DOCUMENT RESUME ED 467 122 RC 023 516 Null, Elizabeth Higgins AUTHOR Llano Grande Center's Oral History Project Sparks Cultural TITLE and Economic Renewal in Texas's Rio Grande Valley. Rural Trust Featured Project. Rural School and Community Trust, Washington, DC. INSTITUTION 2002-00-00 PUB DATE 9p.; Photographs may not reproduce clearly. NOTE AVAILABLE FROM For full text: http://www.ruraledu.org/project0400.html. Reports PUB TYPE Descriptive (141) EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE DESCRIPTORS Economically Disadvantaged; Elementary Secondary Education; High Risk Students; *Intergenerational Programs; Local History; *Mexican American Education; *Oral History; Program Descriptions; *Rural Schools; *School Community Relationship; Student Motivation; Student Projects IDENTIFIERS Community Revitalization; *Place Based Education; Sense of Community; Texas (South) ABSTRACT The Llano Grande Center for Research and Development started as an oral history experiment in two of Texas's poorest school districts. Since the 1920s, when this arid region in the southernmost tip of Texas was first transformed into the orchards and farmlands of the "Magic Valley," workers of Mexican descent have worked the land. Over time, agriculture has declined and unemployment has grown. The Llano Grande Center trained students to use oral history research methods to collect the autobiographical stories of their elders. Older residents now have a documented and honored place in the region's history, expressed in their own words. These have been recorded, transcribed, translated into English, and archived by students, and children at all grade levels have reworked them into fiction, artistic depictions, and even a television documentary. The histories are supplemented by photographs and videos shot by students. The project has revitalized the region's educational, cultural, civic, and economic life and transformed the Llano Grande Center into a regional intellectual and economic nerve-center for local Mexican-American communities. Interest in local folklore, dance, and art has been renewed, and additional grants have funded leadership training and community development. The center's "pedagogy of place" seminars have helped to improved morale, motivation, and methods in the school district, which has improved its performance on the state-wide Texas achievement tests. (TD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE IONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION EDUC DISSEMINATE AND THIS MATERIAL CENTER (ERIC) HAS BEEN GRANTED his document has been reproduced as BY received from the person or organization originating it. Ins Rural Trust Featured Project --R-7-1-601 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) official OERI position or policy. 1 LLANO GRANDE CENTER'S ORAL HISTORY PROJECT SPARKS CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC RENEWAL IN TEXAS'S RIO GRANDE VALLEY By Elizabeth Higgins Null "Relationships. That's where educational reform begins. Relationships: building up trust; building up commitments; giving students and teachers and community people an opportunity to believe, to create change, to try something new. All this starts with one person getting to know another personlistening, talking taking the time." That's how Francisco Guajardo describes the spirit animating the Llano Grande Center for Research and Development, the organization he directs, as it evolves from a Rural Challenge oral history project into a regional intellectual and economic nerve-center for the Mexican-American communities of the Delta area of the Rio Grande Valley, in the southernmost tip of Texas. Located at Edcouch-Elsa High School, the Llano Grande Center was funded by Rural Challenge to serve the Edcouch-Elsa Independent School District (with four elementary schools, one junior high, one alternative school, and one senior high school) and also La Villa Independent School District (with one elementary, one middle, and one high school). Llano Grande affects, directly and indirectly, the lives of the 4,762 students attending schools in I, : , ;p i both the districts. The two districts serve Edcouch - , 1 4 (population, 2,878), Elsa (population, 5,242), and La Villa (population, 1,388) as well as nearby 104; unincorporated communities or colonias. Not %4` only has the Llano Grande Center trained stu- dents to document the historical contributions of the people of Mexican descent who have pio- neered, settled, and worked in the area, it has helped to revitalize the region's educational, cultural, civic, and economic life. All of this has been accomplished through a supportive and Edcouch-Elsa High School English teacher, David Rice, with often informal network of teachers, students, Ted Zavaleta's fourth grade class following a reading of his own alumni, and community members who collabo- work. rate on objectives they themselves have defined. BEST COPY AVAILABLE Edcouch-Elsa High School first attracted national The children influenced by Llano Grande Center attention because of its joint teacher and alumni programs come from two of Texas's poorest school effort to get its students accepted with scholar- districts. Ninety-one percent of the families earn ships into the nation's most selective colleges and less than $10,000 a year, and the combined universities. Sixty have been accepted by these assessed valuation per student (a district's total schools, and about 36 have attended or are at- taxable assets divided by the average figure for tending Ivy League Colleges. "The Ivy League daily student attendance) is $24,223. This can be college effort is not important in and of itself," compared to $802,612 per student in one of the says Guajardo: wealthiest districts, Highland Park Independent School District in Dallas. Most parents of What matters is that the Ivy Edcouch-Elsa or La Villa students have never League symbolizes what we can finished high school and have a limited grasp of accomplish, what can be possible. English. Since the 1920s, when this arid, border- Students in our schools are lifting land region was first transformed into the or- their sights and aiming for a future chards and farmlands of what was once known as based on knowledge, skills, and "The Magic Valley," workers of Mexican descent information. have cleared the land, toiled in the fields, and harvested and processed the produce. The wages have been habitually low, and the work hard and never-ending. Often whole families, as well as individuals, traveled established migration routes to such states as Utah, Wisconsin, and, especially, Michigan, seeking work as agricultural laborers. 0 Even today, approximately 40 percent of Edcouch-Elsa High School students follow the crops with their families. Within a few weeks, the school population can expand or shrink by hundreds of students. Many students attend two school systems. Over time, agriculture has declined and unem- When Llano Grande photographer Yvette Rodriguez takes ployment has grown. Local school systems are the pictures as part of the documentation process, she allows the largest local employers. For all the transience and viewer to look at the world through a variety of different lenses. economic uncertainty, however, family and community ties run deep. There is a great love of place which makes young people hesitant to leave and which draws many of those who have left back home again. As area students begin to use oral history research methods to collect the autobiographical stories of their elders, they find more than the expected tales of poverty, pain, and discrimination. Teach- ers and children alike have been inspired by the testimony of devoted, resilient men and women describing, in their own voices, how they have Velma Valdez, an Edcouch-Elsa sophomore, interviews her coped with harsh economic and physical chal- father, Jose Valdez. lenges while providing for their families. 23 A Llano Grande brochure on the oral history process describes the lengthy and methodical steps OW, students go through before each interview takes place: Identify interviewee Establish contact with interviewee Call interviewee, begin establishing relationship Set up meeting with interviewee Conduct research on interviewee and time period Prepare for house visit Prepare team of students and staff for visit Ray Garcia, a La Villa High School student, expresses an intimate connection between the earth and heaven as he Prepare technology: camcorder, laptop, depicts work in the fields. scanner Together, Llano Grande researchers and infor- mants are constructing the unrecorded social history of their economically depressed but culturally vibrant communities. Older residents, whose lives once seemed invisible to all but / themselves, now have a documented and honored 411 place in the region's history, expressed in their own words. These have been recorded, tran- 4 scribed, and archived by students just as they were spoken usually in Spanish. Students have also translated and edited the transcriptions into Students scan historic photographs to use on CD-ROMs and narratives for publication in both English and the Internet. In addtion to learning useful skills, they volunteer Spanish. They are now being studied and used by in school-community efforts to narrow the digital divide. children at all grade levels who have reworked them into fiction, artistic depictions, and even a 7 television documentary which Edcouch-Elsa High School students produced for the local PBS station. Oral history documents are supplemented by over 700 archived historic photographs of local memorabilia and by a rapidly developing collec- tion of videos and still photographs shot by student researchers in the course of their work. Five ninth graders, involved in a project photo- graphing daily life in local colonias, have been chosen to exhibit their works at the Smithsonian Institution (March 2000). A fourth-grade student integrates oral history and family reminiscences with creative writing in her journal entries. 3 4 BEST COPY AVAILABLE When the oral history project first got underway, students started by interviewing their family or close friends. It took patience and the cultivation of relationships, one by one, to get potential subjects to understand what information the students were seeking and to respond to them with confidence. But as news of Llano Grande's oral history project spread, especially after the bilingual publication of the Llano Grande Journal, many would-be informants took the intiative and Students reenact the stories collected from older approached students with stories to tell and members of the community. acquaintances to recommend. Stories led to action. Students, teachers, and community members worked together to organize a reunion of those who once worked in the large Vahlsing Packing Shed processing fruits and vegetables. They also held a conference for those who had witnessed or taken part in a walk-out at Edcouch-Elsa High School in the spring of 1968. This pivotal event, protesting discriminatory practices throughout the local school system, hastened the end of "Anglo" dominance in local politics and local schools. The Anglo minority, who had occupied most positions of authority, Community members provide refreshments at a community moved away from the area over the next few years, workshop. creating new leadership opportunities for resi- dents of Mexican descent. This helped to grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. This strengthen common values and understandings second grant has brought parents, students, and between school and community. Several local teachers from the region together for leadership educators were influenced and motivated by the training. Intergenerational teams explored how walkout and its aftermath. Sharing reminiscences best to strengthen community life through the use with other area residents as well as with a new, of technology and are achieving some of their curious, and caring generation has been a way of goals, such as a community computer center. increasing positive exchanges between communi- The first oral history researchers enrolled in an ties inside and outside the school walls. elective course taught by Francisco Guajardo who In recent decades, parents and community mem- now teaches a variety of courses in social science bers have supported the schools, but their re- research topics. Other K-12 teachers have woven sources have been limited and the nature of their oral history segments into their own syllabi involvement, inactive. Today, local oral history enriching the study of literature, music, art, research has stimulated civic activism resulting in journalism, media production, drama, and his- additional funds and enhanced educational tory. Even more teachers express support for Llano activities. The Llano Grande Center for Research Grande's "place-based" educational approach but and Development augmented its three-year Rural are cautious about integrating its methods and Challenge grant (first awarded in 1997), which materials into their classroom activities. They say supports oral history and other place-based the need to coach and drill students to perform educational initiatives, when it secured a MIRA well on the state-wide Texas Assessment of 4 5 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Academic Skills examinations (TAAS) allows little time for curricular flexibility. Also, according to Mary Alice Reyes, Superintendent of School for the Edcouch-Elsa Independent School District, Teenage artist Delvis Cortez there are scant funds to support training courses brings social commentary to and curricula development when 90 percent of his poster advertising a Llano the state aid spent by her financially-strapped Grande seminar on district must be spent for educators' salaries. education and the economy. Turning the limitations of time and money into an educational opportunity, students and staff associated with the Llano Grande Center have created a "Curriculum Guide Based on Pedagogy The heady mix of oral history and community of Place Principles." Francisco Guajardo's research development efforts is sparking a regional interest seminar is training students to teach "pedagogy of in many aspects of local folklore, art, and litera- place" techniques used in the oral history project ture. Elementary students, their teachers, and This will augment the number of young facilita- various community members in the Edcouch-Elsa tors who can, in turn, train other students as well Independent School District have developed a as teachers. Students at Edcouch-Elsa High folklore and dance troupe which performs at School have also participated, along with faculty localevents. and administrators, on a Strategic Planning Committee which has outlined the school's future Students under the guidance of La Villa High educational objectives. In any case, improved Schools art teacher Elmira Cura explore local and morale, motivation and methods, fostered in part Mexican themes in their art work. Edcouch-Elsa by Llano Grande's initiatives, contribute to High School students have seen their own in- improved performance on the state wide Texas house radio broadcasts at school mature into a Achievement tests. In 1998, Edcouch-Elsa High full-fledged radio station, KBUZZ (98.7 FM), for School was singled out as a "recognized school." local listeners. High school students from the same school filmed and acted in the play of an English teacher, David Rice, who grew up in the area. One grant proposal is now pending to start a literary review, largely staffed by students, for writers and artists of the Rio Grande Valley. This is just one of several publication projects that the Llano Grande Center hopes to get under- way. 4 In the last year or two, the Llano Grande Center for Research and Development has become a key 4 economic player in the region, A';',1 , Pr working hard to develop job oppor- ,,oi.v.//,,, 5:/4:( till{ .1 ../ !, fe/". 44"*.y,j,/ tunities for students, alumni, and A / . '''''' '1/4-4:4. .4 "*v 4m" , ..1, . 4. ; others who have developed skills in `, information research, collection, Students celebrate their cultural heritage and integrate it with their school work by performing Mexican folk dances. 5 and management. Employees and interns, most of them students, are transcribing oral history records on a contract basis for the King Ranch; the Institute of Texan Cultures at the University of Texas, San Antonio; and Texas A&M Univer- sity-Kingsville. 4+" Houston executive Rosie Zamora, whose mother Otila Zamora was interviewed by Llano Grande oral history researchers, has been helping the ft Center to become a research and survey center for 14;Sfes the area in which she grew up. An initial group of 20 part-time bilingual workers, mostly students Karina Cardoza, transcribing interviews at the computer, will return to Edcouch-Elsa High School to teach after her trained in interviewing techniques, will accumu- graduation from Columbia University. late and analyze information to be processed by computer for hospitals, universities, and other Many outstanding college graduates are returning groups seeking detailed information about the Rio to take part in the civic and economic rebirth of Grande Valley and its inhabitants. In this way, the the area. Teachers, students, and local alumni stay Llano Grande Center can help individuals and in touch with alumni at colleges and corporations organizations assess regional assets and needs. through the Center's heavily used e-mail list. Another telling example of the Llano Grande Students learn to write grant proposals in Fran- Center's involvement in local economic life is the cisco Guajardo's Social Science Research Methods location of Edcouch's Chamber of Commerce in and are successfully participating in all aspects of the Center's office at Edcouch-Elsa High School. the funding process. They regularly vet their As a result of its growing expertise, the Center has proposals with more experienced advisors through applied to draw up an economic redevelopment the e-mail list. They also use it to develop mentors plan for downtown Elsa. Ernesto Ayala, an and contacts. Edcouch-Elsa alumnus and Brown University Graduate (class of 99) is heading up entrepreneur- Individual friendships and collaborative working ial and consulting activities at the Center. relationships remain at the heart of all these activities, and community consensus is as likely to be developed over a cup of tea or a chat at the bakery as through formal committees. Progress and success are measured, in these small commu- nities, not through improved statistics but through the quality of life achieved by individuals and families, one by one, person by person, over a ay period of time. Accomplishment means different things to different students. Take the testimony of a former gang member who has found a new sense of purpose doing video production, oral history, and electronics maintenance and trouble-shooting Students get involved in all aspects of film-making and video production under the guidance of Lauriano Aguirre, Llano with the Llano Grande Center for Research and Grande's Media and Publishing Director (foreground). Development. As he says in a foundation proposal he helped to write: AVAILABLE BEST COPY 6 7 I came to the Center to get advice from Mr. Guajardo; he'd been such a positive influence on me, and I knew I could come to him. He offered me a job for the summer, transcribing oral histo- ries.. .I had my baby boy in . September, and spent the rest of my time at home. I ran into Mr. Guajardo in March, and he offered me another job transcribing interviews for the King Ranch Archives. I hadn't thought much about working, but I decided to do it. The Center was really in full swing, involved in so many things. .it has given me so much hope . . and high expectations for a suc- cessful future, especially under the difficult circumstances I have had to face. If the Llano Grande Center for Research and Development started as an oral history experi- La Villa High School art teacher, Elmira Cura, encourages students to create new works inspired by ment pioneered by a few enlightened school local and Mexican themes. administrators and teachers, it has now become a tangible reflection of community hopes and The program needs to focus on values. Residents and students alike are taking an students like myself. So we are active part in shaping their own future as they doing it so that it doesn't focus on reclaim a common heritage. Telling the stories of the kids who play football, or are who they are, where they came from, and of what in the band . or the popular . . . men and women struggled to accomplish in the kids. Not that I don't like those past is inspiring the loftiest cultural and economic kids, but they have enough aspirations. chances to do stuff already. I like the idea that Llano Grande is set up for what the school calls the "at risk" kids. Kids like me. A poster by Delvis Cortez Uszok.essse- advertises a community An example of how the Center's influence is seminar and shows the infused with personal connection and caring is a cooperative relationship between an older and young mother's tale of what happened to her after younger worker. she became pregnant. This high school valedicto- Some of the bricks are eal6; rian, active in Llano Grande projects, had to defer lare labeled with such key terms as entering Stanford University in order to have her "knowledge," "information," child. and "technology." 7 I' I For more information, contact the Rural Trust or the the other organization in the article: Rural School and Community Trust Llano Grande Center for 1825 K Street, NW Suite 703 Research and Development Washington, DC 20006 PO Box 127 (202) 955-7177 Edcouch, TX 78538 (202) 955-7179 (fax) (956) 262-4474 [email protected] (956) 262-6060 www.ruraledu.org [email protected] www.11anogrande.org 9 8 AVAILABLE ;EST COPY a ERIC U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) National Library of Education (NLE) Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) NOTICE REPRODUCTION BASIS This document is covered by a signed "Reproduction Release (Blanket) form (on file within the ERIC system), encompassing all or classes of documents from its source organization and, therefore, does not require a "Specific Document" Release form. 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