hello and welcome to "c, mmunidad del valle." we feature the music. this is your "communidad del valle." >> nbc presents "comunidad del valle" with damian trujillo. >> this is a fourth grader at the dual language academy here. her name is ruby jiminez. she's a fourth grader and her mom is here. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> a full disclaimer, my kids

also go there, so they know this big girl very well. but we want to bring her on because she's competing in something unique. a spanish spelling bee. so tell us the word that won you the title in the competition. >> the word that won me the title was -- and infort was in list of professionals. >> was it nerve-wracking when you are up there given the words to spell, and they are not in english but spanish? >> it kind of was because i actually thought that we were going to the very last list, so i actually studied the hardest list and not exactly professional. so it was a little scary to see what word i was going to get. >> now, for those who may not be convinced out there. [ speaking spanish ] [ speaking spanish ]

[ speaking spanish ] >> now, when my wife first proposed to send my kids to a dual language school, i said no way. i want them to perfect english first and then we'll teach them spanish, but when you see the development of someone like ruby and how versed she is in both languages, it is pretty amazing. >>s the it is just the science out there to support it. if you learn two languages for

kids at that age, they learn quicker. it is easier for them to development. so it was a no-brainer for us, really, because we knew they were going to get the english. we didn't know if they would keep the spanish. >> it is fascinating, it really is. you are on your way to the competition, what is that going to be like? >> that's going to be like, it's going to be really big since there's a lot of people also doing the spanish spelling bee in their school. so it will be a lot of people. and i'm a little bit excited for that and a little bit nervous at the same time because i, when i was at the meeting with the teachers that have been over there, this is the third year they have been doing the spanish spelling bee, then they said that they have been going through the whole list. so i'm like, okay, i need to study, study and study. so now a lot of my teachers are helping me, so, like, every tuesday and thursday, i'm practicing with one teacher one

day and then the other day i practice with another. and i also practice with my mother. >> the school is not sponsoring the trip to new mexico, so you have to go there and it is not cheap. >> yes, so the travel plans, basically the travel expenses are being funded by donations. and we are currently looking for people that would want to donate to an event like this. our dream is for it to get a little bit bigger because right now there's only one school that's doing the spanish spelling bee in california that i know of. >> here's the national scripps spelling bee, so this is the english version of this. how excited are you for your daughter and what she's doing? >> i'm very excited. to be honest, i didn't think she would win. when she won, i thought that it was incredible. i mean, she is very enthusiastic about this. for her to be representing california, as far as i know, in the dual language emergent school, it's an honor to see my

daughter develop like that and increase her vocabulary. >> it's a shame that we don't have video of the spanish spelling bee, but maybe when you win the national title we'll have to be forced to go out there and join you there. again, how do you prepare? because i know that i've prepared since third grade through high school and whatnot, how do you prepare what letter goes before what other letter? i mean, it's not easy, especially in spanish? >> well, how i learned is that there are different types of, like, how to spell. so there's, like, words like qu [ speaking spanish xwrkts ] . you have to remember that accent. so in the future you can know that, so it's kind of confusing because there are different ones. and it can be also confusing because if you don't exactly

know which one it is, then you might get the word wrong if you put the accent there. >> there's accents, the double l's and r's. the spelling bee is in new mexico. it's the spanish spelling bee. if you would like to help ruby head over to new mexico, you can write a check in any amount to that address at the dual language academy address or call the number on the screen. they will be happy to help you out and send her on her way. congratulations and good luck. >> thank you so much. >> up next, we will continue our theme on education. stay with us.

he is the principal at mount pleasant elementary school here in san jose. we are honored to be joined by him here on "comunidad del valle." we have been having guests here talk about science, engineering, math and whatnot. but now you came to me and this is probably old for educators, but you came to me with

something called steam. tell us about that. >> the steam is the art. not so much the art in itself, but the imagination used to create things. so the bread and butter of our program is basically project-based learning. so project-based learning, we incorporate the imaginative component. for example, one of our grade levels, first grade, we are working on recycling. and so they created art using recyclable materials that went to a museum where they had art based on, recyclable objects. and so they learned the science, the non-fiction and readings through the project-based learning that's occurring and using their imagination to create things. the third graders are completing stadiums, so they are creating their -- using their engineering understanding and creating and making their own version of

their stadium since we are having the soccer world cup happening in brazil. so they are excited about this and are using this. >> it's a teachable moment. >> yes. >> were we not using a part of our brain when we teach s.t.e.m.? is there a part of our brain we are not using to create s.t.e.m.? the imaginative part of our brain or -- >> i think we have the research that basically says that music and art drawing, you know, adds to the -- to the imaginative component. >> that's kind of taking a backseat because we are all into math and science and engineering, which is great, but we are forgetting the arts part and i would imagine that's crucial as well. >> yes, so in our school we have music for the fourth and fifth grade students. and we have a partnership with them to provide our lessons as well for our students. so we have the actual training of the arts plus the incorporation of imagination and

our s.t.e.m. unit. >> you are talking about the music and the dance music. >> yeah, and we have several clubs. we have the mariachi club, they are learning trumpets and we have the after school practice. along with other sports like soccer and incooperating tennis in the future. and we have the karate club where students learn the asian aspects of culture. >> not only in your school but in general, how optimistic are you or are you about bridging this achievement gap that we keep talking about? >> we have been looking at our internal benchmarks, the district benchmarks, and with this new approach, we have seen a rise in our schools academic output. and i mean, i attribute that to our s.t.e.m. program. the students have been using, having learned this different way of them to serve the

knowledge and instruction that they are receiving. >> and you've -- i mean, i'm sure you have tracked it and it seems to be working? >> yes, we are excited to see our new testing system to see how the students perform. >> the state funding is one thing you you create community partnerships, how well are they working? >> the district has a partnership with the health clinic. and so they provide a full-time counselor to our school. and it's been a great -- because any issues with behavior we can support, not only that, but we provide the family classes, parenting classes to our parents. and we have partnerships with some financial agencies that provide and do a financial workshop for our parents. >> it is funny that you have to think outside the box because of state funding. everything is not just the way it used to be, but you are creating in the way you educate

students, families and their parents. >> correct. it's been working, but we have a local source participating in the walk-a-on thises and p proproviding resources. >> it is called s.t.e.a.m. look on to mount pleasant elementary school. you can find their website there at that address as well. thank you so much for the work you're doing with our kids. >> thank you very much. up next, franklin mckinley's school district. stay with us.

some exciting things happening over at the franklin mckinley school district here to the comunidad del valle, we have the superintendent there at franklin mckinlckinley. are you optimistic and what do we need to do to roll up our sleeves? >> we have been working hard for

the last ten years on dealing with this issue, like other urban school districts. and i'm very proud of our progress. we still have a long ways to go. we haven't solved that issue. but we've seen tremendous gains, especially in the last five years. and we have a number of innovative schools that are in our district now. our board, years ago, some years ago it passed an effective schools board policy, which meant that we looked for school designs that work, whether they are charter or district schools. and we created that portfolio that has really paid off for us because it not only gives hope to the families that they have choice to meet the needs of their students, but we learn from each over other because of the portfolio. >> the way we did back in the '90s, it was simply not working. we kept seeing california dip and dip to 49 on the scale of 50 >> well, i think the most stunning data that i looked at last year was from the dana institute at the university of

texas that linked the achievement gap instead of ho e horizontally measuring it, which has increased. they took a vertical gap from the '90s to 2011 and basically the hispanic students now are performing at the same level that our students performed at in the early '90s. so that really tells the story about how we have to have urgency in addressing this. >> and mya, you are there as a board member to make sure that as a board member, that things get done in the way that we start bridging this achievement gap that we keep talking about. >> sure, we really look at innovation. again, both district schools, charter schools, learning from other best practices around us. and ensuring that we build on partnerships that we have, whether it is participant engagement or a city partnership or a nonprofit partnership.

we are really trying to make the most of everything out there to help our kids. >> so the role of board members has maybe changed in the last 15 years because you do have to create the partnerships that maybe we didn't have to in previous years? >> well, i mean, we have significant achievement gap issues. and one thing i would like to point out is, in the recent years where we have seen gapes, we still have an achievement gap with the latina students, but we have been able to see the gains at a time when schools have been cut more than ever. so that's giving us optimism moving forward. and going back to the partnership, we are really lucky in franklin mckinney. we have had partnerships in our school district since the '90s. so we really try to build on that and push as much as possible. i think one area that board members can really push the most on is the whole idea and concept of parent engagement. we have not done enough of that. i think not just in franklin mckinney but systemwide.

and we really need to do a lot more of that so that our kids are successful. >> absolutely. at our school, it's 30 hours a year that you have to commit yourself to, otherwise you can -- your child cannot longer attend the school. so there are different funding mechanisms for the schools. and it's crucial right now for your constituents, the parents and families to give you up put on where the funding should go. >> the new funding formula that requires school districts to reach out to the community and staff to get ideas for funding, the board of trustees still has the final north and authority to actually approve what is done. but it can be only be done through some real engagement issues, which we've -- all school districts have linked in to this quite intensebly the last several months. i think it's a wonderful

process. next year it will be lengthened and easier to do. this year was -- because of some issues at the state level got implemented late, but in the future it's going to bring great opportunity. there is more money in it for the california schools. and for school districts in urban areas that serve the demographics like franklin mckinley, there's extra concentration funds. i just want to make sure the public knows that we are still 48th or 49th out of 50 states funding. and in eight years when all the increases will be done, if there isn't other things done with school financing, we will still be at 48th and 49th place. so we really are at an all-new low if finding schools. and now we are building that back, which is great news, and i appreciate the governor being the champion of that, but i

don't want to have people misled that we have solved this issue of equitable school funding from the needs of our kids because we have not reached that point yet. >> very good point. the franklin mckinley school district out of san jose. there's the web address for more information. log on to make sure if you are a parent, that you do get involved. thank you so much for coming in to educate us. thank you very much. up next, the music of marachi. stay with us.

and now here's what's happening in your comunidad. ♪

and we are celebrating a special day. ♪ and here's our address for next week's show. you can support us all across the bay area. and you can watch us new on telemundo in spanish every saturday at 5:30. we thank you for joining us. we leave you now with the sounds of mariachi.

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nine championships. one home. nbc sports, championship season. absolutely amazing out there. >> unbelievable. nadal, making history. >> the french open on nbc, presented by lonjeans.