Latino Educators Share STEM Success Stories in New Book

Educators who established STEM learning and training opportunities for Latino students say a can-do attitude is the only path to success when your community is already struggling with poverty, language barriers and inequity.

It requires a constant eye for grant money. It involves making connections with government, community and business leaders. It means offering career and technical programs for those who desire a vocation right after high school. But the first step for every task is having confidence in your students, they said.

“We want them to be the creators of tomorrow, not just the assembly line workers,” Maria Armstrong, executive director of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS), said today in an interview.

ALAS recently published a book about this, From Stem to Steam: Latino Perspectives, which was introduced during the organization’s national summit in October and publicized to a wider audience in late December. Additional promotional events in major cities are planned for the next two months, including the “100 Superintendent March” by Latino and Black school administrators planned for late March in Washington, D.C. A portion of book sales go toward ALAS’ student scholarship fund.

The book has 10 chapters, each relevant to STEM and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) and written by a different contributing author, covering topics such as funding, student outcomes, bilingual education, and strategies for establishing and maintaining long-term programs that will help young Latinos become future ready.

According to the ALAS website, Latino children will make up 30 percent of the K-12 population in the nation’s largest states — California, Texas, New York and Florida — by 2026.
In the first chapter, “Advancing Student Outcomes One Decision at a Time,” Rene Sanchez detailed his experiences as a high school principal in Houston, Texas, where the vast majority of students were minorities and eligible for free and reduced lunches. He said Houston ISD secured a federal Race to the Top grant to enhance career and technical education and establish disciplines for engineering, environmental science, health sciences and digital media. Freshmen attended courses to explore those pathways before getting more specific instruction in a chosen field as upperclassmen and receiving guidance from local businesses that could provide hands-on experience.

The program was a tremendous success, according to Sanchez. On average, 100 students out of graduating classes of around 600 had completed internships or mentorships, with about 40 students per year earning credentials to work as pharmacy technicians, and a dozen or more students completing the veterinary technician license requirements before they had earned high school diplomas. And hundreds of students earned college credits.

“We were putting up incredible numbers,” said Sanchez, now the superintendent of Champlain Valley School District in Vermont.

Nury Castillo Crawford, author of chapter eight, “How to Fund STEAM,” previously worked in the Gwinnett County School District near Atlanta, Ga., where she was responsible for establishing mentoring programs, summer STEM camps and weekend learning events that students and their entire families attended free of charge. She said resources for STEM programs, whether grants, donations or in-kind services, rely on networking.

“You talk to everyone you can, and the people you know also know someone else. It’s way beyond six degrees,” Castillo Crawford said.

In lower-income school districts, she added, networking must be done on your own time, after the workday is over. And it’s important to attend the same conferences and events frequented by administrators from even the wealthiest districts.

After STEM programs are in place, it’s a matter of making sure they are well-attended enough to justify continued funding. But the Latino culture is very family-oriented, Castillo Crawford explained, so events must offer something for everyone as opposed to just an opportunity to drop off your child for an entire Saturday. That’s where the free entertainment, food and clothing donations from local neighborhood business partners come in.

“It’s a Saturday STEM event, but why not bring in some culture like salsa dancing?” she said. “We can provide breakfast, maybe groceries. It’s all about empowering parents.”

Armstrong, who wrote chapter 10, “Interstellar: The Space Between the Stars,” offered her perspective as someone who loved science as a child. While attending school was not her favorite experience, it still gave her the raw ingredients to succeed in the biotech industry, where she developed a passion for lifelong learning before becoming an educator herself. Assuring that every student can interact with at least one person who inspires them — whether at home, school, or the workplace — is crucial.

“There needs to be a system in place for all children, especially Latino children,” she said. “These authors are the champions. They have great stories to share.”

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story inaccurately credited Rene Sanchez with securing a grant for Houston ISD.