Front cover art by Jesenia Silva

The Life stories of migrant youth A Production of the center for educational pathways Created in partnership with imperial County, California Office of education

Welcome

Welcome to a special comic book, created by migrant students for migrant families throughout the world. Through a grant partnership between Imperial County Office of Education Educational Services, San Diego State University Imperial Valley Campus, and artist Simon Silva, migrant children across Imperial County enrolled in the Imperial Valley Migrant Summer Academy created comic books based on their individual experiences of being a migrant student. This collection of art and writing represents the hard work, critical thinking, and artistic creativity of the many children who participated. The Imperial County Office of Education (ICOE) Migrant Education Program (MEP) Region 6 provides supplementary academic services to migrant students through a federal grant. The main goal of the grant is to help migrant students complete high school with a solid education that will give them access to a college and career opportunities. The unique needs of the migrant students, due to their constant mobility based on their parents’ agricultural work, creates constant educational disruptions. For that reason, it is imperative that we provide quality educational programs in a nontraditional manner. Migrant students are given the opportunity to learn to think, be creative, and value their individualism through programs such as the San Diego State University-Imperial Valley Migrant Education Program Summer Academy. The academy was guided by SDSUIV professors who instructed migrant high school students in a nontraditional manner in English Language Arts and Math.

The idea was to prepare the students to take the California High School Exit Exam along with combining fine arts with the academic experience by having the artist Mr. Simon Silva working with our migrant students in the ICOE Comic Book Project on a weekly basis. The combination of academics with fine arts provided a quality educational opportunity to our migrant students that taught the students to value their migrant lifestyle and be able to express their feelings by telling their migrant stories in a comic book titled I Am Migrant. The Imperial County Office of Education Migrant Education Program Region 6 staff would like to thank Mrs. Anne Mallory, Superintendent of Imperial County Office of Education and ICOE Board Members for the unconditional support that they offer migrant students in Imperial County. The Migrant Education Program Region 6 also would like to thank our Regional Advisory Parent Council which supports and approves quality programs such as the Migrant Education Program Region 6 Comic Book Project through the SDSU-IV Migrant Education Program Summer Academy. Our appreciation also goes out to Dr. Gregorio Ponce, whose excellent leadership in coordinating this nontraditional SDSU-IV Migrant Program Summer Academy made it possible for our migrant high school students to enjoy learning to discover themselves through the combination of academics and arts. Also, a special thanks goes to Dr. Fernando Rodriguez-Valls, artist Mr. Simon Silva and Mrs. Lori Campos, whose teamwork made possible the completion of the ICOE-MEP-Region 6 Comic Book Project. Imperial County Office of Education Migrant Education Program - Region 6 Sandra Kofford, Senior Director www.icoe.org

Bienvenido Bienvenido a un libro de historietas muy especial, creado por estudiantes migrantes para familias migrantes de todo el mundo. A través de una asociación de subvención entre el departamento de Servicios Educacionales de la Oficina de Educación del Condado Imperial, la Universidad del Estado de San Diego del Valle Imperial y el artista Simon Silva, los niños migrantes del Condado de Imperial, mediante la Academia de Verano del Programa Migrante del Valle Imperial crearon historietas basadas en sus experiencias individuales de ser estudiante migrante. Esta colección de arte y escritura representa el trabajo arduo, el pensamiento crítico y la creatividad artística de muchos niños que participaron. La Oficina de Educación del Condado Imperial (ICOE) Programa de Educación Migrante (MEP) Región 6 proporciona servicios suplementarios académicos a estudiantes migrantes a través de un subsidio federal. El objetivo principal de la subvención es de ayudar a los estudiantes migrantes a completar la secundaria con una educación sólida que les dará acceso a las oportunidades de un colegio y una carrera. Las necesidades únicas de los estudiantes migrantes, debido a su constante movilidad basada en el trabajo agrícola de sus padres, crea interrupciones constantes en su educación. Por esa razón, resulta imperativo que proporcionemos programas educativos de calidad de una manera que no es tradicional. Los estudiantes migrantes tienen la oportunidad de aprender a pensar, de ser creativos y de valorar su individualismo a través de programas tales como la Academia de Verano del Programa Migrante del Valley Imperial y la Universidad de San Diego en el Valle Imperial. La Academia fue guiada por profesores de la Universidad que dieron instrucción a los estudiantes migrantes de la secundaria de una manera no tradicional en las artes de idioma inglés y matemáticas. La idea era preparar a los estudiantes a tomar el examen de salida de preparatoria de California (CAHSEE) junto con la combinación de bellas artes con la experiencia académica logrando que el artista Sr. Simon Silva trabajara con nuestros alumnos migrantes en el proyecto del libro de historietas de ICOE, una vez por semana. La combinación de académicos con bellas artes brindó una oportunidad educativa de calidad para nuestros estudiantes migrantes que enseña a los alumnos a valorar su estilo de vida de migrante y ser capaz de expresar sus sentimientos al contar sus historias migrantes en una historieta titulada Yo Soy Migrante.

La Oficina de Educación del Condado Imperial (ICOE) Programa de Educación Migrante (MEP) Región 6 quisiera dar las gracias a la Sra. Anne Mallory, Superintendente de la Oficina del Condado de Educación de Imperial y miembros de la Mesa Directiva de ICOE por el apoyo incondicional que ofrecen a los estudiantes migrantes en el condado de Imperial. El Programa de Educación Migrante (MEP) Región 6 también quisiera agradecer a nuestro Concilio Consejero Regional de Padres Migrantes por apoyar y aprobar los programas de calidad, como el proyecto del libro de historietas del Programa de Educación Migrante Región 6 a través de la Academia de Verano de SDSUIV. Nuestro agradecimiento al Dr. Gregorio Ponce, cuyo excelente liderazgo en la coordinación no tradicional de esta Academia hizo posible que nuestros estudiantes migrantes de secundaria disfrutaran aprender a descubrirse a sí mismos a través de la combinación de la academia y las artes. Igualmente nuestro gran agradecimiento al Dr. Fernando Rodríguez-Valls, artista Sr. Simon Silva y a la Sra. Lori Campos, cuyo trabajo en equipo hizo posible la realización del proyecto del Comic Book de ICOE-MEP Región 6. Oficina de Educación del Condado de Imperial Programa de Educación Migrante - Región 6 Directora Sandra Kofford www.icoe.org

Ana Jauregui

Alan Ruiz

Alberto Garcia

Alexa Gonzalez

Christopher Escobedo

Daniel Gonzalez

Diana Magallanes

Dharla Torres

Adriana Gomez

Carolyn Martinez

diego Rocha

Elvia Murga

Hector Arias

Itzel Cesena

Jaime Serrano

Jesenia Silva

Jim Murrillo

George Parra

Leonardo lechuga

Lilian Aguilera

Lizbeth Ruelas

Manuel Rayos

Michael Valdez

Mirna Miranda

Noe Herrera

Quetzali Martinez

Tania Nunez

Lillian Arellano

The Center for Educational Pathways is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that establishes creative pathways to learning and academic success for youths, schools, and communities. The Center reconnects students to a love of learning through creativity, inquiry, and entrepreneurship. The organization has four objectives: 1. Academic Reinforcement 2. Social and Character Development 3. Career Pathways 4. Community Building Since 2001, the Center for Educational Pathways has been at the forefront of innovation in education. The two flagship programs are the Comic Book Project and Youth Music Exchange. These programs have impacted over 50,000 students across the United States. For more information, contact: Dr. Michael Bitz, Executive Director www.edpath.org [email protected]

The Comic Book Project helps students forge an alternative pathway to literacy by writing, designing, and publishing original comic books. The Project puts children in the role of creators rather than receivers of information. Students write and draw about their personal experiences and interests, thereby engaging them in the learning process and motivating them to succeed in school, after school, and in life. Step 1: Getting Creative The Comic Book Project launches with activities designed to foster creativity and teamwork amongst students. Step 2: Writing the Comic Book Manuscript Students brainstorm, plot, sketch, and draft their comic books on an identified theme. Step 3: Creating the Comic Book Students draw the characters, write the dialogue, and color the backgrounds to produce a complete comic book. Step 4: Publishing the Comic Book Students are featured in a custom printed publication distributed throughout their schools and communities. www.ComicBookProject.org

Back cover art by George Parra

A production of the center for educational pathways Created in partnership with imperial County, CAlifornia Office of education Design and Layout by Allison Rubin

www.edpath.org