Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón

In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.

 

But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.

As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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Education

Do Bilingual Teachers Hold Key to Latino Students’ Achievement Gap?

In an attempt to close the achievement gap between white and Latino students, the Santa Barbara Unified School District plans to hire more bilingual and bicultural teachers in 2015 and beyond.
The percentage of Hispanic students in Santa Barbara schools is more than double the percentage of Hispanic teachers.
“Our Latinos are…
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Mexico, US seek to boost student exchanges

MEXICO CITY — Young Americans wanting to study in Latin America have stopped looking so intently at Mexico, which has dropped from first to fourth for U.S. students going to university in the region over the last 10 years. Only about 4,000 U.S. students now study in Mexico, with crime and drug violence being the main deterrent. More go to Costa Rica, Argentina and Brazil…
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Hersey Club Takes Second Place at Annual Chicano College Bowl

John Hersey High School’s LASO (Latin American Student Organization) recently took 2nd Place at the Highland Park High School Hispanos Unidos Club 17th Annual Chicano College Bowl. Senior Kim Roman, juniors Ivett Delgado and Julian Lopez, and freshman Crista Mondragon competed against 11 other area high school teams to capture the award.
A fun and interactive way for students to learn about Mexican-American history, the Chicano College Bowl is based on the 1960s Chicano Movement. It is a knowledge bowl tournament that helps to create a positive cultural identity…
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Qualitative Exploration of Adolescent Discrimination: Experiences and Responses of Mexican-American Parents and Teens

The Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies in Minority Children argues that while discrimination and prejudice are normative experiences for ethnic minority children, promoting environments, family factors and adaptive culture may help minority youth develop effective coping strategies to deal with discrimination. Although this model emphasizes the critical role of family
Link to abstract

Host of NPR’s Latino USA to speak at DePaul University April 24

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–April 21, 2014. DePaul University’s School for New Learning will welcome the host of NPR’s “Latino USA,” Maria Hinojosa, for a presentation on April 24 titled, “The Growing Number of Latinos in the U.S. and Its Implications.” The event will begin with a reception at 5 p.m., after which, Hinojosa will give a lecture and host a question and answer session at University Center, Lake Room, 525 S. State St., Chicago. Admission is free and open to the public
Link to article

Mexican American Social Workers’ Perceptions of Doctoral Education and Academia

M Tijerina, AC Deepak – Journal of Social Work Education, 2014
… than the specific Latino ethnicities within, the sample for this study was solely Mexican American. …
responsibilities (ie, no children, no parents to care for), and professional recognition for … Second,
the resulting sample largely comprised very seasoned professionals, who were far …
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Counter-Narratives of La Raza Voices: An Exploration of the Personal and Professional Lived Experiences of Mexican-American/Chicano/A Faculty at California Institutions of Higher Education

Frank Vincent Serrano
Faculty members of color time and again encounter the greatest number of challenges and barriers (e.g., discrimination, isolation, marginalization, tokenism, inundated with workloads and service commitments, devalued research, and delayed promotion and tenure) in both entering academia and succeeding within academia…
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Expanding the pipeline for Latino bilingual teachers: A mixed methods study by Amabilia Valverde Valenzuela, University of Texas at El Paso

Current education reform in the US requires teacher preparation programs to educate future teachers according to the certification standards set forth by each state. Certification for teaching in Texas requires that preservice teachers successfully complete a series of comprehensive examinations in their teaching fields and in professional knowledge before entering full-time teaching…
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Dangerous Minds In Tucson: The Banning of Mexican American Studies and Critical Thinking In Arizona

C Acosta
… 3 Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal, one of the key political figures that drove
the banning of Mexican American Studies in Tucson, is a … I have a legal responsibility to uphold
the law and a professional imperative to ensure every student has access to an …
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Early Childrearing Practices and Their Relationship to Academic Performance in Mexican American Children

Arevalo, Amanda PT, DSc, PCS; Kolobe, Thubi H.A. PT, PhD, FAPTA; Arnold, Sandra PT, PhD; DeGrace, Beth PhD, OTR/L
Purpose:
To examine whether parenting behaviors and child rearing practices in the first 3 years of life among Mexican American (MA) families predict children’s academic performance at school age
Link to abstract

Academic Invulnerability Among Mexican-American Students: The Importance of Protective Resources and Appraisals

Sylvia Alatorre Alva
California State University, Fullerton

This study examined the characteristics of a cohort of Mexican-American tenth-grade students to determine why some Mexican-American students are academically successful and others are not, despite sharing a similar sociocultural background. Based on current work on invulnerable children, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of protective…
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The Association Between School Engagement and Achievement Across Three Generations of Mexican American Students

JL Rodríguez, IP Boutakidis – Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, 2014
… group diversity for school engagement and achievement in order to address how to develop and
implement curricula, student programs, and teacher professional development to more effectively
promote the school engagement and achievement of Mexican American students. …
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MEXICAN AMERICAN FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SIBLINGS AND ADDITIONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING THEIR COLLEGE CHOICE PROCESS

D Elias McAllister – 2012
… Title of Document: MEXICAN AMERICAN FIRST- GENERATION STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS
OF SIBLINGS AND ADDITIONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING THEIR COLLEGE CHOICE PROCESS …
choice process of Mexican American first-generation students who had an older …
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The Role of Behavioral and Cognitive Cultural Orientation on Mexican American College Students’ Life Satisfaction

L Ojeda, LM Edwards, EE Hardin, B Piña-Watson – Journal of Hispanic Higher …, 2014
… Implications for Practice Despite the limitations of this study and its exploratory nature,
our findings suggest several implications for professionals in college settings working
with Mexican American students. For example, higher …
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Acculturation and Religious Coping as Moderators of the Association Between Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms Among Mexican-American Vocational Students

A Fernandez, A Loukas – Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2013
… population, because of limited eco- nomic resources and access to other forms of coping, such
as professional counseling [2 … Although religious involvement is important to the Mexican-American
population, the amount of literature examining religiousness and its influence on …
Link to abstract


  

Poem
“…And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while…”

T.S. Eliot
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Mexican American Proarchive Annual Report for 2022

The American Community Survey is an annual survey administered by the federal government to help local officials and community leaders and businesses understand the changes that take place in their communities. It includes percentages of our population’s graduate school attainment and the employment of Mexican Americans in various occupations.  These important factors influence the allocation of federal resources. Mexican American Proarchives uses the data provided by the American Community Survey to better understand how Mexican Americans compare to the general population.

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