspapers.com
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The kindergarteners sang “I am happy, I am happy,” in Spanish as
they performed a lively “ronda,” — a Mexican folk dance — under the
watchful eye of Francisco Javier Ortiz in the gymnasium of Edwards
Elementary School.
Ortiz is teaching folk dances, Mexican culture and Spanish
literature this summer during Edwards’ annual migrant summer school
program. Ortiz has plenty of experience: he teaches fourth-grade in
the state of Zacatecas in Mexico. He also teaches his students about
pre-Hispanic customs and people.
Ortiz is
part of an exchange program between Mexico and Oregon, said Paco
Benetti, principal for the summer migrant school and a Newberg High
School Spanish teacher. The teachers have to master some basic
English skills, among a list of criteria from the Mexican Department
of Education, they then receive extra training in Mexico before
coming to the United States.
Summer school “enables students to maintain what they’ve learned
during the year,” Benetti says. The program emphasizes the basics,
with each class exploring math and science through a theme. “The
kids read and write about their themes everyday.”
The majority of the kids in the program come from Mexico, he said.
Their parents labor in the agriculture, fishing or cannery
industries. The students attend the Newberg school district during
the year, but may have gone back and forth between Oregon and
Mexico.
The program emphasizes English and “provides an opportunity to
further continue developing language skills.” The students also
receive two weeks of swimming instruction to “bring awareness of
water safety.” Many families will be heading to the river, the lake
or the beach and Benetti said it is important students be safe.
The school is for preschool students to seventh-grade students and
230 students were enrolled this year. It is the result of a
partnership between the Newberg School District and the Migrant
Education program.
Ortiz found that teaching in Oregon was slightly different than
teaching in his home country. He found the schools here have more
resources when it comes to technology and facilities — specifically
computers, televisions and libraries. On the plus side he said that
Mexican schools are more flexible with student attendance and that
as a teacher “you can implement different strategies for
discipline.” He finds students to be very similar on both sides of
the border.
Josue Ulloa, 6, uttered a resounding “yeah” when asked if he was
enjoying the “ronda.” He quickly demonstrated several foot movements
he had learned during Ortiz’s class before rejoining the group to
dance to a catchy tune of “Chu chu wa wa.” |
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From
July 7, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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