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(Chatham County)
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In 1987 there were only two Hispanic kids in the Chaham County school system. Today more than 40% of residents in Siler City are Latino. Because the growth in the Latino population has been so rapid, and the local response so divided, Siler City Elementary has enlisted the aide of the Latin American Resource Center. The center works in the classroom and after school, using art as a means to help children express prejudice and as a means of learning about different cultures.
Tensions peaked in February 19 2000, when the school invited former Klansman David Duke to speak at an anti-immigration rally.
From the Program
Randy Johnson
Principal
"People have misconceptions about what goes on here. Sometimes I'll get a little whiff of somebody saying 'so and so' is a trouble maker, and it's a stereotype, and it's out of ignorance because they haven't been there and they don't know."
"When I was in school, we might have three or four reading groups. And we have all that now, but in addition we have the limited-English proficient, and the non-English speaking, and all the other levels. And the teachers have to work around all those challenges everyday, so I think it takes more planning and better planning, and we have to go about it a different way to see how we can reach that child."
"Intelligence doesn't come in a color or race. We just have to reach them where they are and help them along the way."
Aura Camacho Maas
Latin American Resource Center
"What we do is going to be affected by the attitude we have, and attitudes are based on our perceptions."
"It is an opportunity, because in fact I believe that by addressing the needs of the Latin American students and the conflicts of the needs of the larger community that there are solutions that are coming about for every group in the presence of a newer group."
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