“We have dreams, too”

Monett high schoolers steal the Cambio show

By Rafael Rentería
Adelante staff writer

They were not scholars with impressive academic degrees. They were not government officials or experts. All they had was a life story to tell.
It was past 11 a.m. and a group of six Mexican high school students sat nervously facing the auditorium. The girls were taking part in the annual Cambio de Colores conference. The panel discussion sought to open a debate about how to improve the educational system for Hispanics in southwest Missouri. The most important idea that their teacher, Charlotte Daniel, put forward: Listen to the students.
Daniel, a teacher at Monett High School in southern Missouri, introduced the girls to the crowd, one by one. All of them came from humble backgrounds, but have big plans.
“I have a dream,” Alba de la Parra said. “I want to be a teacher.”
Sonia Romero wants to be a lawyer. “People should know that they have rights,” she said. “That’s why I want to study law.”
Others, like Ana Mejía, have goals that lie closer to home.
When her turn came, she stood and took a deep breath.
“There are two reasons that I want to go to school,” she said. “I want to study because I want to improve my opportunities. And also –” she stopped and looked at her teacher, unable to speak.
“I can’t,” she said. Her teacher got up and came to her side. “Yes, you can!” she encouraged.
“I want to go to school because I want to help my mother,” she said.
Students like Mejía face difficult home situations. One of the girls said her father works 12-hour days, another has no father.
Some of the girls said they had faced discrimination among classmates who were dismissive or disdainful of them because they are Latinos.
“The Latinos are not lazy, as many people believe,” said student Diana Duran.
The girls were chosen to represent their school after participating in an essay contest, in which they got the highest scores.
Daniel said that her work as a teacher is to support the students and to encourage them to follow their dreams.
De la Parra seems to have learned Daniel’s lessons well.
“It doesn’t matter that they consider us a minority,” said de la Parra. “What really matters is that we Latinos can overcome any obstacles.”