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| Kim Whealy acts as adviser to the CTA-sponsored program. |
On Mondays when school ends, a group of McFarland High School students visit Kim Whealy’s classroom to talk about the future and about making the world a better place. Their plan is to become teachers — or perhaps counselors, school psychologists or speech therapists.
Whealy likes to think that students such as these will help overcome a huge shortage predicted in the next few years. She serves as advisor to them in Club Ed, an activity originated by CTA several years ago to interest young people — especially minority students — in education careers.
“Most of us are Hispanic and don’t get a lot of school help from our parents, who are farm workers,” says Olivia Gonzalez. “But here we learn and grow and help others.”
Whealy, a history teacher and member of the McFarland Teachers Association (MTA), started the club six years ago at the encouragement of her chapter president. She accepted the challenge because she saw the need —especially in her own school site 26 miles outside of Bakersfield.
“They haven’t been able to keep a steady staff of teachers out here,” says Whealy. “People come here, get their two years’ worth of teaching experience and then move on. Some want to work in a district closer to home and some leave for better pay.”
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| (left to right): McFarland High School students Dalila Navarette, Jessica Brandt and Miguel Rios discuss their motivations for joining Club Ed |
Whealy also accepted the challenge as a means of encouraging Latino students to consider careers in public education.
“Students need to have teachers who reflect their community,” she says. “They need to see college-educated people from their community. It says so on the Club Ed posters. And it’s true in our district, where schools have a population of 33 to 50 percent English language learners.”
Many club members have eagerly embraced the challenge to become role models for other students in McFarland.
“It’s important to me, because a lot of people think that as a Mexican American, I will drop out,” says Miguel Rios, the only male in the club. “As for college, I want them to know that if I can do it, they can do it. That will prove it’s not about where you’re from — it’s about who you are.”
Club Ed members have become active members of their community, providing a month’s worth of food for a struggling family, running a canned food drive for the community resource center and making blankets for elementary school children in need. This year they will participate in Read Across America with local MTA members.
They also visit local colleges with Whealy, who also runs the school’s AVID program, to learn about scholarships and programs for becoming educators, such as one at CSU-Bakersfield where they can earn a credential in four years rather than five.
For some of the students living in the impoverished rural community that lacks such amenities as a movie theater and bowling alley, Club Ed provides a window on the outside world and the opportunity to glimpse all the possibilities it holds. Most of her students have never been to a musical, and Whealy is planning to take them to see Wicked in Los Angeles.
“I want to expose them to the outside world so they will be less intimidated when they do go off to school,” says Whealy. “I want them less afraid to experience things outside of this tight-knit community. I want them to see what’s available so they can have choices. And they always have the choice to come back here with a college education.”
Many of her students’ families are fearful of letting them go, and Whealy tries to reassure parents that their offspring will benefit from educational opportunities away from home.
Most Club Ed members plan to teach elementary school. Others want to teach at the secondary level or become counselors, school psychologists and special education teachers. A common goal they share, however, is improving the lives of others.
“I really want to make a difference,” says Stacy Cervantes. “I want to be that teacher that the kids always remember.”
Club Ed in a Box kits with instructions for starting a new chapter on your campus are available through CTA Human Rights/Community Outreach. For more information, contact Gail Watts, (650) 552- 5346.
Sherry Posnick-Goodwin
