Local children carry on the legacy of Cesar Chavez
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Cesar Chavez dedicated his life to helping others – and has inspired thousands to do the same, including the kids at Si Se Puede! Learning Center in Gilroy. At a young age, Chavez learned the importance of hard work, education and respect for all, and he was inspired to change the lives of farm workers and Latinos throughout this country. The Gilroy Si, Se Puede! Learning Center hopes to instill Cesar Chavez’s core values in young people today.
The Gilroy SSPLC provides a safe, caring, fun and interactive environment that encourages learning and focuses on literacy, math and technology through pre-K, after-school and summer programs. This month, the students of the SSPLC join together to honor the work and life of Cesar Chavez by engaging in two student-driven service learning projects and promoting literacy through a Scholastic Book Fair.
For their first project, which will take place March 11 and 12, students will initiate the development of a recycling program for our learning center. The center is currently without a means of recycling our paper – students have committed themselves to making change and establishing a system of recycling for plastic, paper and metals. Students will do an initial collection of recyclables from the on-site apartments and will learn how to sort and process what they collect. Students will also produce brochures to be distributed to the community about recycling and their project.
The second project will be an off-site park cleanup March 18. Students will collect trash and recycling from a local park and will properly dispose of it. Students will learn about being active citizens in their community and will also reinforce what they learned about recycling in their on-site project. Students will use their creative skills to write stories about some of the trash that they collected and will present these stories, along with a video of their work and reflections on their service, at our family and community event on April 2 in honor of Cesar Chavez’s legacy.
The learning center will also hold a book fair to promote literacy and raise funds to build the Si, Se Puede! Library. The fair will be open Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and again from 6 to 7 p.m. On Friday, hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 7 p.m. The book fair will also be open all day March 27 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a fun event where community members can come out to browse the book selection, enjoy food and games, and support the learning center. The book fair will be held at the learning center, located at the Gilroy Apartments, 500 IOOF Ave.
The SSPLC is a project of the National Farm Workers Service Center, an organization started by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in the sixties, to address the social, economic and health needs of farm workers throughout the United States. Since 1983, the NFWSC has preserved and developed quality affordable housing for Latino and underserved communities throughout the southwest, serving families in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. The NFWSC services include: Housing and Economic Development, educational radio, property management and community services. Within the last four years, the Community Services division has established Si Se Puede! Learning Centers.
Details: 847-9162