December 2022 • Issue 63 • California Association for Bilingual Education
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Biliteracy, Multicultural Competency, and Educational Equity for All! |
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What's new in Sacramento that impacts education? Find out here... |
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CABE Legislative Advocate Report
by Jennifer Baker
- Legislative Leadership Update
- Fiscal Outlook Declines
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Starting in January—ELD Series: monthly, after school, and online... |
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Deadline for award and teachership applications is December 14th... |
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Reminder—CABE members receive a 15% discounted registration! |
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Meet Laura Díaz, CABE Parent Specialist, FACE Team |
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Born in Torreón, Coahuila, México, Laura Díaz grew up in San Pedro with her two younger sisters and brother, where they attended una escuela de monjas. Her parents both worked for the Department of Water which administered the distribution of water to farmers. Spanish was spoken at home, but her mother did learn some English from her father, who worked as a bracero in the US.
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Laura met her husband, a civil engineer, in high school and began studying medicine but later switched to law school and became a lawyer. Her husband's company transferred him to Springfield, IL, then to Winnipeg, Canada, and later to Colton, CA. Laura and her two children immigrated to join him in Redlands in 2003. |
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Her son, a second grader, struggled to adjust to the new language and culture in school in a Structured English Immersion program. Her daughter, a simultaneous bilingual (she never attended an ELD program as she was considered an initial fluent English speaker) was in a Dual Language program and adapted quickly. Laura ensured that both children maintained their Spanish proficiency by speaking only Spanish at home and providing home language support and learning in the evenings and on the weekends. Laura volunteered in their schools from Head Start through High School. |
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Laura was an early participant in CABE's Project 2Inspire in the Fontana USD, which was facilitated by Marissa Lazo-Necco (now CABE's Director of Community Affairs). Laura eventually became a Project 2Inspire facilitator for the district and later for the San Bernardino County Office of Education under the guidance of Mars Cerna and MarissaLazo-Necco. She says, "What I loved about Project 2Inspire was that it gave me the tools to support my kids and others in this new multilingual and multicultural world for me." She also served as Past President of Fontana USD's DELAC, DAC, and SAC and worked to bring DLI programs to the district. |
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In her free time, Laura loves spending time with her son Joseph (26), a nanotechnology biochemical engineer, and her daughter, Sofía (23), who follows in her grandparents' shoes as a civil engineer specializing in water leadership and irrigation. Laura loves technology! "Since I got my first computer, I haven't let go...I love the advantages and opportunities that technology brings to my life." She also enjoys dancing (especially Ballet folklórico), getting lost in—and critiquing—movies and books, and playing with her three dogs, Boston, Dori, and Tequila, and her two cats, Milkyway and El Güero. |
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Meet Mary Helen Ybarra, CABE's Director of State/Legislative Affairs... |
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Born in Yuma, Arizona, Mary Helen Ybarra moved to East L.A. as an infant and grew up in El Monte and Baldwin Park. Her mom, an immigrant from Mexico, spoke only Spanish, and although her Dad was bilingual, he spoke only Spanish at home with the family. As the oldest sibling, Mary quickly became the family interpreter at church, parent conferences, and in the community. She remembers feeling frustrated as an English learner when she started school when no one would play with her because they didn't understand what she was saying. Nevertheless, Mary excelled in school because her mother, who had a 5th-grade education and worked full-time, still found the time to tutor her and her siblings and help them with homework every day. |
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Mary's social advocacy began early. She was very outgoing in school and worked as the high school yearbook editor. She tried out for cheerleading, and when she and her friends didn't make the team, they created their own. When told by the other cheerleaders, "You can't just start your own cheerleading team," Mary replied, "Watch me!" When she learned that the Kiwanis Club had a club for boys, but not for girls, she successfully lobbied for a girls' Kiwanis club and was designated the first president of the Kiwanis Keyettes. Years later, she was elected president of the Circle City Kiwanis Club. |
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After high school, Mary worked as a physical therapy aide, challenged the boards, and became a licensed physical therapy assistant for forty years. When her sons were in school, she volunteered as their yearbook editor and got involved in PTA. She became president of the Corona-Norco PTA Council and is still their advisor today. She was also the Riverside County PTA Vice President for two years and began fighting as an advocate for children's rights at that time. |
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Her community work has also included serving as YMCA Board Secretary, Corona Fire Foundation Vice President, CSBA Region 18 Delegate and Chair of the Convention, and currently Corona-Norco USD Board Clerk. Mary has served on the CABE Board of Directors as the Region IV Representative and currently as CABE's Director of State and Legislative Affairs and Past President of the Riverside CABE Chapter #6. |
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When not serving on boards and advocating for educational equity, Mary enjoys spending time with her husband, Joe, a retired nuclear medicine technician, and her two sons, Joey (36) and Josh (35), both paramedics who are heading to nursing school. Mary and her husband are Platinum members of Carnival Cruise Line and have traveled to many worldwide locations, including the Caribbean, the Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Europe, and the Mediterranean. In her free time, Mary also enjoys watching Hallmark Christmas movies, crafting with her Cri-Cut machine, and babysitting her two grand puppies, Gussy and Apollo. |
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Learn about what's happening in local CABE Chapters.... |
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Our chapter has been busy working on distributing books that were purchased as gifts for our DLI teachers and residents here in the MUSD. Our leadership team is a working team supporting students as administrators, district support services, and community education specialists. We held a fall social for our DLI teachers and residents, as well as our administrators for these sites. Although we had a small turnout it was successful in that we were able to make time to come together to support our DLI Teams in the MUSD.
This last month our focus has been to distribute the books that we still have to the teachers and teams who were unable to attend our event. We are also having a leadership Winter Break Planning meeting at the beautiful home of our VP, Mr. David Hernandez, on December 18th. We will take the opportunity to celebrate, regroup and plan our calendar for our upcoming semester. Our agenda includes; the distribution of gift books, setting dates for our monthly meetings, the election of new officers, establishing a new Scholarship Committee and finding ways to raise funds for our scholarship recipients.
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Check out the latest issues of SFABE's newsletter... |
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CABE Pepperdine Chapter has had an exciting end to our Fall semester. The team collaborated with LSPA and Pepperdine libraries to set up a beautiful ofrenda to celebrate Día de los Muertos. The ofrenda was showcased in the Pepperdine West LA campus library from October 29th to November 19th. The ofrenda offered all students and faculty the opportunity to place a message for their loved ones that have passed away. |
CABE of Pepperdine chapter installed its newly elected student officers on November 29th at a virtual event. The Interim Associate Dean Dr. June Schmieder-Ramirez came to the events for congratulatory remarks. Region III Representative, Dr. Reyna García Ramos presided over the Swearing-in Ceremony. CABE staff Cynthia Vásquez Petitt and Joshua Jauregui attended the event and shared the CABE Headquarters message. Newly sworn officers then hosted the chapter meeting for the attendees. |
Our faculty liaison, Dr. García Ramos, President, Iris, and Director of Excellence, Amber will present at the CABE 2023 conference. The chapter will host a Becoming a Bilingual Teacher panel in February 2023 based on GSEP students’ request. CABE Pepperdine chapter is looking forward to a great year in 2023! |
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Other items of interest to the CABE Community... |
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