Conference on Education : Take Interest in Schools, Latino Parents Urged

Throughout a daylong conference Saturday in Anaheim, more than 200 Latino parents heard the message over and over again: Know what your children are doing in the classroom, and show that you care.

“The single biggest reason dropouts give for leaving school is that nobody cared,” said Russ Barrios, trustee of the Orange Unified School District.

In the face of statistics that show that about one-third of Latinos statewide drop out of high school, the bilingual conference at Anaheim High School focused on improving the education of minority students by involving their parents.

The conference was spearheaded by the Orange County Human Relation Commission and sponsored by various county groups and corporations. Teachers, school administrators and representatives from local colleges and educational organizations were present to offer guidance.

One parent, Aida Rivas of Anaheim, the mother of two preschool-age children, said: “It is good to see so many Mexicans here. Education determines what a child is going to be.”

Although topics ranged from preventing teen-age pregnancy and gang violence to finding college aid, a common thread in the lectures and workshops was that parents need to be aware of what their children are doing in school.

“Parents need to maintain the link between the home and the school that tends to dwindle during the high school years,” said Maggie Carrillo, principal at Anaheim High School. “Often parents only talk to teachers when there is a problem at the school.”

Several conference participants said that involving Latinos in the public schools means changing cultural perceptions, such as that education is the exclusive domain of schools and not parents.

“A large population of these people came from rural areas in Mexico where school is like a foreign country,” said Guadalupe Green, the coordinator of student services in the Orange County Department of Education.

During a workshop on dropouts, Green advised parents to “get to know the teachers, principal and secretary at the school. Ask what committees there are for parents. Know how your child did on standardized tests.”

Two Latino Anaheim High School seniors who plan to attend college said parental support is crucial.

“My mother really pushed me to get an education,” Tammy Rocha, 18, said.

Parents also can help their children by allowing them to join school clubs and activities, the two students said.

Elvira Perez, 17, said: “My parents really did not want me to get involved with sports or clubs because I am a woman and in the Mexican culture the woman is just supposed to stay at home. But you just can’t hit the books all the time.”

Rocha, a member of MECHA, a Latino group at the school, said extracurricular activity “makes school a lot easier and more interesting if you get involved in clubs.”

While Vietnamese interpreters also were present, the participants included only a handful of Asians.

County Human Relations Commissioner Audrey Yamagata-Noji said: “The Asian community here is still organizing. We hope there will be more participation between the two groups in the future.”

Robert Nava, a staff member with the commission, said that he was happy with the turnout and that the commission hopes to make the conference an annual event.

“Quite a few people said it just can’t be done,” he said. “It shows that Latino parents are very interested in education.”

Actress Carmen Zapata congratulated parents for attending. “There is opportunity in this country within everyone’s reach,” she said. “It is our responsibility to help make our children’s bilingual heritage a positive asset.”

Rivas, who left her children at the conference’s day-care center, said she is originally from El Paso, Tex., and has lived in Monterey County, where, she said, most Mexican immigrants work in the fields.

She is already saving a little money each week for her children to attend college. She said: “I want more for them than that.”