Fund for Teachers Grant

     My name is Andrew Pascarella and I received a Fund For Teachers Grant this summer to research Benito Juarez and the Zapotec people.  For over a decade I have taught social studies at Benito Juarez Community Academy, a Chicago Public High School in the Pilsen neighborhood and I am looking forward to sharing what I have learned with my students and reenergizing my teaching!  I have returned to Chicago after my trip and will now organize my photos and videos so I can blog about my the incredible experience made possible by Fund for Teachers.

 **  This is a statue of Benito Juarez at his birthplace in Guelatao in Oaxaca, Mexico.

      Benito Juarez, the first indigenous president of Mexico, is a great role model for my students and the perfect namesake for the school.  Orphaned when he was three years old, Juarez lived in rural and mountainous Guelatao in a traditional Zapotec Community.  When he turned 12 years old he dramatacally changed his world by leaving his village to descend to the big city of Oaxaca.

In addition to leaving a rural world for an urban one, both Benito Juarez and many of my students have had to learn another language to prosper.  Juarez learned Spanish in order to have more leadership opportunities in Mexico.  Over 150 years later my students, mostly recent immigrants, must study English in order to have more opportunities in the United States.

**This is a picture of me in front of a mural in the Governmental Palace of Oaxaca.  You see Benito Juarez and his famous quote, "El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz."  This basically translates to, " the respect for the rights of others is peace."