"comunidad del valle," i'm damian trujillo. another exciting show today from immigration to education on your "comunidad del valle." male announcer: nbc bay area presents "comunidad del valle" with damian trujillo. damian: they are military veterans who served their country. now, they're serving their community. with me on "comunidad del valle" are members of american legion post 809, armand guerrero and miguel gastelo here with the american legion. thank you so much for being on our show, and thank you for your service. before we talk about the post, talk about your military service before we get going. we'll start with you. miguel gastelo: my name is miguel, and i served in the army for 27 years. i retired in 1995 as an e-9 command sergeant major. i started my career in the military when i got drafted in january of 1968.

and shortly after that, i winded up in vietnam as an infantryman. and i just--it changed my whole life, and i never knew that kind of way of living. and it stayed with me, so i kept re-enlisting. damian: well, 'cause i was going to say people usually who were drafted, the veterans who were drafted, they serve their time, and then they say, "i'm getting out." but you said, "i'm staying in." miguel: yes, like i said, it had a big impact in my life because i grew up in the fields picking cotton, and we were raised very poor, lived in the farm labor camps. and when i went in the army, it just--first time that i had ever been out of the county. and i winded up at fort lewis, washington. i had never seen snow before. that was the first time i'd seen snow.

damian: marching right through it. well, thank you again for your service. armand, what about you, tell us about your military career. armand guerrero: i joined the marine corps. i, as a child, wanted to be a marine. don't ask me why, but i found it very fascinating. so, i joined the marine corps in 1964, and i did well in my testing, so they offered me aviation if i wanted it, and i did. so, after boot camp, san diego, i went to memphis, went to school there. and being a shade tree mechanic at home, i wanted to be a mechanic, and i became a jet mechanic. and i did 4 years. i did wind up in vietnam at chu lai. and it's a very--it's a good experience in looking back, but it's a hard experience. damian: you grow up fast. armand: yes, you grow up fast and quick. i spent 4 years and got out. the reason i got out because i got married when i was in the marine corps, 2 years in it.

and as hard as it is for us-- as it was for us in vietnam, it was just that hard for my wife and my child because i left her pregnant. damian: the whole family was serving with you. armand: yeah, absolutely, first time that you ever saw a war through a tv. damian: wow, well, you sent us some great pictures of the post. you also are going to see some family and some children because that's what you all do now. i mean, you served your time in the military, and now you're helping the community with the american legion post 809. talk about some of the community work that you all do. miguel: one of the things that we are known for is our services for veterans that pass on. we do the military honors at the grave site, which includes the firing of the three volleys, playing of taps, folding the flag, and presenting the flag to the next of kin. another thing that we do is we are involved with the junior rotc program in the high schools.

at this point, we're supporting overfelt high school, and yerba buena. and we talk to the youngsters about the military, and we also purchase medals for them every year that they can get awarded for either scholastics or military. and another thing that we do is we are involved with a lot of veterans organizations as well, other organizations in assisting veterans, especially the younger generation that come back from combat, where we understand where they're at emotionally, mentally, and physically. we try to assist them in going to get their benefits, and explaining how it works, how the system works, how the va system works.

and also directing them in the direction that they need to go. damian: i kind of want to talk about that in our next segment. we are here with the american legion post 809, there is an email address for you, and also a phone number to call for more information. they have a special mother's day celebration as a fundraiser. and that fundraiser is on may 12 at the masonic lodge in san jose, celebrating mother's day with the american legion. up next, a local artist. stay with us.

in some very high places. sam rodriguez is my guest here on "comunidad del valle." welcome to the show. sam rodriguez: thank you for having me. damian: we're talking about linkedin, google, puma, and samsung. what does it say to get your work into places like that? aside from skill, of course. sam: yeah, a lot takes skill, but it also takes a lot of, you know, meeting people in person, and just building a portfolio. you know, i have been working at it for well over a decade, but the last few years has finally been well enough

to where it's become a full-time career. before that, i was working a lot of odd jobs, and trying to pay myself through school. and also, you know, raise my daughter. damian: that's tough. well, let's go through a quick slideshow, and kind of describe what we're going to see here. tell us what this is. sam: so, what you're looking at are handprints that were made by the employees of samsung. and we did a project there recently for their lobby area, and it was partially a--you know, something that they could just be proud of in their lobby area that people can see that represents their company. but it was also a human resource project. so, they wanted, you know, to metaphorically show how employees have a hand in making the company what it is. and so, it was one of the people in human resources who came up with the idea, "let's do handprints." and at first, i was like, "how am i going to make this work, you know, and make it look i guess you could say

sophisticated, you know?" because it's like a kindergarten project of something, you know? so, i wasn't--i'm not an educator, so i don't know-- and so, i was like, "well, maybe. there's got to be a way." damian: step one of art. sam: exactly, well, that's step one of collaboration, you know? collaboration sometimes will shape the project, and bring it to places that you wouldn't have done so yourself. and i think it makes the work stronger. damian: do you have to--when you were trying to do something for samsung because that's where your latest work is right now, right? at samsung just right up the street here from nbc bay area. when you're talking to them, is it like an interview? 'cause you have to get to-- you have to envision what exactly they want. sam: right, yeah, it is; it's a lot of back and forth. it's a long process. for this one, it took a couple years because they were moving into a new building. and a lot of the--a lot of the time, you know, pass of them, you know, like trying to figure out the logistics of moving into the new space. and once that--once enough time passed and they were ready, then there was a lot of back and forth between different stakeholders within their company of what they wanted.

and a lot of it is also based on my portfolio. so, they hire me knowing that i do a certain style. and so, you know, they'll ask me to approach the project in the same way i approach a lot of them. but they do--you know, a lot of people will have, like, a list of things that they want done, right? so, this one was, like i mentioned before, sort of a human resource project as well. so, it was very important that employees got involved into the project, so. damian: and i snagged this next one that we saw a little bit of it from your website. this is steph curry's mvp. talk about what this is. sam: oh, so that was--i'm really grateful i got the opportunity to do a couple projects with under armour clothing. and they hired me to do some stuff for some steph curry campaigns they had. and you know, as you know, they do his shoe. they have a shoe, it's called a 3c. damian: my son reminds me every day, trust me. sam: oh, is that right? yeah. so, it was an amazing opportunity. i mean, he's an inspiring person.

so you know, it's probably something i would have done on my own. and so, you know, it's one of those projects that was really fun. and yeah, they made a couple of different t-shirt designs to accompany the shoe release. damian: and there's the hip hop also clip right after this one just in memory of-- sam: ah yes. damian: okay. what is it with art? does your clock have to tick a little bit differently than normal people? because i mean, it takes creativity. and i don't have, you know, one ounce of the talent that you have when it comes to that. but it takes something special, right, to envision it and to-- sam: from my own personal experience, i think that-- i think it's more resourcefulness than creativity. i learned that from my grandparents. i grew up going to sell at the flea markets with them. and they would take stuff that people would just throw away, and make it sellable. and so, it's being resourceful. and i learned a lot of that from them. and i think that's what it takes to, you know, to be creative.

i think it's rooted in being resourceful. damian: that's great; well, you talked a little bit about the samsungs and the linkedins, but you haven't forgotten about the local public libraries, right? sam: well, no. i mean, there's the office of cultural affairs in san jose and other, you know parts of--in los angeles and other places. and you know, they're always looking to do permanent public art projects in their institutions and on their public transportation. and so, those also provide lucrative, you know, opportunities for artists like myself. you know, a lot of us are just independent contractors. you know, like some of these tech workers. and so, you know, you have to know how--you have to be talented, but you also have to be business savvy, you have to know how to manage a project, manage a budget. you know, like delegate tasks to the right people. because i'm not a construction person, you know? i can't install like, you know, massive pieces of tile into a bus--you know, bus stop or something. damian: so, i've got to ask you this, though.

with your contract with samsung, what'd you do with the million dollars? sam: oh, i wish, i wish, yeah. no, i mean it--you know, it's definitely--you know, it's good, but it gets spread really thin in this-- when you're living here in this valley. damian: you have to do a lot of different projects, yeah. well, thanks so much. let's show your information. if anybody wants to get ahold of sam, there is the web address. for more information, log on, some good stuff in there. thank you so much, good luck. sam: thank you. damian: and thank you to sam. up next here on "comunidad del valle," education and preventing bullying. stay with us.

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on "comunidad del valle." with me from the mount pleasant school district in san jose is elida macarthur, and katie hudson is with the foothill community health center, also in the south bay. welcome to the show. elida macarthur: thank you. damian: talk about the partnership that you have with mount pleasant and foothill, and why that's needed. elida: so, mount pleasant school district, for 5 years we have had a partnership with foothill

and other community agencies. and our goal of partner--having this partnership with the community is to bring the resources to our families and the students that we serve. and particularly, we're really focusing on the social-emotional needs of our students. so, providing counseling services and other service to our students is essential. damian: what are the needs, katie, that you're finding more? what are the children of mount pleasant, what are some of the things that they're seeing that you're helping with? katie hudson: yeah, we see everything from trouble in the classroom academically, to social-emotional problems with peers. there's been an increase in anxiety, and from different trauma in the community. so, the therapists on site are really there to help both with the academic needs and the connection to the school, as well as the social-emotional needs with peers. damian: so, when you see that a child is having problems keeping their grades up, their c minuses or whatnot--i mean,

i don't know if elementary schools keep letter grades anymore, but it's not necessarily that the child is not getting it. maybe there's something else that's happening. katie: yeah, absolutely. damian: and so, how do you collaborate, and how do you know that that is the case? elida: so, with our partnership, we have--also in our site, we look to our site administrators. in addition to that, we have family case managers whose role is really to find the connection to the right resources outside the community. so, if a student is having issues, we looked at talking to the administrator, the teacher, gaining a sense of what's going on, and using our family case managers to make the right connections, and bringing the resources in. damian: now, usually school districts have their own counseling services there, but talk about this unique partnership that you have. elida: the unique partnership is that not just with foothill, but with other agencies, we're able to have counseling services at every single school site. in the past, maybe we've had a counselor who moved from school to school trying to provide services.

but with foothill, it depends on the level of need from the students is the resource that we use. so, sometimes it's a one on one for students, sometimes it's a small group counseling. the partnership with foothill with the what we call friendship camps happens during the breaks. for example, in february, we're having one. we're having a break, we're bringing the students in. the students that need additional help to help facilitate the conversations about how do we address the social needs that they have. so, when they come back in the fall, if they're having an issue with a particular student, that they've get some feedback and support in how do i start the conversation in creating a friendship with a student that i may be having difficulties with? so, it's really providing that one on one, small group additional support beyond the counseling session at the school site. damian: now, it's hard sometimes for those children to step up and say, "i'm being bullied.

i'm being harassed in school." because you don't want to be the snitch. these children don't want--if it's a friend, maybe they don't want that friend to know, "well, i snitched on you." how can kids get over that? katie: well, since we're all licensed and pre-licensed therapists running these programs, running these groups, we do hold the confidentiality of the kids. and so, if a kid kind of confides in us, we can make sure that they're safe, and make sure that they're safe on campus. but we can also hold their confidentiality, which makes them trust us more, and be able to open up about things that might be going on that they're not comfortable talking about. damian: and other times when--and again, a peer sees a child walking. "oh, she's going into the counselor's office. i wonder what's wrong with her." that stigma is there. and i'm sure that you do your due diligence in making sure that they don't feel that way, but you know, as a child, as a third grader, fourth grade, it's difficult for them to be traumatized at school and then seek help. katie: luckily, since we do have the therapist

on site full time, they really have been able to be ingrained into the school culture. they've been able to be present in the classroom. everyone knows who they are, and counseling is actually seen as pretty fun. a lot of the kids will say, "when's it my turn? when's it my turn?" you know, "hey, i want to do," you know. and so luckily there--you know, even though there is that stigma, we've actually been able to overcome some of that in the schools where actually the kids, they want to see the counselor, they want to play the games, play the sand tray, play all the different things that we do with them. damian: can we book you to our news room? because we have a lot of bullying going on in there. elida: and i think part of the partnership also is that our efforts is working with the person who's doing the bullying as well as the victim. so, we work with restorative practices. so again, if we have a student who is doing the bullying, most of the times they're friends with the other students, or they have contact during the day. so, what do we do to help the students start a conversation, and start a relationship, and bring the skills

to both of them? to a victim to stand up and say, "what you just did hurt my feelings," or seeking that help. and they will go out and seek the help of the counselors when they see them on ground, or our family case managers. so, we're trying to get the stigma away is acknowledging that we as, you know, friends or someone that we're in the class, we have a problem, and we're going to see each other every day, let's seek help on how we can remedy our relationship. so, it's really working with both, you know, the victim and the person who is doing the bullying. damian: makes sense. i mean, i guess it's a parent's responsibility as well, make sure that your child isn't the one who's doing the bullying, and that's where it starts. if you'd like more information, it's the mount pleasant school district, and also they have a partnership with the foothill community clinics there in-- damian: good work in the south bay on combating bullying. up next here on "comunidad del valle," we talk immigration.

stay with us.

in your comunidad on que pasa. [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]

damian: and our saludos to those celebrating a special day. [music] damian: and here's our contact information, you can follow me on twitter. my handle is @newsdamian. also pick up a copy of el observador newspaper, and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you once again for sharing a part of your sunday with us on "comunidad del valle." we're going to leave you now with a talk on immigration with the mexican consul general. damian: we're joined here on "comunidad del valle" today with the mexican consul general in san jose. given the fact that the us president just announced some new rules, and so has the mexican president. he's given you some standing orders all the way from mexico city. welcome back to the show. mauricio toussaint is the mexican consul general in san jose. this is the first meeting that we're looking at right here

between donald trump and presidente peña nieto. tell us what orders you've been given from the us embassy in washington dc after the president, mexican president's announcement. mauricio toussaint: from the us embassy in washington? damian: mm-hmm, did they give you any orders as far as what you need to be doing when it comes to the protection of mexican citizens? mauricio: so, the mexican embassy in washington? damian: okay, yes, that's what i mean, i'm sorry. mauricio: well, actually, we have received orders. first, thank you, thank you for inviting me again, damian. it's always a pleasure being with you, and of course with all the people of--from "comunidad del valle." and as i said, we have received direct orders from presidente peña nieto and from the ministry of foreign affairs luis videgaray because this is--we are facing a new--a new era in the relationship between mexico and the united states, and particularly in the--regarding the announcements made within

the campaign, the political campaign, the election campaign, and now some new, through the signing of executive orders, that of course can affect and will impact our mexican community in the united states, which is huge, as you know. and here in california, of course, is one of the most important communities. and the first, the first instruction that we have is that mexican consulates, we have--we are 50 in the united states, and 10 only in california, mexican consulates, we are going to be post for defense for the mexican members of the community. damian: what does that mean, a post for defense? what does that mean? mauricio: well, that means that we are going to first to be

centers of information because we have to, through the whole network and the embassy of mexico in washington, to get all the information precisely and immediately. because you know, there are many, many rumors, but many things are not real. and so, people are scared. people are scared because they don't know, because there's uncertainty. and when things come to be true, so what we have to do is being well-prepared, collecting that information, designing a strategy in order to defend our co-nationals here in the united states. so, this is the first--the first task. the second one is being prepared with directly from the consulates, and through lawyers, consultants, to provide the

people with legal services for following up their cases on immigration issues. so, the president announced two new resources, mil millones de pesos, and that's about $50 million, $1 million for each consulate. and, but we have--we have already funds to finance these legal services that we'll be hiring to protect our co-nationals in case of they could be affected by an immigration measure. damian: well, needless to say, a lot of efforts and changes going on with the duties of the mexican consulate.

we do have some information for you. if you'd like or you know someone who might need the services of the mexican consulate in san jose, there they are, there's their address, their telephone number, and their web address. when you arrived here to our studio today, señor consul, you said, "no holds barred, ask me any questions." and that's what you've been about since you got here, right? openness and let's be frank about it, let's talk about whatever it is that you want to talk about. mauricio: yes, it's the only way to get credibility, speaking really, really frankly. damian: yeah, no, absolutely. now, i mentioned to you again before the camera lights went on is that i have friends who have green cards, and they've been in this country from mexico for 15, 20, 30 years, but they still have the green card. for some reason, they have not decided to take the oath of citizenship. but now they're scared.

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nbc sports, home of the olympic games, the nhl, premier league, the nascar playoffs, and primetime's number one show, sunday night football, only on nbc. welcome to the u.s. bank nbc sports report. >> hi, everyone, paul burmeister in our nbc sports studio. coming up in just a moment, a special on the life and career of the late arnold palmer presented by mastercard. but first a quick update. let's begin with the pga tour. the wgc-mexico championship. what a leaderboard after yesterday's third round. phil mickelson on 1, you've seen this before, from