[LINK] Southern California Public Radio on the fight to keep a Nahuatl-medium school open

[rfmcdonald]

Deepa Fernandes' fascinating article looks how a California charter school teaching in Nahuatl, a major indigenous language spoken by substantial numbers of migrants, fought to stay open.

On a main thoroughfare in East Los Angeles, there's a brightly painted public school: Anahuacalmecac International Preparatory High School, part of the Semillas school network. Semillas — Spanish for "seeds" — teaches teenagers about their indigenous roots and culture.

Students there learn in Spanish and Nahuatl, incorporating Mayan mathematics and indigenous visual and performing arts. One course teaches indigenous diplomacy and youth leadership skills. Parents and grandparents are integrated into the student’s learning.

It’s not unusual in California for public school students to spend a good portion of their day studying math or science or any subject in a language other than English. But this little Los Angeles charter school is the only one that teaches in an indigenous language.

Principal Marcos Aguilar co-founded the indigenous charter school in 2001 to better serve kids in the El Sereno neighborhood of Los Angeles, many of whom have indigenous roots.

“We’re not visitors here,” he said. “We’ve been here for millennia, and its important for our children to grow knowing what our ancestors named the places around us many many years ago.”