Education Committee Chairs

Ms. Cristina Villacinda-Farr (co-chair)
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Ms. Guadalupe Velasquez (co-chair)
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The LEON Education Committee meets once a month to identify critical educational needs in the Hispanic community and to share programs and activities that the members respective agencies are doing in this specific community.

The LEON Education Committee has assembled ESL coordinators from local schools to discuss local and state-wide concerns regarding ESL education. The educators have formed a consortium that meets quarterly to share ideas, challenges and resources and provide a local voice to Ohio Department of Education staff members.

Members of the committee attended and provided feedback to the Ohio Commission of Hispanic and Latino Affairs Education Sub-Committee to present a report to Governor Bob Taft and the Ohio General Assembly, “The Educational Status of Hispanic/Latino Students in Ohio’s K-12 Public Schools 2001-2002.” Members of the committee participated in the Columbus Town Hall meeting that brought together educators, community leaders and service providers to address educational needs of Hispanic students. Although the commission provided the leadership, LEON Education committee members helped gather data, reviewed the draft document and provided final copy for the finished manuscript.

The Education Committee has widely circulated the Plyler vs Doe 1982 summary in which the Supreme Court ruled that public schools were prohibited from denying immigrant students access to a public education. The committee makes efforts to communicate the importance of this law to the school office personnel who are usually the first person an immigrant meets when trying to enroll their child(ren).

For two years South-Western City Schools, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Girl Scouts-Seal of Ohio Council, Inc. have collaborated to provide 9th grade ESL students with a non-traditional learning experience focused on leadership. More than 150 students have participated using various activities to identify and challenge their various leadership styles.