Dance Hard, Laugh Hard, Work Hard:
Celebrating Latinx Heritage Month

Dear Charter Public School Supporters,

Today marks the final day of the official celebration of Latinx Heritage Month. With over one-third of our charter public school students across the state identifying as Latinx, we are incredibly grateful for the vibrant and diverse contributions our Latinx students, families, and faculty bring to our community.

It is my honor to introduce you to two passionate Latinas making an impact in our charter public schools: Leslie Valentin of Boston Collegiate Charter School and Heide Palao of Global Learning Charter Public School. In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, we asked Leslie and Heide to share what being  Latina means to them and how their identity strengthens their work in their schools.

A Reflection from Leslie Valentin
Leslie Valentin is in her tenth year at Boston Collegiate Charter School (BCCS), currently serving as the Family Engagement Manager for the Upper School. Leslie, a first-generation college graduate, earned her B.A. from Florida International University. 

Being Latina is making pastels in the kitchen with abuela, tía, and my cousins. Being Latina means feeling the music – the salsa, merengue, and bachata – in every fiber of your body and soul. Being Latina means embracing flavor in our delicious food and in the beautiful diversity of our people. Being Latina means belonging, family.

I am a proud Latina, raised in Miami. My mother immigrated from Guatemala, my father from Puerto Rico, both seeking the American Dream. Despite the fact that I never spoke, read, or wrote a word of English before beginning school, I worked incredibly hard to become skilled in the language – not only so I could do well in school but also to help my mother, who still only spoke Spanish, make withdrawals at the ATM and communicate with her boss.

I remember my first day of fifth grade clearly, walking into my classroom and seeing my teacher – the first Latina teacher I had ever had. My heart soared. However, that elation was quickly crushed. My teacher, sadly, never shared her culture with us or created space for us to share our own with her. There was absolutely no sense of connection. I was devastated.

Just as vividly as I remember my first day of fifth grade, I remember the day that, while job hunting, I found the BCCS website. I was drawn in by what I read. Instantly, I knew that BCCS was a place where no child would experience that devastation I had felt.

Thankfully, now ten years later, I can say that I was right. At BCCS, we are a family. We are an incredibly diverse community from a beautiful variety of backgrounds, united in our diversity. As we’ve celebrated Latinx Heritage Month, my heart has smiled each morning, watching students dance up the stairs to the Latin hits playing over the speakers. Students and faculty have begun to tenderly place photographs of lost loved ones on our ofrenda, an altar from the Mexican tradition honoring those who have passed. Students have shown incredible initiative both to share pieces of themselves and to listen and learn about their peers. Most importantly, as a community of students, teachers, and families, we’ve come together over food and through laughter to build trust and respect, to combat fear, to create a community where all are welcome, without judgement.

I am Latina. I am BCCS. As Latinx Heritage Month comes to a close, I am incredibly grateful for both of these integral parts of my identity.

A Reflection from Heide Palao
Heide Palao is in her sixth year at Global Learning Charter Public School (GLCPS), currently serving as the District Translator and Community Liaison. Heide, a first-generation college graduate, holds a degree in political science from UMass Dartmouth.

When I think of our Latinx ancestors, I’m filled with tremendous respect. Regardless of which country they came from, our ancestors struggled to come to America. They walked through deserts. They crossed rivers and oceans. They fought to create better lives for themselves, for their children, and for the generations who would follow. 

This notion of hard work is deeply embedded in Latinx culture. Growing up, my mom and dad worked long hours, but even that probably couldn’t compare with how hard it was to raise eight children. Even so, they somehow always found time to do more. Whether it was coaching soccer or helping neighbors with school registration, my parents, immigrants from Honduras and Guatemala, were always out in the community working hard to support fellow immigrants fighting for a better life. Even at times when we were struggling financially, my parents were still uplifting others. 

When it was time for me to choose a career path, supporting the immigrant community felt like my calling. I earned my undergraduate degree and was on my way to law school, hoping to become an immigration lawyer, when I stumbled into a job at GLCPS – a temporary stop along the way, I thought. However, the first time I felt the relief flood through the phone when I asked “¿Hablas español?” after hearing a mother struggle to find the right words in English, I was hooked. I saw immediately how translation is a tool of empowerment. Families who had spent years simply nodding their heads could become true partners in their children’s education at GLCPS. When the pandemic exacerbated so many existing racial and cultural gaps, GLCPS adapted, creating a full-time translator role to provide our Spanish-speaking families the support they needed to access resources in our school and in our broader community.

With nearly half of our students identifying as Latinx, Latinx Heritage Month is, naturally, an important month at GLCPS. Together, we listen to music – both national anthems and popular hits from our native countries – and paint murals depicting notable Latinx figures. But Latinx Heritage Month isn't just a month at GLCPS. It’s a way of being, every single day, as a community. As we say, we are global. Those aren’t just words to our GLCPS community. We truly are one big family, proud of where we each come from, of who we are, and of the diversity that makes us stronger.

I am incredibly grateful to Leslie and Heide for not only sharing their stories with us but for the tremendous gifts they share with our community each and every day. As they both noted, the beautiful diversity of our charter public school community makes us stronger. May we celebrate and honor that rich diversity not only today or this month but every day.

Gratefully,

Tim Nicolette
Executive Director, Massachusetts Charter Public School Association