How To Be An Effective Ally CREATING A CULTURE OF SUPPORT FOR UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS IN YOUR HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNITY

Presenters Jane Slater- Sequoia High School, Redwood City Itzel Díaz- Sequoia High School, Redwood City María Fernández- John W. Gardner Center for Youth and their Communities, Stanford University Sheryl Muñoz-Bergman- International Institute of the Bay Area

Agenda Connecting with your undocumented population Differentiating students’ views of their documentation status Recognizing your school’s culture with respect to undocumented students Creating a supportive school culture Starting a club Fundraising Partnering with community groups

Connecting with Your Undocumented Population Range of time in country Family members with different status Estimated numbers of undocumented people by county: Assume that there is at least one undocumented student in each of your classes 47,298 in San Mateo County 39,045 in San Francisco 146,208 in Santa Clara County 11,769 in Marin County 102,268 in Alameda County 58,663 in Contra Costa County Surveys/ideas? Assumptions that undocumented are recent arrivals

Differentiating students’ views of their documentation status Students’ understanding varies: Those who know status and advocate for selves Those who don’t know…find out filling out FAFSA or other applications Those whose parents want them to hide it Those who see no hope & have given up Those who just think things will work out

Recognizing your school’s culture with respect to undocumented students What Students See and Hear What Staff Should See and Hear Positive Staff publicly addresses issue DREAM club Available resources Staff attempting to speak students’ native language Negative The issue is avoided Negative comments Staff lacks knowledge Topics related to undocumented students on staff meeting agendas Student presentations to staff Legal expert visits/ guest speakers Visible info for AB540 students Posted scholarships not requiring SSN (Naviance) Go-to people on staff. Public allies you can send students to. Public conversations (with students & staff) about different immigration status Respect for confidentiality

Starting a Club Get the students there Enlist staff allies Have specific projects to work on (short term goal momentum) Develop long-term goals Develop students’ leadership abilities within the club Publicize Connect to community resources

Sequoia High School Dream Club: Get Students There Invite students personally Include documented students Encourage members to bring friend(s) Present to classes Announce in daily bulletin Collaborate with counselors

Sequoia High School Dream Club: Enlist Staff Allies Gain administration support Present yourself as a resource to staff on these issues Use your personal connections on staff Connect with staff who can share their knowledge, time & resources

Sequoia High School Dream Club: Make long- and short-term goals Annual Event Presentations at Middle Schools Presentations to parents Participation at community events San Mateo County Youth Conference, Teens In Action Community Showcase Fundraising for Scholarships Political Activism Rally in support of Dream Act, postcard campaign on Back To School Night

Sequoia High School Dream Club: Make the Club Visible Posters Yearbook page T-shirts School newspaper San Mateo Daily Journal Staff presentations Facebook

YEARBOOK PAGE

Sequoia High School Dream Club: Fundraising Ideas Host events Sell products Wedding/birthday gifts Church Groups Work with other school groups Ask for donations from staff and personal network

Sequoia High School Dream Club: Connect to Community Resources Immigrant Youth Action Team Sequoia High School Redwood City 2020 Redwood City Public Library Fair Oaks Community Center Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula International Institute of the Bay Area Cañada College student group and Upward Bound Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center Sequoia District Migrant Youth Program Alumni (Maria?)in the Sequoia High School category mention the Parent Center, Teen Resource Center, students, alumni, teachers I’ll just share a few works and pose some questions for you coming from the broader community outside your school or program settings Students spend much of their time in school, but they also navigate in different parts of the community. In addition to the Dream Club, a number of Redwood City organizations have come together to leverage the group work that the Dream Club had already been doing, and in that way promote awareness and support for undocumented youth outside of school as well – forming the immigrant youth action team. As you can see from this list, we have youth-serving organzations, city government department like the library and community center, legal agencies, and our local community college.

Partnering with Community Groups Benefits of Building Community Partnerships: Partners and supporters who share your mission, work with same population, and can spread your message More resources (financial and in-kind) to help grow and expand your current efforts A greater network of individual allies, mentors and partners who build meaningful relationships and experiences with undocumented youth In showing the next two slides, Maybe Sheryl would like to speak to how we did this in a concrete say – say talking about the Making Dreams Come True event.

Broadening your Community Partnerships Who in your community shares your mission or serves undocumented youth in some way? What are they already doing that can contribute to your efforts? When can you get together and learn about each others’ work and learn how you can both benefit? Where can these partners experience what you’re doing and see the impact their potential contribution can make? How will you make concrete commitments for working together? Identify Research Explore Ask them Leverage Invite Experience Learn Action

Making Dreams Come True: The Time is Now! The Community Youth Development Initiative’s Immigrant Youth Action Team Presents/Presenta: Making Dreams Come True: The Time is Now! Logrando hacer sueños realidad: Hoy es el momento! 11.18.11 Sequoia High School Redwood City, CA

Who We Are Formed in the summer of 2010, the Immigrant Youth Action Team is comprised of youth and adults working to increase the visibility, actions of, and resources for our immigrant youth. This team is part of Redwood City 2020’s Community Youth Development Initiative, a collaboration of nearly 40 organizations that work to support the children, youth and families of the Redwood City and North Fair Oaks community. We invite you to join us!  Quienes Somos Formado en el verano del 2010, el Equipo de Acción de la Juventud Inmigrante está compuesto de jóvenes y adultos que trabajan para aumentar la visibilidad, las acciones, y los recursos para nuestros jóvenes inmigrantes. Este equipo forma parte de la Iniciativa para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Juvenil de Redwood City 2020, una colaboración de casi 40 organizaciones que trabajan para apoyar a los niños, jóvenes y familias en la comunidad de Redwood City y North Fair Oaks. Los invitamos a que nos acompañen. Dream Wall / Pared de Sueños Resource Table / Mesa de Recursos Sequoia Dream Club Table/Mesa de Sequoia Dream Club Student Photo Silent Auction / Subasta de fotografías elaboradas por los estudiantes Buy your raffle tickets/ Compre boletos de rifa Dinner! / Cena! Program/Programa 6:00 – 6:30 pm Arrival, Activities, Dinner and Raffle Ticket Sale Llegada, Actividades, Cena y Compra de Boletos de Rifa 6:30 – 7:00 pm Welcome and Purpose Bienvenida y Propósito Itzel Díaz & Lilly Campos Special Message/Mensaje Especial Alicia Aguirre, Vice Mayor/Vice Alcalde, Redwood City Recognition/Reconocimiento Gabriel Arteaga, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s Office About/Acerca del: Sequoia Dream Club Roberto Pablo Pimienta 7:00 – 8:00 pm Dramatic Re-enactments /Obras Dramaticas Names of youth actors here? Personal Stories / Historias Personales Yaritza, Yessica, and Jesús Digital Stories / Historias Digitales Valeria, Alexis, Rossmeri, Itzel, Javier 8:00 – 8:10 pm How You Can Support/Como Puede Apoyarnos Jane Slater, Dream Club Scholarship Founder, Fundadora de la Beca Dream Club Magali Molina, Becario Anterior 8:10 – 8:20 pm Acknowledgements and Raffle! Reconocimientos y Rifa! 8:20 – 8:30 pm Closing/Cierre We invite you to take information from the resource table home with you. Los invitamos a que lleven la información de la mesa de recursos a casa. Join is in these activities as you arrive! Acompáñenos en estas actividades al llegar

Creating a Supportive School Culture What can you do as part of your every day behaviors to make all students feel safe? Think of one undocumented student with whom you work. What is one concrete thing you can do as his or her ally to show your support?

CONTACT US Jane Slater- Sequoia High School, Redwood City jslater@seq.org Itzel Díaz- Sequoia High School, Redwood City idiazbuild09@gmail.com María Fernández- John W. Gardner Center for Youth and their Communities, Stanford University mafernandez@stanford.edu Sheryl Muñoz-Bergman- International Institute of the Bay Area smbergman@iibayarea.org Websites: http://www.rwc2020.org/ http://gardnercenter.stanford.edu/ http://www.iibayarea.org/