Causes: Charter Schools, Education

Mission: Yectequiyotl Ce centetl ce xinaxtli, Ce centetl ce tocani En cada uno una semilla, de cada uno un sembrador Each one a seed, each one a seed planter Mission Semillas strives to provide a strong foundation for future generations through a powerful education so they become conscious, whole and capable individuals that can guide with ancestral clarity for the coming seven generations. Misión Semillas se esfuerza en proveer una fundación firme para las generaciones futuras a través de una educación poderosa que genera seres íntegros, conscientes y capaces de guiar con claridad ancestral a las próximas siete generaciones.

Results: Semillas has successfully developed and implemented a curriculum in Nahuatl language and indigenous culture that includes pedagogy, methodologies, mathematics, social practices and instructional materials. This repertoire has been shared with Native educators across the continent and has been seen as an innovative paradigm for Native schooling internationally. Educators in Mexico as well as in Native American communities in the United States have called on Semillas for professional exchange including the Agradable Compromiso in Mexico City and the proposed Native American Charter School Association in New Mexico. Although Los Angeles is the city with the largest population of Indigenous People, Semillas is the only school in LAUSD that teaches a Native American language, Nahuatl being the largest spoken indigenous language of the Americas. Our students learn to think in Nahuatl, study Native Mexican mathematics, and practice Indigenous visual and performing arts through our program. The instruction of this mother language motivates students from disadvantaged families in East Los Angeles to strive for intellectual rigor, as it is a culturally relevant practice, instilling honor in the students.

Target demographics: indigenous communities | higher learning

Geographic areas served: Los Angeles

Programs: Operation of a california public charter school. The mission of the semillas sociedad civil is to provide urban children of immigrant native families an excellent education founded upon the own language, cultural values, and global realities through public education to fulfill its commitment to justice, freedom, and dignity in education. Semillas sociedad civil's vision emphasizes a student centered school society that cultivates academic excellence, talents, humanistic ethics, positive culture, and social consciousness for students and their parents.