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LEARNING MATTERS: TODAY'S GUSD STUDENT BODY FEATURES MORE DIVERSE MIX
Glendale News Press, CA
Oct 16 2014
By Joylene Wagner
October 16, 2014 | 4:20 p.m.
A few years ago, a French-Armenian graduate student came to Glendale
to gather research for her dissertation on Armenian communities in
Glendale and Hollywood. I had the pleasure of spending several hours
with her at the invitation of my City Attorney friend, Lucy Varpetian.
As we toured the school district, I introduced her to administrators
and other staff, including many Armenians, who shared their experiences
in our district. After that, I drove her to an intersection in
Hollywood's Little Armenia, where she stayed to count pedestrians
crossing the street into or out of the officially designated cultural
neighborhood.
As she explained to me, she came expecting to observe a community
fitting Webster's "ghetto" definition: "A quarter of a city in which
members of a minority group live, especially because of social or
economic pressures." What she found did not match her expectations.
As Aylin Gharabighi, one of the many Glendale Unified graduates
who now teach in our district recently said, "There's not as much
segregation now," as when she was a newly-arrived immigrant student
at Wilson Middle School.
Less segregation, she told me, both among differing groups of Armenian
immigrants and among the student population as a whole.
According to the most recent Language Census Report, the district
currently serves students of 38 native languages other than English,
with 66% of students having a primary language other than English.
The numbers tell some of the story, though they're always a bit
confusing. Armenian students learning English and those who have
learned enough to be designated as fluent in English represent
approximately 24.3% of the 54.7% of students reported as Caucasian.
Within the remaining 30.4% of Caucasian students are some "initially
designated fluent English proficient students" whose families
immigrated years, if not generations ago.
That leaves about 45% of the student population representing
non-Caucasian races and ethnicities: Hispanic, Asian (including
Filipino), African American, Native American, Pacific Islander and
"Multiple Response/Decline to State" (1.78%).
In short, there's quite a mix of people here, and the numbers tell only
part of the story. Students and parents tell us more about a district
that has evolved from a predominantly "English-only" population to
one which embraces and includes languages and cultures from across
the globe.
One example comes from our daughter's experience when, as part of
a tour of colleges, she visited a small New England college. Her
cousin, who was the same age and lived in a rather homogeneous town
nearby, toured the campus and is reported to have exclaimed, "It's
so diverse!" Our daughter, on the other hand, came away sighing,
"It's so white!"
Former Assistant Supt. Alice Petrosian many years ago advised
parents to see the diversity of cultures as a salad bowl rather
than a melting pot. She encouraged us to appreciate each culture's
distinct characteristics even as we worked toward the familiar motto,
"E pluribus unum," or "From many, one."
>From what I've seen, our students, for the most part, follow
Petrosian's advice without having to be told. They know their friends'
families' cultural practices. They enjoy their classmates' foods and
appreciate the parents and grandparents who so often prepare them.
They cheer for local teams and world teams.
A few weeks ago, I was reminded that cultural diversity goes even
deeper for many of our families. Working in the concession stand at
a football game, I found myself in the company of three women whose
families are cultural blends.
Rachel Imperio came to the United States from Finland to attend
college. Her husband is Filipino. Her children eat both pickled
herring and chicken adobo.
Sara Medina, the PTA chairperson whose emails entice me to volunteer,
is a Latina who married an Iranian. Her oldest child is a graduate
student in physics, now studying in Texas, where he's experiencing
yet another culture.
Yuri Clingerman came to the United States from Japan and married
"a homegrown Californian." She shared with me that her husband died
when her oldest child was 9 years old, so her children "really had no
choice" but to be influenced by her and her culture. Through trips
to Japan and visits by friends and parents, "...They got a lot of
exposure." As a result, she thinks they are very accepting and open
to cultural differences.
Our community's children are poised to move beyond the melting pot
and the salad bowl. They're living the motto, "From many, one." They
come from a place where many of the many are already more than one.
--
JOYLENE WAGNER is a former member of the Glendale Unified School Board.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/columnists/joylene-wagner/tn-gnp-learning-matters-todays-gusd-student-body-features-more-diverse-mix-20141016,0,126925.story
From: A. Papazian
Glendale News Press, CA
Oct 16 2014
By Joylene Wagner
October 16, 2014 | 4:20 p.m.
A few years ago, a French-Armenian graduate student came to Glendale
to gather research for her dissertation on Armenian communities in
Glendale and Hollywood. I had the pleasure of spending several hours
with her at the invitation of my City Attorney friend, Lucy Varpetian.
As we toured the school district, I introduced her to administrators
and other staff, including many Armenians, who shared their experiences
in our district. After that, I drove her to an intersection in
Hollywood's Little Armenia, where she stayed to count pedestrians
crossing the street into or out of the officially designated cultural
neighborhood.
As she explained to me, she came expecting to observe a community
fitting Webster's "ghetto" definition: "A quarter of a city in which
members of a minority group live, especially because of social or
economic pressures." What she found did not match her expectations.
As Aylin Gharabighi, one of the many Glendale Unified graduates
who now teach in our district recently said, "There's not as much
segregation now," as when she was a newly-arrived immigrant student
at Wilson Middle School.
Less segregation, she told me, both among differing groups of Armenian
immigrants and among the student population as a whole.
According to the most recent Language Census Report, the district
currently serves students of 38 native languages other than English,
with 66% of students having a primary language other than English.
The numbers tell some of the story, though they're always a bit
confusing. Armenian students learning English and those who have
learned enough to be designated as fluent in English represent
approximately 24.3% of the 54.7% of students reported as Caucasian.
Within the remaining 30.4% of Caucasian students are some "initially
designated fluent English proficient students" whose families
immigrated years, if not generations ago.
That leaves about 45% of the student population representing
non-Caucasian races and ethnicities: Hispanic, Asian (including
Filipino), African American, Native American, Pacific Islander and
"Multiple Response/Decline to State" (1.78%).
In short, there's quite a mix of people here, and the numbers tell only
part of the story. Students and parents tell us more about a district
that has evolved from a predominantly "English-only" population to
one which embraces and includes languages and cultures from across
the globe.
One example comes from our daughter's experience when, as part of
a tour of colleges, she visited a small New England college. Her
cousin, who was the same age and lived in a rather homogeneous town
nearby, toured the campus and is reported to have exclaimed, "It's
so diverse!" Our daughter, on the other hand, came away sighing,
"It's so white!"
Former Assistant Supt. Alice Petrosian many years ago advised
parents to see the diversity of cultures as a salad bowl rather
than a melting pot. She encouraged us to appreciate each culture's
distinct characteristics even as we worked toward the familiar motto,
"E pluribus unum," or "From many, one."
>From what I've seen, our students, for the most part, follow
Petrosian's advice without having to be told. They know their friends'
families' cultural practices. They enjoy their classmates' foods and
appreciate the parents and grandparents who so often prepare them.
They cheer for local teams and world teams.
A few weeks ago, I was reminded that cultural diversity goes even
deeper for many of our families. Working in the concession stand at
a football game, I found myself in the company of three women whose
families are cultural blends.
Rachel Imperio came to the United States from Finland to attend
college. Her husband is Filipino. Her children eat both pickled
herring and chicken adobo.
Sara Medina, the PTA chairperson whose emails entice me to volunteer,
is a Latina who married an Iranian. Her oldest child is a graduate
student in physics, now studying in Texas, where he's experiencing
yet another culture.
Yuri Clingerman came to the United States from Japan and married
"a homegrown Californian." She shared with me that her husband died
when her oldest child was 9 years old, so her children "really had no
choice" but to be influenced by her and her culture. Through trips
to Japan and visits by friends and parents, "...They got a lot of
exposure." As a result, she thinks they are very accepting and open
to cultural differences.
Our community's children are poised to move beyond the melting pot
and the salad bowl. They're living the motto, "From many, one." They
come from a place where many of the many are already more than one.
--
JOYLENE WAGNER is a former member of the Glendale Unified School Board.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/columnists/joylene-wagner/tn-gnp-learning-matters-todays-gusd-student-body-features-more-diverse-mix-20141016,0,126925.story
From: A. Papazian