Lisa lived and attended schools in Idaho from a very young age. She later became a teacher’s aide and worked with students in the Wilder School District for over 20 years.
As Lisa shared with us, as a student in Idaho she experienced several instances of racism in the classroom, including being prohibited from speaking Spanish, most of her family’s native language. Lisa described wanting to make a change for a younger generation of students in Wilder by celebrating and supporting students’ diversity, including for students who spoke indigenous dialects.
Although Lisa continues to see the effects of racism in schools in Idaho, she hopes schools can increase supports for Latino students.
What was your experience growing up as a Latina in Idaho schools?
When I was in high school, I remember walking by the gym one day and a white student yelling at me the racial slur, “spick.” I don’t know if you’ve heard this term before but it’s a very derogatory term, a racial slur, towards the Hispanic community. The student was the principal’s son, so nothing happened to him.
In other instances, if you spoke Spanish with anybody, teachers would slap your hands and tell you that you couldn't. But that was a different time.
Younger generations do not speak Spanish. The majority of them speak English, understand Spanish, but do not speak the language. It was not my first language, either, but I learned it growing up. But it’s still very hurtful for a white person, or any other person, to tell you that you cannot speak your native language.
I was a teacher’s aide for 20 years, working in Wilder, and I chose to be a different type of teacher and helper. I had students in my class who spoke multiple language, including indigenous dialects of Spanish. So, I had an opportunity to be a different type of mentor and help kids in that way.
How did you see having a diverse staff impact Latino students’ experience?
There was almost no diversity when I was growing up, but there was a lot more diversity in my school in Wilder. I think the students were more comfortable talking about their problems [with us] because they had teachers who looked like them. I lived in the labor camp so if a kid was sick and they said can you stop by and pick me up, I could do that.
But when they don't see someone who looks like them or speaks their language, it’s harder. We gravitate to people who understand what we are going through. When I was a kid, I did not see that. It was all white administrators, no teacher's aide, no one that I could ask for help or be my outlet.
What supports do you think Latino students need?
Latino students need somebody that will help them—whatever the color of their skin or ethnicity —without bias. They need someone to call and talk to and they know that that person will be willing to support them. If that’s the kind of person that kids have in schools, that’s the type of person the kids will grow up to be. People without prejudice. It’s very discouraging when we don’t see that, including when we have only a few Mexican staff and they are not able to stand up for the kids.
I think Spanish should be a requirement or we should encourage students to take Spanish. We are losing the language because schools don’t encourage kids to learn the language. We also need teacher’s aides to come back. I remember we all got laid off and the school system went down from there because there's less support for students in the classroom. We need to pay aides, including the older folks, what they're worth to help the younger generations, including even pick up the Spanish again.
The Education Equity for Latinx Students project started in the fall of 2022 as part of our efforts to expand racial justice work on behalf of Idaho students, beginning with Latinx communities.
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