By Cierra Kaler-Jones

“How many Central Americans can you name?” Caneisha Mills, 8th- grade teacher at Hardy Middle School in Washington, D.C. asked her advisory. During Teach Central America Week, Mills used the remote learning Introduction to Central America lesson template to explore the lives and experiences of Central American figures with students. When Mills asked the question to gain an understanding of what figures students could name, the virtual classroom grew quiet. Students admitted they didn’t know any influential figures. This despite D.C. being one of the top five cities with Central American immigrants.

Mills followed up with the question, “How many Central American countries can you name?” Students could only name one or two countries, so Mills shared a map of Central America to provide a visual of the region. Mills also asked questions to set up the lesson such as,

How many people of Central America origin live in Washington, D.C.?

Why might a Central American choose to migrate to the United States?  

With only twenty minutes in each advisory period, Mills adapted the Introduction to Central America lesson so that students presented their figure to the class, rather than participate in a mixer. Each student was assigned a role, read their figure’s bio, and then they shared what they learned with their classmates over the course of the week. 

Together, Mills and the students discussed misconceptions and stereotypes about Latinx people and culture, which began a dialogue about food, politics, and current events. Students wanted to talk about world issues and made connections to other topics they felt were highly misunderstood in society. For example, students dug into conversation about socialism, mentioning how previously, everything they had heard or seen about socialism posited it as bad or taboo to discuss. They also wanted to talk about the protests in Nicaragua as they related the events to what they learned in the lesson about state-sponsored oppression and violence.

Students asked to learn more about important Central American leaders, artists, and activists. They noted that during Latinx Heritage Month that the culture is celebrated — but not the people. After learning about the different people in the lesson, students said that everyone should know about Ernesto Cardenal. Cardenal was a priest, poet, and activist who worked to overthrow the Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza. His lyrical poetry highlights and details Central American history, his views on politics, and his dedication to love and spirituality. In many ways, he used his literary work as protest. Mills stated that they will be incorporating Cardenal’s poetry into the rest of the academic year’s advisory meetings. 

Mills emphasized the importance of creating space for young people to share their thoughts and opinions, especially about what they are interested in learning,

Students are yearning for knowledge. Sometimes we have to throw the curriculum to the side and actually listen to children and what they say they want to know. They have lots of things they want to share, they’re just waiting for someone to ask them.  

Interactive lessons, such as the Central America mixer, open up opportunities to hear directly from students about the connections they’re making and what they’d like to learn more about. For Caneisha’s students, it was poems like the ones below by Cardenal that spoke to their hearts. 

From “Nicaraguan Canto”

Ernesto Cardenal

This is the land of which I sing.

Hoarsely, like the guardabarranco

which at a distance sounds just like cattle lowing,

he builds his nest in holes in rocky canyon walls.

And like the cheerful güis in Nicaragua’s parks and orchards

the cierto-güis which keeps reaping CIERTO-GUIS

or like the guas in Chinandega and Chontales

which sings in the dry fields, announcing rain

thus too my song . . . .

And like the “lion bird” (or cocoroco) a lonely fellow

which sings in anguish to announce a puma.

And like the “clock bird” singing out the hours

or the Atlantic “sun bird” saying that dawn is here

thus do I sing. . . .

And I sing like the bird they call “swamp-snorter”

(because it snorts in marshes and in swamps)

but also clearly, like zanates bugling

zanatillo zanatillo

the bird of the oppressed--

or like the “creaker” (grating in damp woods)

or like the ché-ché of the northern hills (guerilla hills)

which sings CHE-CHE CHE-CHE CHE-CHE

And like the “happy bird” whose song means FEELING JOY

The poet’s voice sings FEELING-JOY

JOY JOY

And I am also like the sad cocoyo at twilight

so sadly singing SCREW-THEE-TOO

or tecolotes (owls with enormous spectacles)

which hoot among the ruins.

Cierra Kaler-Jones is the Education Anew Fellow with Communities for Just Schools Fund and Teaching for Change. She is also a Ph.D. candidate at University of Maryland, College Park studying minority and urban education.