Advocacy and Activism Archives Page 5 of 9

Activist of the Month: Gabriel Portugal

May 4, 2015 by League of Education Voters

At the League of Education Voters (LEV), we recognize all of the hard work that you do toward improving public education across Washington state. We are pleased to announce our Activist of the Month for May: Gabriel Portugal. Read more about Gabriel’s advocacy and activism in his community.

Representative Dan Newhouse with the travelers from Washington. From left: Gabriel Portugal, Rep. Newhouse, Quontica Sparks, and Ruvine Jiménez.

Gabriel Portugal has been involved in his community for his entire career. A retired educator, Gabriel served two terms on the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs. As Commissioner, Gabriel founded Washington’s Latino Legislative Day (now known as the Latino Civic Alliance) to empower members of the Latino community to advocate for themselves and their families. Gabriel says he declined to serve as Latino Legislative Day Board member for more than four years because he believes that “when you’re in a position of power for too long, you lose your efficacy as a grassroots activist.” Read More

Activist of the Month: Dakoda Foxx

April 6, 2015 by League of Education Voters

At the League of Education Voters (LEV), we recognize all of the hard work that you do toward improving public education across Washington state. We are pleased to announce our Activist of the Month for April: Dakoda Foxx. Read more about Dakoda’s advocacy and activism in her community.

Dakoda Foxx’s advocacy work began close to home in 2011, after her daughter was suspended for 100 days. Dakoda knew this “wasn’t right,” so she went to TeamChild to talk to them about her daughter’s IEP (Individualized Education Program) and her options for reengagement. Through her conversations about school discipline, Dakoda learned that many parents in her Puyallup community had children facing the same issues.

From there, she began advocating in earnest. Dakoda advocated at all levels—from doorbelling to testifying about discipline. In 2012, Dakoda began looking for organizations who would work on legislation about school discipline, and that’s how she learned that the League of Education Voters was already working on Senate Bill 5946.

The rest, as they say, is history. Dakoda has continued testifying about school discipline and closing the gaps on a regular basis—most recently in support of Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos’ bill on closing the achievement gap (HB 1541). Shortly before that testimony, Dakoda also spoke at the March State Board of Education meeting in Tacoma about transforming school discipline. Read More

Activist of the Month: Tony Vo

March 3, 2015 by League of Education Voters

At the League of Education Voters (LEV), we recognize all of the hard work that you do toward improving public education across Washington state. We are pleased to announce our Activist of the Month for March: Tony Vo. Read more about Tony’s work organizing and advocating for his community.

Tony Vo Tony Vo recently graduated from the University of Washington (UW) with a degree in public health and American ethnic studies.

While at the UW, Tony began working with underrepresented minorities as a Student Ambassador, and he noticed that Southeast Asians tended to get lumped into the “model minority” stereotype. Tony says, “I didn’t see myself in that stereotype. I grew up in White Center. Vietnamese was my first language. Many of my peers have similar stories—we come from low-income, refugee backgrounds.” So Tony started doing advocacy work on behalf of Southeast Asian American communities. Read More

Activist of the Month: Emma Margraf

February 3, 2015 by League of Education Voters

At the League of Education Voters (LEV), we recognize all of the hard work that you do toward improving public education across Washington state. We are pleased to announce our Activist of the Month for February: Emma Margraf. Read more about Emma’s experience as a foster parent who advocated for her foster daughter even when told by everyone around her to simply expect less.

Emma Margraf became a foster parent nearly seven years ago. You may have read her guest blog posts on our website over the years about her foster daughter Jane and their experiences through the school system. As you might imagine, Jane and Emma both had an uphill battle to success. As Emma writes in her most recent blog, “Fewer than two out of five foster kids graduate from high school in Washington—let alone go to college.”

Jane had her work cut out for her, but so did Emma. Emma says that dealing with the education system was much more complicated than expected. She was new to the world of foster care and “didn’t speak the language of the system.” While she had help from a case manager to help “translate,” Emma says that new issues with the system constantly cropped up and every issue had cascading consequences that were new to her.

And Jane was suspended weekly—or even more frequently—in her first year with Emma. Although the school didn’t notice, it didn’t take long for Emma to realize what was happening. Jane, who loved to read but struggled with math, would act out in her math class, get sent to the suspension room, and be allowed to read whatever book she happened to have with her—usually Harry Potter.

After years of working on political campaigns, Emma says that her response to obstacles has never been “Ok.” So, she set out looking for alternatives to the school Jane was attending. Read More

Democracy in Action

February 2, 2015 by Arik Korman

League of Education Voters Community Organizer Ruvine Jiménez traveled to Washington, DC, to attend a US Senate Education Committee hearing and speak with her legislators with two eastern Washington education advocates, Quontica Sparks and Gabriel Portugal. Below is Ruvine’s account of her trip.

*Senator Patty Murray with the travelers from Washington. From left: Quontica Sparks, Ruvine Jiménez, Sen. Murray, and Gabriel Portugal.*

I am so appreciative for the opportunity to visit Washington, DC, and attend a U.S. Senate Education Committee hearing on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization, as well as speak to our senators, representatives, and their legislative aides. I enjoyed hearing from Senator Murray about her hopes for all Washington kids and speaking with Representative Newhouse, who hails from Sunnyside, Washington.

In addition, I was grateful to have been accompanied by such great community leaders from eastern Washington. We were given the opportunity to stand up and testify on behalf of all children. But most importantly, I was grateful for the opportunity to explain why accountability, fair and reliable assessments, and equal access to high-quality public education is important for all kids. Read More

Activist of the Month: Sharon Taubel

January 6, 2015 by League of Education Voters

At the League of Education Voters (LEV), we recognize all of the hard work that you do toward improving public education across Washington state. We are pleased to announce our Activist of the Month for January: Sharon Taubel. Read more about Sharon’s work advocating for public education—especially when it comes to equity in education.

Sharon Taubel began volunteering in her daughter’s elementary school PTA years ago, and her volunteerism and advocacy continued from there.

Sharon is pretty straightforward about why she advocates for others: “I was not well-served by the education system.” But more than that, when Sharon observes what is simply “not right,” she can’t help but do something about it. Read More

Paving the way toward greater parent engagement

December 4, 2014 by League of Education Voters

By Marta Burnet

How can I help my child do better in school?

That’s a question many of us grapple with as parents—and one that was raised at a recent Spanish curriculum night offered at Apollo Elementary School in Renton. It’s a question that becomes even more daunting for parents who do not speak English.

Taking action to help your own children does not, however, need to be insurmountable. That’s why the Apollo PTA has spent the last year-plus finding ways to overcome barriers for these families and welcome their involvement in their children’s education.

As a part of our PTA goal of broadening family involvement, we devised three objectives:

Increase native language (L1) materials available to non-native-English-speaking families.
Make L1 resources about Apollo available.
Engage families, so that we can answer questions, spread resources, and get feedback.

Activist of the Month: Beth Sigall

December 2, 2014 by League of Education Voters

*Doorbelling for Senator Hill. From left: Beth Sigall, Dawn McCravey, Betsy Cohen, Janet Suppes, (unknown), and Sen. Steve Litzow.*

At the League of Education Voters (LEV), we recognize all of the hard work that you do toward improving public education across Washington state. We are pleased to announce our Activist of the Month for December: Beth Sigall. Read more about Beth’s work this fall campaigning for Senator Andy Hill.

You may remember Beth Sigall from April, when she was selected as one of three Activists of the Month in our first-ever “team” award. We honored her in April for her work during the 2014 legislative session, and we’re thrilled to honor her again for her work during the 2014 midterm elections.

Up until now, Beth’s involvement in political campaigns has been limited to policy advising on education issues or work on local levy and bond campaigns. Because she had worked closely with Senator Hill on education over the course of his term, it seemed like a logical next step to get involved directly, on the ground, in his re-election effort. Read More

Activist of the Month: Adel Sefrioui

November 5, 2014 by League of Education Voters

At the League of Education Voters (LEV), we recognize all of the hard work that you do toward improving public education across Washington state. We are pleased to announce our Activist of the Month for November: Adel Sefrioui. Read more about Adel’s work developing Excel Public Charter School, which will open in Kent in 2015.

Adel Sefrioui is the son of immigrant parents. His father emigrated from Morocco in the early ’70s and his mother from Iran shortly before the 1979 revolution. While his parents came to the United States for different reasons—his father, to pursue the “American dream,” and his mother, to escape tyranny in her home country—they both came from cultures that highly value education. Both Persian and Moroccan cultures share the belief that education can be the great equalizer in society. Read More

Activist of the Month: Quontica and Marlando Sparks

October 7, 2014 by League of Education Voters

At the League of Education Voters (LEV), we recognize all of the hard work that you do toward improving public education across Washington state. We are pleased to announce our Activists of the Month for October: Quontica and Marlando Sparks. Read more about their experience advocating for parent engagement and their plans to open a public charter school for at-risk youth in Pasco.

Quontica and Marlando Sparks first testified about education in Washington state this past April, when they spoke about the impact of school discipline on families they worked with. But their involvement in education advocacy started much earlier. Read More