True Life:Surviving RIT

Last night I had the opportunity to once again address a mixture of college students. I was asked by one of my fraternity brothers to deliver a presentation on being successful in college. Although I have never attended R.I.T. the components of my message are pretty universal. My presentation was followed by a panel of 5th year Seniors at R.I.T. who represent a variety of cultures, and majors. The students spoke genuinely about the positive and not so positive experiences they have had in their lives and at R.I.T. They also offered the students advice, and gave them honest opinions on what they felt worked for them. Although none of the students have graduated yet, they are definitely in the final stretch.

As I sat there listening to what they had to say, I found myself desperately wanting to throw all of them into my SUV and bring them to school the next day. Why, you may ask? Because they are a direct reflection of my students. My students, do not have role models or connections to the world that is achievable through education. Role models and mentors that not only look like them but also exhibit the importance of college attainment.

I would like to give kudos to Mr. Sean Bennett, Director of the North Star Center, who sponsored this event with the ideas of Mr. Shaun Villanueva. Mr. Bennett is definitely an advocate and agent for change at R.I.T. Good Luck as their is still much to do on your campus.

Living the Dream!
Mr. Soler

Living the Dream: We Are All We Got!!!

The city and suburban residents of Rochester, have to realize one thing, "We are all we got!!" It is not good enough for us to turn away from the problems plaguing the city. We cannot allow for the economic breakdown of class to be reflective of our city and our priorities.

We have to be comfortable enough to speak out when we see wrong. We ALL have a civic responsibility to each other as humans in this world. We must not be afraid to advocate for those in need. We must not be afraid to speak out for inequities that occur in the school system. We must not be afraid to challenge one another to do what is right for our children, students and the world. If we see crimes committed, we have to speak out against them or eventually they will consume and dictate how we live our lives.

Students, educators, school leaders, politicians must remember one thing,...
WE ARE ALL WE GOT!!!

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¡Viviendo el Sueño! (Living the Dream!)
Mr. Anibal Soler, Jr.
http://www.anibalsoler.com
http://anibalsoler.blogspot.com

The Great Debaters

What does one do over their holiday break from work? Well if it is me, I try to get out and do the things that I often don't have time to do. In particular I went out to see the movie, The Great Debaters with my wife.

Let me start out by saying this movie was loaded with an enormous amount of teachable moments. As I kept watching the film, I kept thinking to myself, my students need to see this film! Since a majority of my students are African American and Latino, I know they could all see similarities from the movie and connections to the struggles in their lives.

The movie was about a college professor who helped establish one of the nations best debate teams at Wiley College. The movie captures many issues of race, inequality, discrimination and the civil rights movement.

Again, I highly recommend all those in education and community service to go out and see this movie. It is as deeply moving to me as Lean on Me and Freedom Writers. It is amazing the power and influence a great teacher has over their students and what can be accomplish with time.

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¡Viviendo el Sueño! (Living the Dream!)

Mr. Anibal Soler, Jr.

http://www.anibalsoler.com/

http://anibalsoler.blogspot.com/

Color Matters?

Lately this race and color has been a very hot debate in my school district and community. There have been articles written by various individuals rebutting and supporting the various perspectives.

Here are my thoughts...
I strongly believe that race is not the single determinant of success by minority students in urban education. I beleive that what students of color and non-color want from their teachers are individuals that care and take the time to get to know them for who they are as students. I have a quote hanging on my door in my office that states, "Before a student cares to know what you can teach them, they must know that you care."

As a Latino going through the RCSD there were very few if any Latino educators in my educational experience. Did this doom me for failure? Nope not at all because the teachers that made me successful where those who I remember today as the teachers that took a vested interest in me inside and outside of the classroom. The teachers who attended my basketball games, the teachers who allowed me to stay after school and hang out with the in their room, the teachers who let me come up during lunch to offer me help outside of the normal class day. It didn't matter to me how much math they taught me or what content I was showed but rather the connection we had as student and teacher that encouraged me to work hard for that teacher. My main point here is that having teachers that care is what is most important not the color of the teacher.

I do believe that having more staff and teachers of color is an important thing but to say that it is a reason for higher suspension rates, special education referrals, high school dropout percentages is slap in the face to those who work day in and day out in schools.

My question is why are we not doing national recruiting to help increase the number of diverse highly qualified candidates? This is a national problem that is being felt by school district across the country so why not take a different approach? Why not team up with a local university and create a gateway teaching program that prepares our current student body to enter college become teachers and come back and work in the district that prepared them. Rather then point the finger and make claims offer viable solutions to increase the number of Latino and African Americans available to be chosen in the work force.

In closing let us all offer solutions to change items rather then point out obvious deficiencies being felt across urban school districts nationwide. Some of the greatest leaders in this world learned for a variety of individuals, and if you asked most of them why where those individuals so influential in their lives they would more then likely say because they cared in my success.


Living the Dream!
Mr. Soler

Oprah's Town Hall

I was priviliged enough to watch Oprah's two part Town Hall series courtesy of my DVR (digital video recorder).

Oprah Winfrey did a two part Town Hall special, focusing on Don Imus's comments and she invited a vast array of guest speakers as part of the committee. The focus was on the use of language towards women and women of color.

The show was very thought provoking and raised a numerous amount of questions in my mind that, I hope they will be answered with time.

My questions are:

What will actually be done to change the language in the music industry?
What will Oprah do to show some accountability on why she had created the forum in the first place?
What will be done in education with our students who view this hip hop culture as the proper way to speak and live in today's society?
Will there be any additional pressure placed on the government and community members to address the underlying issues of poverty?

Lastly, I think of my students. I think of the effect that hip-hop and rap have on them. My students always wear the latest fashions they see in music videos. My students always know the latest slang and street terminology. My students spend so much time and energy in reproducing the behaviors they see. If only the time and energy was spent equally on education. If only they realized that it was just music they were listening to, and not a right of passage.

The debate will continue, and I will end with saying this; When we take care of the social inequities that currently exist in place in our society, then rap artist and others will not have the right to blame their lyrics on society.

Living the Dream!
Anibal
www.anibalsoler.com