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Program plants seeds of understanding Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Argelia Whittington is director of Seeds of the Future, a program that supports Hispanic youths in the transition to American culture. Designed to serve 15 families, the program is so popular it has drawn three and four times as many at its twice-monthly meetings. Medford educators, Latino families build bonds of trust By JOHN DARLING With a program called Seeds of the Future, educators and Latino parents are reaching into grade schools to build community, overcome isolation and to spread the message of books, not booze. The twice-monthly state-funded program at Washington Elementary School was set up for 15 parents this school year, but three and four times that number have been attending the workshops, said Linda Lewis, deputy director of the counseling agency OnTrack, which is helping run the program. Parents bring their children, who often participate in exercises around a slate of 40 "developmental assets," a set of guiding principles involving such ideas as constructive use of leisure time, safe neighborhoods, feelings about the future, self-identity and placing value on schoolwork. The focus of the series is supporting young people in the rugged transition to American culture, directing them away from alcohol and drugs and keeping them on track for the many educational and career opportunities available here, said program director Argelia Whittington, who teaches a Rogue Community College course to achieve the same results with adults. "When we talk about alcohol," she said, "we have to talk about culture. It�s a big impact, a shock, when you come here from Mexico or South America. You�re dealing with a lot of depression, especially among teens. They�re already going through a lot of changes from adolescence. They want to belong, not to be different � and drinking is one way to belong." The program teaches parents the realities of dangers posed by at-risk neighborhoods and readily obtainable drugs and alcohol, said Lewis. They also learn to "break through" the wall of fear and isolation that can grow up around immigrants because, while they were respected and competent in their homelands, they are often stereotyped as "stupid" here, mainly because of the language barrier, said Whittington. "They�re not stupid. They�re just going through their process of learning to understand this culture in their native language first. They go through a lot of fear doing that." One result can be dropping out of school, an act which, among Latinos, "always has to do with culture," she said. "They start creating their own culture where they can belong. But we�re very concerned to teach them there are many grants, scholarships and opportunities for them to belong and succeed in mainstream culture." Washington parent Alicia Alvarez said through a translator that she�s learned a lot about the changes her children are going through and that she now reminds them "constantly" to stay away from alcohol and drugs. "It�s hard for the children learning to read and write here when the others are so far ahead," Alvarez said. "My daughter is 17 now, but I remember we came here when she was 5 and she felt like she was going to cry all the time because she seemed so different from the other kids." Whittington was a dentist in her native Mexico City, but would have to pass an intensive and difficult exam to practice here, she said. It took tremendous willpower, she added, to get through her first home loan interview because she was "trembling with fear." Seeds of the Future is funded with $6,079 in state money through Jackson County, OnTrack, RCC and Southern Oregon University�s Hispanic Clearing House. It ran for two years earlier at Jackson Elementary School. Lewis hopes to continue the program next year at Washington or some other Medford school, but at this time, "funding is up in the air," she said. John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.