hello, and welcome, i'm damian trujillo. today the latest on the national hispanic university. what is happening with that campus. plus, silicon valley latinos. this is your "communidad d "communidad delvalle." >> we begin with the genealogical society. with me here on the show is the president of the organization, welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> so tell us about the genealogical society. who started -- why did we start it, and what is the purpose of it? >> it was started in 2005 in sacramento. and just recently in april, we -- they granted us the

opportunity to start a charter here in silicon valley so that we could serve the community here of silicon valley. and it's to provide the latino community with a little bit of assistance on how to trace their -- their genealogical roots. whether it be -- it could be from any part of latin america. >> not just one region we're focusing on? >> that's correct, that's correct. the name probably implies a certain part of mexico, but it would be for all of latin america. they all came here vie at same route. and so it's not only genealogy but history of latin america, d dna, so it's it serve our latino brothers and sisters. >> how many people are surprised when they learn what their genealogy is and look back and

say i never would have imagined that? >> oh, i think it's everybody. everybody everybody. . even members of my family when i tell them what my findings are. wow, sometimes it's sharp -- you find something, sometimes not everything is pleasant. some of your findings are -- >> you go back 100, 200 years, there were a lot of things that were unpleasant in those years. >> right. it's a little bit of everything. to discover -- then when you begin to learn not only about your history but the dna, and it can take you back 10,000 years, 20,000 years, and you go on to make connections with people that you didn't know that you were connected to. >> why are you doing this? why is this important to you? >> it was -- i started because i had curiosity about my father-in-law. i never met anyone related to my

father-in-law. i thought, well, who were his parents, who were his -- i didn't ever meet any of his brothers or sisters. >> they did this investigation, you're starting to trace back -- >> rice, rig -- right, right. that's where it came from, the curiosity, where did he come from, how did he raise this wonderful family. i took a trip to salt lake city. that was ten years ago. >> wow. pretty amazing. you have a national conference coming up. what's happening? >> it's the fifth annual genealogical society conference. it will be held on august 2nd at the martin luther king jr. library in downtown san jose. and we'll have a speaker about -- coming to speak about dna another one about the history of jalisco. another one about the california family. it's a little bit of everything. >> does it cost me something to

find out what me genealogy is? if someone was interested? >> to find out what your genealogy is, it will cost you a lot of time. membership is a monthly meeting on the first saturday of every month. and our website is about to go live. so most -- in about a week, we'll publish our website. and it should have information as to where meetings will be held, what the dues are, what the membership dues are, what are -- our monthly meetings will be about, the topics, the speakers -- >> all right. i think i googled your association, and i think -- i found a website, i'm not sure if is their is acti-- if this is t. is -- i'm not sure if this is accurate. is it -- >> it's being worked on. >> any final thoughts before you

go? >> we invite you to look in to our organization. and hope that you have that same curiosity that those of us who are a part of the organization have. >> all right. very good. thank you very much. up next here, the silicon valley latinos.

the president of the group representing the silicon valley. i remember when you introduced the silicon valley latino, are you surprised or amazed at the -- what goals you've attained and where you've taken this project? >> yes, to be honest with you, so the thing that i wanted to do initially was to create a regional online magazine that's going to cover the community for the great things that we do. i mean, there's a lot of untold stories it individuals,

organizations, companies, you name it. slowly we're uncovering these stories that for some reason have not been shared with our community. >> i downloaded video from your website. this is kind of an awards ceremony. here is some of the footage. you're honoring people who wouldn't normally -- who deserve to be honored but wouldn't normally be recognized. tell us it that. >> absolutely. so this particular event is called latino trailblazers and, merging leaders. this event was co-sponsored by cisco systems at their headquarters. and the thing about it -- i've gotten a little pushback from some folks that, you know, we recognize -- recognized 30 people that evening. they said, why don't you make it more exclusive, not so many. my message is this, there are so many people that a community that deserve to be recognized, and we need to celebrate that. we need to recognize them, and also we need to send a message to our community, mainstream, that there's a lot of us, and there's going to be another 36

or 40, so on, that we need to continue to recognize these people for what they do. >> i mean, how are you able -- aside from some coercion to get into the ciscos and some of the other high-tech venues to hold events? >> well, it's -- you know, really finding somebody that's going to be a champion for you. somebody that identifies with what we're trying to do. and fortunately, we have some great friends there and people that believe in what we're doing. they said, we're on board, we want to help you do this. >> what's the ultimate goal of silicon valley latino? >> there's a couple of different goals. the ultimate goal is to promote those positive stories within our community, right? and all, a secondary goal is to share them so that our youth and our young professional can be inspired by what they see because, again, these aren't normal, typical stories that are being shared. and so that's what we want to do. we want to make sure that folks understand that there's people out there that are success.

there are people working and saying, wow, maybe i can do that, too. >> talk about the following you've developed since you started the project. there's a following. >> sure. yeah. it's been really nice. i mean, we have in terms of the folks that have signed up to receive our newsletter and so forth, we have a few thousand people that do that. and now we've -- and something that's interesting that has happened in an organic matter is that we have a community that's formed, a silicon valley committee that formed, and we didn't lead that. these folks started to connect with each other and started to get together and invite us to things. then we decided, well, let's make it official. now we have a membership program, and we call our members ambassadors. >> you know, we keep talking about the news here and every station does about the achievement gap and how we're failing at this and maybe not as proficient at that. but you've found, as you mentioned, some success stories that contradict all of those statistics. >> absolutely. there are so many folks, you know, that are -- for instance,

i was meeting with somebody that just sold their company to a major, you know, tech company here for $25 million. and i think those are the stories that we need to share. let's talk about the next issue, next print issue that we're going to be releasing within the next month. it's the -- going to feature the svl list. 50 of the most prominent influential game-changing, trendsetting latinos. you'll be one of those folks -- >> i don't know how i made that list. >> in the category -- come on. but there are people like -- i don't think people know, but the cio, chief information officer at facebook is a latino. the same thing with the cio at hp, he's a latino. and may friend jorge pittinger is the ceo of -- of sgi, the new name. so we have these folks but folks don't know --

>> the impact you've have done has taken a while overnight. but you have the patience to do it. >> it's been a lot of patience and a roller coaster ride. we're staying with it. >> all right. silicon -- "silicon valley latino," thank you. before you go, what -- >> we've created platforms. we're a multimedia, multi-platform company that does marketing engagement within our community. and anybody that want to be a member, they could easily do it by going to our website and clicking on the svl -- we have an e-commerce site. click on that. and what we do for our members, we promote them. so we'll send you an e-mail saying, please send us your bio and head shot, and we help get your brand out there. think about that, those of you watching. >> that's "silicon valley latino." log on for more. thank you. see you on the telemundo side,

as well. next up on "comunidad del valle," the national hispanic university, the future of the campus.

it used to be called the national hispanic university. the campus is in transformation at this point. with me from santa clara university is dr. nicholas ledari here and our representative from the school of education at santa clara university. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> we have video of the national hispanic university. the first thing we'll show is the big announcement you made. tell us about the big announcement. >> well, it was a press conference we had with a number of folks who were part of this university, now this terks merging center that will have three primary areas. one is the school of education in psychology. we also are going to have two charter schools there, hopefully k through 12678 the third is a research -- k through 12. upon the third is focussed on latino education. >> the structure's there, but

the programs and everything else will be gone. >> correct. as i understand it, they're leaving, and they will be gone completely by next summer, 2015. >> what about the folks who were studying there, in the middle of their education at the national hispanic university when things went awry, if that's a proper word to use. they decided to close shop. >> well, it's sad. on the one hand, they're leaving, there has been a commitment to the community. but they're no longer going to be there. what santa clara university has taken the approach of how do we best offer a culturally responsive approach to teacher training. we're going to bring in our teacher training program into east san jose. and part of that building will be santa clara university offering teacher training programs. >> how big a deal is that? >> for us it's a huge deal. it's important to meet our social justice mission, in particular, to reach undish undd communities. we're offering scholarships that will cover at least half of the

tuition, santa clara's tuition, to any student who comes into the program. up to 100 students. >> very good. your message to the folks in that surrounding community because i think there's a lot of fear and apprehension after the announcement was made. what is your commitment, your message to the community -- >> that the university and particularly the school of education is committed to supporting the community in innovating, advancing education in the community. in ways that haven't been done in a long time. >> tell us about that. >> i think a lot of the methodology being used today in the classrooms was introduced and invented in the 1950s. you know, we're about innovating, we're about using contemporary methodologies, integrating into our teaching, and paying attention to the challenges that the latino community has in our teacher preparation. >> so any teacher or student that who was there trying to get a teaching credential or

master's degree, i don't know if that goes there, but they're able to transition and apply to take classes under your jurisdiction? >> correct. any student that's there is able to transfer over interest our program. we're going to offer them a half scholarship, half tuition scholarship, and they will be able to reach -- actually get their masters degree and teaching credential. and nhu only offered the credential. hopefully that will help students by getting them a masters degree, as well. >> ton downgrade the national -- not to downgrade the national hispanic university, but it's huge when you compare it to the national hispanic university, your global name and brand attached to that. >> well, i appreciate that. i think we do have a lot to offer. i go back to the idea that we have a social justice mission which means we are different than other places. we understand how it's important to be culturally responsive in the classroom, empathize with the students, have teachers that are bilingual or mono lingual. we don't hopefully limit anybody who's coming into the programs

because of their previous experiences. i would say we honor bilingualism. for me, it needs to be seen as a strength that we embrace, not a deficit from which we want to run. i think that's what makes us different at santa clara university, in particular our school of education. we're not a 20th century school of education. schools of education, frankly, have failed for a variety of reasons nationally. we're looking to be different than that. >> bilingual education was kind of a -- kept my career afloat, if you will. you probably could have taken this model anywhere in silicon valley. you chose to take it to the east side how many important was that, and what does that mean to your department of education? >> the needs are clear. the needs on the east side are clear. our commitment to latino communities clear, to underserved communities, clear. it really helped that we had alumni from santa clara university on the board of the foundation of the national hispanic university. so it's a natural link for us.

when the opportunity arose, we accepted the challenge, and we're looking forward to being very successful. >> to the unit iss, corporations out -- to the superintendents, corporations out there, what caliber of students are graduating? >> we'll have high-quality teachers who are able to reach the students that they serve. i think any school district that is looking for those types of teachers, we're the place to come to. >> all right. i'm going to share a couple of websites. one is for the old national hispanic university. log on if you have questions. alsoing well on to the university department of education website, the foundation there. find out what the changes that will be taking place. up next on "comunidad del valle," there's something interesting happening also with an institute, leadership institute there at the university. so stay with us.

we're back here on "comunidad del valle" talking about the former campus of the

national hispanic university and santa clara university, now coming in to do some wonderful things there. let's talk about the two charter schools. what's going to be happening there, who qualifies, what's the premise of the two charter schools? >> well, there will be the latino college preparatory academy will be there as well as another charter school that's still in the works. so basically what we're going to have is a very unique situation where we have two charter schools, k through 12 schools hopefully, along with the university of teacher preparation program. in combination with the third unit which is the latino education research institute. it will be emerging, and the group will be looking at policy research. one of the best practices for teachers, one of the ways we can teach children from this community. >> and that's being led by dr. david lopez, former leader at the national hispanic university. >> the leader who really understands what the community

is looking for education is able to make a link between k through 12 and higher education. >> what impact do you think you'll be making there, not only on the east side but the entire silicon valley by branching out like this? >> we're optimistic that we'll make a significant impact because we have a very unique situation with the k through 12 charter schools there. with the research institute, with the teacher training program. teachers are going to be trained more than likely in some charter schools where the research about the effectiveness and methodologies are going to be evaluated in those classrooms. then we'll make improvements. and then we're hopefully going to educate a cadre of potential teachers that are going back to the communities to teach. >> well, this is -- is this a big opportunity for the university to come in and get into that campus and -- and feed into the population there? >> absolutely, absolutely. a huge opportunity for us that

weigh showed a commitment toward. we'll continue to show a commitment toward. we're not here to fail. we've said a number of times, failure is not an option. we'll take approaches and will modify approaches if they're not working until we get it right. really take this as a startup company to make sure we get it right. >> what do you foresee, your crystal ball, ten years on the product that you're producing there? >> well, two basic things. one, we'll have an educated latino community that will be significant contributors to the economy, the society, and we will in the process break the vicious cycle of poverty that currently scientists latino communities. >> that's a social justice -- one of the key components, right, of the mission, if you will. >> correct. correct. i think one of the things that's challenging for any school is to understand culturally what's happening in the community. and you can't just say we're going to come in and this is how you do. you have to engage the community which includes families and say

what are the best practices for these children and how can we best educate them to get them to college and to get them to graduate school as a next step after that. those are the expectations ever woo. >> is there something -- we were talking about the achievement gap earlier. is there something that you see that we could tweak or do better to make sure that we do bridge that gap, or is this a process, a work in progress? >> it's a work in progress, but i think we can identify some key factors that are going to make teaching in the latino community more effective. so you have it train culturally sensitive -- you have to train culturally sensitive teachers to understand that someone's socio-economic status has to do with the obstacles that they have to overcome in order to be successful. culture sensitivity in terms of using material that relates to the kids, that gives them voice, makes them feel alive like they can resonate with the experiences the writer is talking about, francisco jimenez, the distinctions, wow,

somebody has experienced what i'm going through and is going to make a difference in my life. >> that is a big deal. some people will be thinking about signage. what signage are we going to say? the university logo or the institute? >> all three. it will be all three. we're working to get signage out there. one thing i'd like to add is there are 13, 500 teacher in this region. only 10% of whom are latino, latina. only 50% of those folks are bilingual. so there's a huge gap between what is available to students and what we can provide in terms of our teacher preparation programs. >> is it important for students nowadays to be able to see the principal maybe or a teacher in front of the class, to -- they can relate to culturally, in that senior citizens. >> -- in that sense? >> that's important. you need models that look like you and resonate with you. more important is a teacher that has sensitivities for sort of the cultural nuances and the d

pedagogies and way students learn. you don't have to be brown to work in that classroom or latino, but you have to be able to understand where they come from and what it takes to connect with them. >> all right. it's a new venture over on the east side of san jose. again, there's the old web address for the national hispanic university in case you have old questions about what happened to the school. you want to log on to the one on the bottom there, that's where you'll get all the information on the new experience there at san santa clara university at the department of education and what's happening with the training of new teachers, the latino education collaboration. any final thoughts before you go, doctor? >> i think just what we said, go back to that, that we need to be training culturally responsive teachers and the impact is to get us out there, meet our social justice mission, be different than what other schools have done and do it well. >> what a great opportunity. thank you for coming in and clarifying everything for all of us who may not have been aware of what's happening there. appreciate all your work. >> thank you. >> thank you for the

opportunity. >> thank you very much. now, here's what's happening in your community. ♪

and thanks for celebrating a special day. ♪ our address for next week's show, follow me on twitter, my handle is @newsdamian. also pick up a copy of our newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. thank you once again for sharing a part of your sunday with us here on "comunidad del valle." be sure to watch us also on telemundo 5:30 on saturdays, same topics, only in espanol. ♪ [ heart beating ]

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>> can you imagine our universe without the sun? i can't. it makes things grow. it provides us energy, vitamin d for our bodies. the list goes on and on and on. so it just makes sense that the sun should have a show all of its own. we'll call it suncentric, heliocentric. hey, i hope you brought your shades.