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El Centro, Inc.: A Kansas City Nonprofit's Four Decades of Youth Educational Programming

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Title: El Centro, Inc.: A Kansas City Nonprofit's Four Decades of Youth Educational Programming
Language: English
Authors: La Faver, Leah S.
Source: American Educational History Journal. 2023 50(1):123-139.
Availability: IAP - Information Age Publishing, Inc. P.O. Box 79049, Charlotte, NC 28271-7047. Tel: 704-752-9125; Fax: 704-752-9113; e-mail: infoage@infoagepub.com; Web site: http://www.infoagepub.com/american-educational-history-journal.html
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 17
Publication Date: 2023
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Descriptors: Nonprofit Organizations, Youth Programs, Migrants, Migrant Education, Child Care Centers, Migrant Children, Migrant Programs, Spanish Speaking, Local History, Educational History
Geographic Terms: Kansas (Kansas City), Missouri (Kansas City)
ISSN: 1535-0584
Abstract: This article examines the history of youth educational programming at a Kansas City nonprofit called El Centro, Inc. Youth educational programming has been a focal point of El Centro's programming throughout its history. It is a part of a larger historical research study that investigated the forty-seven-year history of the organization. The social, political, legal, and economic contexts surrounding the organization's journey were investigated and are touched on in this article. Susan Kenny Stevens' Lifecycle Model was used to organize the larger study and, subsequently, this smaller piece of El Centro's history follows the same chronological sequence. The study was largely based on document analysis in evidencing the story and included oral histories to supplement the written documentation. This article in particular provides a broad overview of three major programs in youth education that grew over 40 plus years: the Migrant Education Program, the Students as Teachers Program, and ultimately the Academy for Children at El Centro, Inc. Consolidating this story in one place and for others to read highlights the untold successes of El Centro and recognizes the community it serves.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2023
Access URL: https://www.infoagepub.com/products/American-Educational-History-Journal-vol-50
Accession Number: EJ1403197
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0172261281;3ao01jan.23;2023Sep25.06:29;v2.2.500</anid> <jsection id="AN0172261281-1"> GOLDEN MEMORIES PART I</jsection> <et id="AN0172261281-2">ARTICLES </et> <title id="AN0172261281-3">EL CENTRO, INC.: A Kansas City Nonprofit’s Four Decades of Youth Educational Programming </title> <p>In the summer of 2015, I was hired to teach a dual-language, Spanish-English summer enrichment class to elementary-aged children in Wyandotte County, Kansas. The job was at an organization called El Centro, Inc., at their Academy for Children (AFC). Most students spoke Spanish as their first language, and most parents spoke only Spanish. At the time, I had no idea that I was a part of an organization that had been serving the Spanish-speaking community since the 1970s.</p> <p>This article examines the history of youth educational programming at a Kansas City nonprofit called El Centro, Inc. Youth educational programming has been a focal point of El Centro’s programming throughout its history. It is a part of a larger historical research study that investigated the forty-seven-year history of the organization. The larger historical research study examined the history of the organization from its origins in 1972 until 2019, with a focus on educational programming in the areas of youth services, adult education, advocacy, health, and economic empowerment. The social, political, legal, and economic contexts surrounding the organization’s journey were also investigated and are touched on in this article. Susan Kenny Stevens’ Lifecycle Model was used to organize the larger study and, subsequently, this smaller piece of El Centro’s history follows the same chronological sequence. The study was largely based on document analysis in evidencing the story and included oral histories to supplement the written documentation.</p> <p>While educational programming is only one facet of El Centro’s services, it has been a focus of the organization since its inception. At its beginning, educational programming was rooted in educating the Spanish-speaking community, and in particular migrant farmworkers, on quality-of-life services available to them (Truitt 1977). The organization also educated the community on Catholic doctrine through outreach religious services in Spanish (Chávez Ortiz 2016). These programs would lead to the development of the Migrant Education Program, the Students as Teachers Program, and ultimately the Academy for Children at El Centro, Inc.</p> <p>The history of El Centro provides an example of how an organization moves through the stages of Kenny Stevens’ Lifecycle Model. This study is also important to the organization itself. It documents in one place the history of this organization. This article in particular provides a broad overview of three major programs in youth education that grew over 40 plus years. Consolidating this story in one place and for others to read highlights the untold successes of El Centro and recognizes the community it serves.</p> <p>The larger historical research study on which this article stems was organized according to the nonprofit Lifecycle Model by Kenny Stevens (2001). The Lifecycle Model allowed the study to follow a chronological sequence in telling El Centro’s history. In her book Nonprofit Lifecycles: Stage-based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity, Kenny Stevens introduces an approach for understanding where an organization is developmentally with respect to its organizational capacity (2001). Kenny Stevens’ model presents seven stages through which a nonprofit can pass: the Idea Stage, the Start-Up Stage, the Growth Stage, the Maturity Stage, the Decline Stage, the Turnaround Stage, and the Terminal Stage (2001). At each of these stages, Kenny Stevens explains what is normal for the five different capacity builders (2001). This information is a diagnostic tool for understanding where a nonprofit is in its development, which can guide decision-making. Characteristics of the five capacity builders, which are programs, management, governance, financial resources, and administrative systems, determine the stage of a -nonprofit within the Lifecycle Model (2001). In using the Lifecycle Model, I analyzed the degree to which the organization’s capacity builders were “normal” for each stage of a non-profit (2001). Figure 7.1 shows an image from Kenny Steven’s book Nonprofit Lifecycles: Stage-based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity, which shows the seven nonprofit lifecycle stages and the five capacity builders from her model (2001).</p> <p>While this model was used throughout the larger study in discussing the organization’s transitions through the different stages of the lifecycle, in this article the stages are only referenced as they relate to the three major youth education programs, the Migrant Education Program, the Students as Teachers Program, and the Academy for Children. Like the larger study, however, this article does examine the history of El Centro’s educational programming in chronological order, thus following the sequence of the stages.</p> <p>Historical research studies are dependent on sources; sources serve as evidence of the past, especially sources in the form of “documents, images, artifacts, and other tangible remnants on which we [historians] rely to know what happened and what it meant.” (Schrag 2021, 101). This study uses primary and secondary sources, which take the form of text, audio recordings, visual and artistic representations, and oral histories. W.H. McDowell (2021) succinctly explains the importance of sources to historical research: “The sources provide the raw material with which to reconstruct past events”. I relied heavily on document analysis for concrete evidence of El Centro’s past and conducted oral histories to include a human perspective of its history.</p> <p>El Centro’s history began with the societal need for such an organization to emerge. In the early 1900s, circular migration, in which men would leave Mexico for months at a time to work in the United States, was common in Kansas City (Laird 1975). From 1900 to 1920, Mexican immigrants came to the twin cities of Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri for three reasons: male laborers came to work on the railroads for temporary periods of time and immigrants fleeing the Mexican Revolution sought refuge in the area (Laird 1975).</p> <p>Source: Kenny Stevens (2001).</p> <p>According to Judith Fincher Laird, in her work “Argentine, Kansas: The Evolution of a Mexican-American Community, 1905–1940,” documents show that Mexicans came to Argentine, the neighborhood in which El Centro was located, at least as early as 1905 as track laborers for the Santa Fe Railroad (Laird 1975). Migration patterns followed the railroad and became a foundation for a labor distribution network of Mexican immigrants well after the early 1900s (Laird 1975).</p> <p>These early trends in immigration and social conditions led to a prominent Mexican community that also faced racism and discrimination by the Anglo society surrounding it. Segregation from the Anglo community permeated all aspects of Mexican life in Kansas City, including segregation in church and in educational institutions (Revenaugh & Fletcher 2008). In the 1920s, the United States experienced what Revenaugh and Fletcher refer to as “an intense resurgence of American nativism” that was “characterized by racism” (Revenaugh & Fletcher 2008, 17).</p> <p>In the 1950s, in response to this ongoing racism and discrimination by Anglo-Europeans towards the Latino community, the Chicano Movement was born and continued well into the 1990s (Revenaugh & Fletcher 2008, 21). It was this movement, this fight against discriminatory practices and racist attitudes towards the Latino population, that brought El Centro’s founding father, a bilingual priest from San Antonio, Texas, to Kansas in 1971 (Father Gaitán 2016).</p> <p>As Leonard David Ortiz discusses the various publications that covered Kansas City’s Chicano Movement, he explains that the publications brought up equity issues in education, such as obstacles keeping Chicanos from attending college (Ortiz 1999, 236). He also includes assertions by Kansas City’s West High School’s Vice Principal at the time that Chicanos were not guaranteed the right to education, that they were viewed as unable to learn, and were segregated into classrooms where learning was much more basic than others (Ortiz 1999, 236).</p> <p>On September 16, 1969, Chicano youth at West High School in Kansas City, Missouri staged a walkout (Ortiz 1999, 229). Their demands included “the implementation of Mexican-American culture-oriented curriculum changes and bilingual classes” (Ortiz 1999, 229). Figure 7.2 is the cover page to Ortiz’ article: It depicts the Chicano Student Walkout at West High School in Kansas City on September 16, 1969 (Ortiz 1999, 228).</p> <p>It was these conditions of prejudice against Mexicans and Mexican Americans, and the fight against it, that brought Father Gaitán to Topeka, Kansas in 1971 (Father Gaitán 2016). In November of 1976 Father Gaitán established the organization El Centro de Servicios para Hispanos in Wyandotte County on a “temporary basis” (Truitt 1977). El Centro, at its founding, was closely related to another organization that opened in 1972 in Topeka, Kansas. Although this Topeka organization was the inspiration for the founding of El Centro de Servicios Para Hispanos in Wyandotte County in 1976 (Chávez Ortiz 2016), the elements of organizational capacity for the latter were characteristic of a nonprofit at its idea stage. It was not directly a part of the Topeka organization, but because it was inspired by it, I must honor and include the initial relationship between these organizations.</p> <p>Given these close ties of the two organizations, it is understandable that the vision for El Centro in Wyandotte County was based on providing similar programs to those offered in Topeka (Father Gaitán 2016). Because of this, insight into the types of programs intended for the Wyandotte County organization can be gleaned from programming that already existed at the Topeka organization. Types of programs at the Topeka organization at the inception of the Wyandotte County organization can be seen in Figure 7.3, which shows the Annual Application of Funds Report for July 1976–June 1977 for El Centro de Servicios Para Mexicanos in Topeka, Kansas (Annual Application 1976–1977).</p> <p>Source: Ortiz (1999).</p> <p>This document revealed that educational programming and migrant services were a part of the Wyandotte County vision inspired by the Topeka organization (Annual Application 1976– 1977). This programming would later become the Migrant Education Program for youth. The excerpt shown in Figure 7.4, from the Wyandotte County organization’s January 17, 1977, board minutes, prior to the organization’s official opening, also shows the initial focus on youth educational programming that blossomed into a multitude of educational programming throughout El Centro’s history (Board Minutes 1977).</p> <p>Source: (Annual Application 1976–1977).</p> <p>Source: Board Minutes (January 17, 1977).</p> <p>El Centro transitioned from its idea stage to its start-up stage when it officially opened as a permanent organization on February 6, 1977 (Truitt 1977). Programming was minimal and vague at first, but over time, as El Centro began to fully engage in a stage of growth, the bilingual, education-based programs touched on in the start-up stage came to fruition. In the mid- 1980s, the organization focused on developing programs that served migrant youth (“Migrant Education: Cultural and Academic Enrichment” 2001). In 1982, board minutes showed that a separate bank account had been opened for Migrant Education (Board of Directors Minutes 1982). The rationale for opening a distinct account was to “carefully document” the amount of money spent and how it was spent “in order to justify” their funding from the United Way (Board of Directors Minutes 1982). The account set aside for the MEP was set to receive $6,000.00 (Board of Directors Minutes 1982). By 1985, the MEP was receiving $40,000.00 from the Kansas State Department of Education (Board Minutes 1985). Figure 7.5 is an article in El Centro’s publication, La Cultura, which highlighted that the program was a bilingual program directly serving students from the Wyandotte County USD 500 School District (Migrant Education 2001). It also documented that the program was still thriving and addressing the educational needs of migrant children in the early 2000s (Migrant Education 2001).</p> <p>Source: “Migrant Education: Cultural and Academic Enrichment” (2001).</p> <p>By 1989, El Centro had expanded the MEP to including a literacy program for children who needed “special instruction and instruction taught in a non-traditional manner” (Board Minutes 1989). Figure 7.6 is a photo of the section from the January 10, 1989, board minutes that discussed the specifics of the program (Board Minutes 1989). In analyzing this document, it appeared that the literacy program had not been previously available to students who spoke only Spanish, and that the new literacy program made it possible to include such students because it was implemented through the MEP (Board Minutes 1989). This was one way that El Centro addressed the inequalities in education suffered by limited English-speaking students whose native language was Spanish, an issue acknowledged in 1969 by the Chicano Movement in Kansas City, Kansas during the late 1960s (Ortiz 1999).</p> <p>Source: Board Meeting Minutes (January 10, 1989).</p> <p>During the 1980s, programming at El Centro had expanded from four programs prior to 1980 to eight programs by 1986. With the growth of these programs, El Centro’s executive director and board of directors saw the need for a larger office space (Statement of Growth & Need 1986). In addition, the purchase of a larger space that was not affiliated with the Catholic Church was also fueled in part by the growth of El Centro’s Migrant Education Program. In 1986 the state decided it would no longer fund the Migrant Education Program since El Centro was housed on Church property (Ruiz 2022). To resolve this issue, and because El Centro was expanding, by 1989 El Centro had moved into its new building in Argentine (El Centro Success Story Plus for KCK 1988).</p> <p>By 1992, the Migrant Education Program served 151 students (Mailer/ Pamphlet Programming Summary 1992). In addition, a new program, called Students as Teachers, began in 1990 (Board Minutes 1990). This program connected high school students with grade school students for tutoring, and by 1992 had 186 participants (Mailer/Pamphlet Programming Summary 1992). Figure 7.7 shows a high school girl tutoring an elementary school student in 1994 as a part of the Students as Teachers Program (Students as Teachers Photo, 1994).</p> <p>Source: Students as Teachers Photo (1994).</p> <p>In her recorded interview with Dr. Chávez in 2016, Sister Matilda discussed her role in, and Mr. Ruiz’s reasoning for, starting the Migrant Education Program, the Keyboards to Success Program, and a Day Care program:</p> <p>The State then had inquired about starting a migrant education program. Evidently the public schools didn’t think they had enough migrants to start a migrant program in their schools, and we were approached about starting an educational program and Richard jumped at the chance and he asked us about directing it … the children loved it, and not only did the children love it, the other children that were not migrant workers wanted to come also and of course we needed to stay by the guidelines that the State was giving us so we couldn’t accept just anybody and everybody so we had to categorize them as migrants and so on. So then Richard had the bright idea of starting a second tutorial program and that was called Students as Teachers. So I became kind of like the educational director for the different educational programs that were started at El Centro (Sister Matilda Jaime 2016).</p> <p>The Academy for Children was also expanding during this time. The program began as a daycare center in 1989 and ultimately became a dual-language preschool (Mailer/Pamphlet Programming Summary 1992, 2). By 1992, the AFC served 104 students (Mailer/Pamphlet Programming Summary 1992). The following description of the AFC from the 1992 programming summary pamphlet demonstrated its growth from a day care into a bilingual preschool:</p> <p>The Academy for Children educates boys and girls as a bi-lingual, bi-cultural day care center. The children become familiar and comfortable with English and Spanish while learning to appreciate each person’s background and to take pride in their own heritage (Mailer/Pamphlet Programming Summary 1992).</p> <p>By 2008, the AFC celebrated forty-four pre-kindergarten students (The Academy for Children Graduation 2008). The article shown in Figure 7.9 documented that the AFC had a focus on literacy, a bilingual curriculum, and addressed the needs of English Language Learners (The Academy for Children Graduation 2008).</p> <p>Source: Academy for Children Pamphlet (undated).</p> <p>Source: “The Academy for Children Graduation” (2008).</p> <p>The document also evidenced the support and education for teachers in implementing an effective literacy curriculum through professional coaching (The Academy for Children Graduation 2008). Further, the article provided information on a research project that began in 2008 and terminated in May 2010, which studied the effects of the AFC’s dual-language literacy curriculum on enhancing literacy in students’ native languages (The Academy for Children Graduation 2008). The goals of the research were included: “Once the research is complete, El Centro hopes to continue to address the early literacy issues which impact our student’s educational future by implementing a universal curriculum that focuses on English Language Learners” (The Academy for Children Graduation 2008). The cost of attending the AFC in 2008 was $120.00 per week, with the possibility of a scholarship (The Academy for Children Graduation 2008).</p> <p>In 2007, Ms. Mary Lou Jaramillo became the president and CEO of El Centro in 2007 (Bollig 2007). Ms. Jaramillo addressed the additional challenges brought by external forces on the AFC with respect to increased standards (Jaramillo 2022). She also explained El Centro’s response to meet these demands, and the resulting growth of the AFC that ensued (Jaramillo 2022).</p> <p>To meet state demands, El Centro, under Ms. Jaramillo’s leadership, partnered with Penn Valley Community College to help the AFC teachers attain the credentials they needed for accreditation (Jaramillo 2022). Further, in 2008, the Kauffman Fund awarded El Centro’s Academy for Children a $100,000.00 capacity grant “to upgrade staff, training, and curriculum” (Focus on Education 2009). This grant signaled growth for the organization and again provided evidence that El Centro was showing signs of maturity as community partners trusted the organization to be a responsible and effective steward of a significant amount of money.</p> <p>Even though there were challenges brought by the demand for increased standards in early childhood education, El Centro’s response in meeting that challenge paid off. By 2009, El Centro’s Academy for Children had achieved accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (Focus on Education 2009). Through an accredited, dual-language preschool, El Centro was addressing a community need through the AFC: in 2009, “one-third of all USD 500 students in Kansas City, KS are[were] Hispanic, the future need for this specialized programming is[was] enormous” (Focus on Education 2009). El Centro’s publication of the article “Focus on Education” also explained in 2009:</p> <p>Recent statistics indicate that 67% of mothers with preschoolers work outside the home. Working parents are challenged to find daycare arrangements for their children that are safe, consistent, and educational. However, even lower income parents can ensure their children get a strong start El Centro’s Academy for Children fills an important gap in the community for creating school readiness, particularly for ELL students (Focus on Education 2009).</p> <p>The Academy for Children continued to grow under the leadership of Geralyn Sosinski, a director renowned for implementing a high-quality Spanish-English curriculum (Nash & Sosinski 2016). Documented in board minutes, Ms. Sosinski described multiple areas of recent growth that had occurred at the AFC, including funding, community partnerships, programming, and enrollment (Presentation—Meeting our Mission 2013). The excerpt below documents this growth in detail:</p> <p>Geralyn explained that AFC is a part of SPARK grant, a partnership with School District and other agencies to ensure school readiness. During the summer teachers worked for 4 weeks with the 1st student teacher from KU’s masters in early childhood special education program and the afterschool program was a success with the maximum of 15 students. Enrollment on the first day of school was 53 and expecting increased enrollment over the next few weeks including Head Start. Geralyn said the AFC is “best kept secret in Kansas City.” She believes that AFC is on the cutting edge of early bilingual education. (Presentation—Meeting our Mission 2013).</p> <p>This commitment to a high-quality, dual-language program was also documented in a chapter titled “Leadership in a Dual-Language Preschool” from the book Courageous Leadership in Early Childhood Education published in 2016 (Nash & Sosinski 2016). In this chapter, Ms. Sosinski, the director for the Academy at the time, is applauded for her implementation of a bilingual curriculum at the Academy. She is pictured in Figure 7.10 (Nash & Sosinski 2016).</p> <p>Source: Nash & Sosinski (2016).</p> <p>Source: Academy for Children Graduation Ceremony Invitation (2017).</p> <p>Figure 7.11 shows an invitation to the 2017 graduation ceremony for the Academy for Children (Academy for Children Graduation Ceremony Invitation 2017).</p> <p>In 2018, three business plans were developed, one of which involved, according to Mrs. Irene Caudillo, the President and CEO of El Centro at the time, “researching dual language, early childhood education (Caudillo 2022). Ms. Caudillo also highlighted the importance of children’s educational programming as a part of what she perceives as the future priorities of El Centro, “What I would say, as I think about the future, … early childhood education is one that I would keep … that we’re going to keep our eye on (Irene Caudillo Oral History 2022).</p> <p>Since its inception to present day, youth educational programming has been a dominant focus of El Centro’s programming. Dominant programs that emerged and grew over the years were the Migrant Education Program, the Students as Teachers Program, and the Academy for Children. Through these educational services, El Centro has been meeting this particular need for youth education specific to the Spanish-speaking community for over forty years.</p> <p>REFERENCES</p> <p>Academy for Children Graduation Ceremony Invitation. Located under June tab in binder titled “Board of Directors Meeting, July 2016–June 2017,” in El Centro Vault at Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.</p> <p>Academy for Children Pamphlet. Freda Mendez–Smith Collection, LaBudde Special Collections, Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri-Kansas City.</p> <p>Annual Application of Funds Report for July 1976–June 1977 for El Centro of Topeka. Located in binder titled “Board Minutes 1976–02/1979,” in El Centro Vault at Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.</p> <p>Board of Directors Minutes, February 9, 1982. Located in binder titled “Board of Directors, Meeting Minutes 1982–1985,” in El Centro Vault at Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.</p> <p>Board of Directors Minutes, February 12, 1985. Located in binder titled “Board of Directors, Meeting Minutes, 1982–1985” in El Centro Vault at Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.</p> <p>Board Minutes, January 17, 1977. Located in binder titled “Board Minutes 1976– 2/5/1979,” in El Centro Vault at Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.</p> <p>Board Minutes, January 10, 1989. Located in binder titled “Board of Directors, Meeting Minutes 1988–1989” in El Centro Vault at Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.</p> <p>Board Minutes, October 1990. Located in binder titled “Board of Directors: Meeting Minutes 1989–1990,” in El Centro Vault at Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.</p> <p>Bollig, Joe. “New El Centro Leader Draws on Roots and Looks to Future.” The Leaven 28, no. 33 (March 30, 2007): 5. Reproduction located on wall of El Centro Administrative Office, Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101. Author’s photo, July 25, 2022.</p> <p>Caudillo, Irene. Oral History, in conversation with Leah La Faver, October 11, 2022.</p> <p>Chávez Ortiz, Ed.D., Genovevo Teodoro (Gene T.). 2016. “El Centro, Inc.: Meeting the Needs of the Mexican American Community.” [Informal, unpublished summary.] “El Centro Success Story Plus for KCK.” Kansas City Kansan, May 31, 1988. Freda Mendez-Smith Collection, LaBudde Special Collections, Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri-Kansas City.</p> <p>“Father Gaitán 40th 2016 Voice” (Recording). Interview by Dr. Genovevo Teodoro Chávez Ortiz, conducted on September 24, 2016, via telephone.</p> <p>“Focus on Education.” La Oportunidad: Preparing Children, Protecting Families, and Building Opportunities, 2 no. 2 (Spring/Summer 2009): 1. Located in untitled binder, 7/20086/2009.</p> <p>Jaramillo, Mary Lou. Oral History, in conversation with Leah La Faver via Zoom, October 6, 2022.</p> <p>Kenny Stevens, Susan. 2001. Nonprofit Lifecycles: Stage-Based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity.Long Lake, MN: Stagewise Enterprises.</p> <p>Laird, Judith Fincher. 1975. “Argentine, Kansas: The Evolution of a Mexican-American Community, 1905–1940.” Ph.D. diss., University of Kansas. https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/15701.</p> <p>Mailer/Pamphlet Programming Summary, 1992. LaBudde Special Collections, Freda Mendez-Smith Collection, Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri-Kansas City.</p> <p>McDowell, W. H. 2021. Historical Research: A Guide for Writers of Dissertations, Theses, Articles and Books. London: Routledge, Kindle edition.</p> <p>“Migrant Education: Cultural and Academic Enrichment.” La Cultura 1, no. 2 (Autumn 2001). Freda Mendez-Smith Collection, LaBudde Special Collections, Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri-Kansas City.</p> <p>Nash, Kindel, and Geralyn Sosinski. 2016. “Leadership in a Dual-Language Community Preschool: Small Steps toward Creating an Assets-Based Program.” In Courageous Leadership in Early Childhood Education: Taking a Stand for Social Justice, edited by Mariana Souto-Manning, Susi Ling, and Vivian María Vasquez, 45–56. New York: Teachers College Press.</p> <p>Ortiz, Leonard David. 1999. “La Voz De La Gente: Chicano Activist Publications in the Kansas City Area, 1968–1989.” Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains 22, no. 3 (Sept. 1999): 228–44. EBSCOhost. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=31h&AN=46011727&site=eds-live&scope=site.</p> <p>“Presentation—Meeting our Mission.” El Centro Board of Directors Meeting, August 13, 2013.</p> <p>Located in untitled binder, 7/2013–6/2014, in El Centro Vault at Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.</p> <p>Revenaugh, Nicole, and Anna Fletcher. 2008. “Mexican-Americans in Kansas City.”</p> <p>In Immigration History of Mexican-Americans in Kansas City, edited by Ruth Kauffmann, 1–56 (English version), 1–60 (Spanish version). Liberty, MO: William Jewell College.</p> <p>Ruiz, Richard. Oral History, in conversation with Leah La Faver, October 8, 2022.</p> <p>Schrag, Zachary M. 2021. The Princeton Guide to Historical Research. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.</p> <p>“Sister. Matilda Jaime 40th 2016 Voice” (Recording). Interview by Dr. Chávez, conducted on September 24, 2016, via telephone. Statement of Growth & Need. April 1986. Located in binder titled “Board of Directors: Meeting Minutes 1985–1986,” in El Centro Vault at Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.</p> <p>Students as Teachers Photo. 1994 BowlAThon Flyer. Freda Mendez-Smith Collection, LaBudde Special Collections, Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri-Kansas City.</p> <p>“The Academy for Children Graduation.” El Centro, Inc.: Since 1976, September 2008. Located in untitled binder, 7/2008–6/2009.</p> <p>Truitt, Rosaline. 1977. “Archbishop Blesses New Spanish Center.” The Kansas City Times, February 7, 1977, 5A. Located in binder titled “Board Minutes 1976– 02/1979,” in El Centro Vault at Richard A. Ruiz Administrative and Services Building, 650 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.1. Lifecycle Model: Stages with Capacity Builders</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.2. Chicano Walkout, West High School, Kansas City, 1969.</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.3. The Annual Application of Funds Report</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.4. Educational Focus</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.5. MEP for Youth</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.6. Migrant Education Literacy Program</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.7. Students as Teachers Photo</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.8a. Academy for Children Pamphlet (continued on next page)</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.8b. Academy for Children Pamphlet</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.9. “The Academy for Children Graduation, 2008”</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.10. Geralyn Sosinski at the AFC</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 7.11. AFC Graduation</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR)</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR)</p> <aug> <p>By Leah S. La Faver</p> </aug>
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  Data: El Centro, Inc.: A Kansas City Nonprofit's Four Decades of Youth Educational Programming
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22La+Faver%2C+Leah+S%2E%22">La Faver, Leah S.</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22American+Educational+History+Journal%22"><i>American Educational History Journal</i></searchLink>. 2023 50(1):123-139.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: IAP - Information Age Publishing, Inc. P.O. Box 79049, Charlotte, NC 28271-7047. Tel: 704-752-9125; Fax: 704-752-9113; e-mail: infoage@infoagepub.com; Web site: http://www.infoagepub.com/american-educational-history-journal.html
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 17
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2023
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Descriptive
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nonprofit+Organizations%22">Nonprofit Organizations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Youth+Programs%22">Youth Programs</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Migrants%22">Migrants</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Migrant+Education%22">Migrant Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Child+Care+Centers%22">Child Care Centers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Migrant+Children%22">Migrant Children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Migrant+Programs%22">Migrant Programs</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Spanish+Speaking%22">Spanish Speaking</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Local+History%22">Local History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+History%22">Educational History</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Kansas+%28Kansas+City%29%22">Kansas (Kansas City)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Missouri+%28Kansas+City%29%22">Missouri (Kansas City)</searchLink>
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 1535-0584
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This article examines the history of youth educational programming at a Kansas City nonprofit called El Centro, Inc. Youth educational programming has been a focal point of El Centro's programming throughout its history. It is a part of a larger historical research study that investigated the forty-seven-year history of the organization. The social, political, legal, and economic contexts surrounding the organization's journey were investigated and are touched on in this article. Susan Kenny Stevens' Lifecycle Model was used to organize the larger study and, subsequently, this smaller piece of El Centro's history follows the same chronological sequence. The study was largely based on document analysis in evidencing the story and included oral histories to supplement the written documentation. This article in particular provides a broad overview of three major programs in youth education that grew over 40 plus years: the Migrant Education Program, the Students as Teachers Program, and ultimately the Academy for Children at El Centro, Inc. Consolidating this story in one place and for others to read highlights the untold successes of El Centro and recognizes the community it serves.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: ERIC
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2023
– Name: URL
  Label: Access URL
  Group: URL
  Data: <link linkTarget="URL" linkTerm="https://www.infoagepub.com/products/American-Educational-History-Journal-vol-50" linkWindow="_blank">https://www.infoagepub.com/products/American-Educational-History-Journal-vol-50</link>
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1403197
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1403197
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 17
        StartPage: 123
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Nonprofit Organizations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Youth Programs
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Migrants
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Migrant Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Child Care Centers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Migrant Children
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Migrant Programs
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Spanish Speaking
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Local History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Kansas (Kansas City)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Missouri (Kansas City)
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: El Centro, Inc.: A Kansas City Nonprofit's Four Decades of Youth Educational Programming
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              Y: 2023
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