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How To Be An Effective
Ally
CREATING A CULTURE OF SUPPORT
FOR UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS IN
YOUR HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNITY
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Presenters
 Jane
Slater- Sequoia High School, Redwood City
 Itzel
Díaz- Sequoia High School, Redwood City
 María
Fernández- John W. Gardner Center for Youth
and their Communities, Stanford University
 Sheryl
Muñoz-Bergman- International Institute of
the Bay Area
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Agenda

Connecting with your undocumented population

Differentiating students’ views of their documentation status

Recognizing your school’s culture with respect to
undocumented students

Creating a supportive school culture

Starting a club

Fundraising

Partnering with community groups
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Connecting with Your Undocumented
Population

Range of time in country

Family members with different status

Estimated numbers of undocumented people by county:

47,298 in San
Mateo County
39,045 in San
Francisco
146,208 in Santa
Clara County
11,769 in Marin
County
102,268 in
Alameda
County
58,663 in Contra
Costa County
Assume that there is at least one undocumented student in each of
your classes
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Differentiating students’ views of
their documentation status
 Students’ understanding
varies:
 Those who know status and advocate for selves
 Those who don’t know…find out filling out FAFSA
or other applications
 Those whose parents want them to hide it
 Those who see no hope & have given up
 Those who just think things will work out
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Recognizing your school’s culture with
respect to undocumented students
What Students See and Hear


Positive
 Staff publicly addresses
issue
 DREAM club
 Available resources
 Staff attempting to speak
students’ native language
Negative
 The issue is avoided
 Negative comments
 Staff lacks knowledge
What Staff Should See and Hear








Topics related to undocumented
students on staff meeting
agendas
Student presentations to staff
Legal expert visits/ guest
speakers
Visible info for AB540 students
Posted scholarships not requiring
SSN (Naviance)
Go-to people on staff. Public
allies you can send students to.
Public conversations (with
students & staff) about different
immigration status
Respect for confidentiality
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Starting a Club
1.
Get the students there
2.
Enlist staff allies
3.
Have specific projects to work on (short term goal
momentum)
4.
Develop long-term goals
5.
Develop students’ leadership abilities within the club
6.
Publicize
7.
Connect to community resources
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Sequoia High School Dream Club:
Get Students There
 Invite
students personally
 Include
documented students
 Encourage
 Present
members to bring friend(s)
to classes
 Announce
in daily bulletin
 Collaborate
with counselors
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Sequoia High School Dream Club:
Enlist Staff Allies
 Gain
administration support
 Present
yourself as a resource to staff on these
issues
 Use
your personal connections on staff
 Connect
with staff who can share their knowledge,
time & resources
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Sequoia High School Dream Club:
Make long- and short-term goals

Annual Event

Presentations at Middle Schools

Presentations to parents

Participation at community events
 San Mateo County Youth Conference, Teens In Action
Community Showcase

Fundraising for Scholarships

Political Activism
 Rally in support of Dream Act, postcard campaign on Back To
School Night
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Sequoia High School Dream Club:
Make the Club Visible

Posters

Yearbook page

T-shirts

School newspaper

San Mateo Daily Journal

Staff presentations

Facebook
P
A
G
E
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Y
E
A
R
B
O
O
K
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Sequoia High School Dream Club:
Fundraising Ideas

Host events

Sell products

Wedding/birthday gifts

Church Groups

Work with other school
groups

Ask for donations from
staff and personal
network
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Sequoia High School Dream Club:
Connect to Community Resources

Immigrant Youth Action
Team

Sequoia High School

Redwood City 2020


International Institute of the
Bay Area

Cañada College student
group and Upward Bound
Redwood City Public
Library

Peninsula Conflict
Resolution Center

Fair Oaks Community
Center

Sequoia District Migrant
Youth Program

Boys and Girls Club of the
Peninsula

Alumni
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Partnering with Community Groups
Benefits of Building Community
Partnerships:
 Partners
and supporters who share your mission,
work with same population, and can spread your
message
 More
resources (financial and in-kind) to help
grow and expand your current efforts
A
greater network of individual allies, mentors
and partners who build meaningful relationships
and experiences with undocumented youth
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Broadening your Community
Partnerships

Who in your community shares your mission or serves
undocumented youth in some way?

What are they already doing that can contribute to your
efforts?

When can you get together and learn about each
others’ work and learn how you can both benefit?

Where can these partners experience what you’re
doing and see the impact their potential contribution
can make?

How will you make concrete commitments for working
together?
The Community Youth Development
Initiative’s
Immigrant Youth Action Team
Presents/Presenta:
Making Dreams Come
True:
The Time is Now!
Logrando hacer sueños
realidad:
Hoy es el momento!
11.18.11
Sequoia High School
Redwood City, CA
Who We Are
Formed in the summer of 2010, the Immigrant Youth Action Team is
comprised of youth and adults working to increase the visibility, actions
of, and resources for our immigrant youth.
This team is part of Redwood City 2020’s Community Youth Development
Initiative, a collaboration of nearly 40 organizations that work to support
the children, youth and families of the Redwood City and North Fair Oaks
community. We invite you to join us!

Program/Programa
6:00 – 6:30 pm Arrival, Activities, Dinner and Raffle Ticket Sale
Llegada, Actividades, Cena y Compra de Boletos de Rifa
6:30 – 7:00 pm Welcome and Purpose
Bienvenida y Propósito
Itzel Díaz & Lilly Campos
Quienes Somos
Formado en el verano del 2010, el Equipo de Acción de la Juventud
Inmigrante está compuesto de jóvenes y adultos que trabajan para
aumentar la visibilidad, las acciones, y los recursos para nuestros jóvenes
inmigrantes.
Este equipo forma parte de la Iniciativa para el Desarrollo Comunitario y
Juvenil de Redwood City 2020, una colaboración de casi 40
organizaciones que trabajan para apoyar a los niños, jóvenes y familias
en la comunidad de Redwood City y North Fair Oaks. Los invitamos a que
nos
acompañen.
Join is in these activities as
you arrive!
Acompáñenos en estas
actividades al llegar
•Dream Wall / Pared de Sueños
•Resource Table / Mesa de Recursos
•Sequoia Dream Club Table/Mesa de Sequoia Dream Club
Student Photo Silent Auction / Subasta de fotografías
Special Message/Mensaje Especial
Alicia Aguirre, Vice Mayor/Vice Alcalde, Redwood City
Recognition/Reconocimiento
Gabriel Arteaga, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s Office
About/Acerca del: Sequoia Dream Club
Roberto Pablo Pimienta
7:00 – 8:00 pm
Dramatic Re-enactments /Obras Dramaticas
Names of youth actors here?
Personal Stories / Historias Personales
Yaritza, Yessica, and Jesús
Digital Stories / Historias Digitales
Valeria, Alexis, Rossmeri, Itzel, Javier
8:00 – 8:10 pm How You Can Support/Como Puede Apoyarnos
Jane Slater, Dream Club Scholarship Founder,
Fundadora de la Beca Dream Club
Magali Molina, Becario Anterior
8:10 – 8:20 pm
Acknowledgements and Raffle!
Reconocimientos y Rifa!
•elaboradas por los estudiantes
•Buy your raffle tickets/ Compre boletos de rifa
•Dinner! / Cena!
8:20 – 8:30 pm
Closing/Cierre
We invite you to take information from the resource table home with you.
Los invitamos a que lleven la información de la mesa de recursos a casa.
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Creating a Supportive School
Culture
 What
can you do as part of your every day
behaviors to make all students feel safe?
 Think
of one undocumented student with whom
you work. What is one concrete thing you can do
as his or her ally to show your support?
CONTACT
US
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 Jane
Slater- Sequoia High School, Redwood City
jslater@seq.org
 Itzel Díaz- Sequoia High School, Redwood City
idiazbuild09@gmail.com
 María Fernández- John W. Gardner Center for Youth
and their Communities, Stanford University
mafernandez@stanford.edu
 Sheryl Muñoz-Bergman- International Institute of the
Bay Area
smbergman@iibayarea.org
 Websites:
http://www.rwc2020.org/
http://gardnercenter.stanford.edu/
http://www.iibayarea.org/