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Professor Manuel Hernández
Essays Collection


Email: mannyh32@puertoricans.com Website http://www.geocities.com/mannyh32/ or
http://www.editorialplazamayor.com/autores/manuel_hernandez.htm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/latinoliterature (Yahoogroup for the discussion of literature and education)
For additional:
HC-O1, Box 8552, Luquillo, Puerto Rico 00773
or e-mail. mannyh32@puertoricans.com
Dec 6, 2007 -New Book Presentation - The Birth of a Rican - By Manuel Hernandez-Carmona

Latino/a Literature Seminars

Manuel Hernandez has given seminars on how to integrate Latino/a Literature in the English Classroom in cities across the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico. He is willing to visit your school, community center, corporation and institution and share his view on this new literature. The literature can serve as a bridge for further literary analysis and can help students improve their scores on city, national and state testing requirements.
(Click here for curriculum vitae)

Beyond Sheer Trends: Latino Education: By Manuel Hernandez

There is no doubt about the Latino influence in the United States, but its presence is mostly visible in the world of music and entertainment. Latino actors, actresses and mega-star singers have knocked on doors, entered the house and moved in to stay. With more Latino politicians in Office throughout U.S. cities and Congress than never before, the 21st century promises to open new gates of opportunity for the largest minority in the United States. But the social, financial, educational and even spiritual development of the Latino community depends on its vision and its ability to go beyond sheer trends.

In the past, the educational system failed to meet the diversified demands and unique academic interests of American Latinos; this worked against those who wanted to follow the footsteps of a few megastars and politicians who became successful in a house closed to them before. These doors opened because of their commitment to hard work, perseverance and education. In the present, there has been a lot of commitment to information and planning but less commitment to action and results. How can these doors remain open if education serves a community that grows in number but diminishes in knowledge?

Trends in music are sometimes sudden and unexpected, but changes in education and the core curriculum require much more than sheer trends. Research, scholarly study and scientifically supported evidence are all required to convince those who have the keys to go beyond sheer trends and make things happen. Let us be specific and spearheaded about strategies in which to improve academic standards for Latinos. The current educational standards need to be revised and enhanced with vision and knowledge on how to improve interest in reading, writing and math. The new SAT will have three sections: reading, writing and math. These changes will encourage educational influences in the core curriculum across the United States that will without a doubt affect the education of Latinos and other American teens as well.

The five states with the largest Latino population deliver about two-thirds of the electoral votes to win the U.S. presidency. This influence has not been taken for granted by politicians on all blocks of the neighborhood. With that kind of influence, Latinos can and will rise above sheer trends and will devise a plan to improve the education of their children. The better educated a community is the more influence it will surely have in all rooms in the house. This week marks the forty-second anniversary of the ?I Have a Dream Speech? by Martin Luther King. It all starts with a dream and develops into a vision which will undoubtedly produce a higher quality of education for Latino

Manuel Hernandez, a contributing columnist to HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com), lives in Puerto Rico where he teaches school. He has a B.A. and MA Teaching English. He is candidate for a PhD. He has just published a textbook titled, Latino/a Literature in The English Classroom (Editorial Plaza Mayor, 2003). For more information, e-mail him at mannyh32@puertoricans.com For school orders, go to www.editorialplazamayor.com for more information or call 787-764-0455 For a complete bibliography: email me at mannyh32@puertoricans.com