Hector Cash This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. feature

   www.oyetu.com/education/articl - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/3/2006   Last Visited: 11/3/2007

   Hector Cash's life spiraled downward after his father's murder in 1992 in El Salvador's civil war. "I was on the wrong highway heading for the wrong place," says the 24-year-old about the life he led before moving to Oregon.
   
   Cash left his native El Salvador to live with various relatives in Puerto Rico, then Hawaii, California and New York. By the time he moved to Eugene to live with his older brother in 1996, Cash had been expelled from high school and was hanging out with "the wrong crowds. . . . I was crying out for help, but no one would hear me," he recalls.
   
   Cash enrolled in classes at Lane Community College in 1997, after completing the high school equivalency program at the University of Oregon. He credits Lane for providing him with "the tools for a better future . . . The school helped me to know what I wanted to do in my heart."
   
   Connie Mesquita, Lane's Multi-Cultural Center coordinator, remembers Cash as daunting - a tall figure wearing a hair net, guarded and private in demeanor.
   ...
   Sylvie Florendo, Lane's Spanish tutoring lab supervisor, recognized that Cash was "self-motivated and a self-initiator."
   ...
   The students' candid questions didn't intimidate Cash in the least. "I'm their friend and what they're struggling with I can relate to," he says. The fact that Cash has dealt with many difficult and tragic issues was not lost on the students, half of whom are immigrants, Garcia notes.
   
   Cash also helped the students learn about their ethnic histories through the creation of an eclectic mural, 5 feet by 13 feet, which depicted historical and cultural icons from Mexico, South America and Central America. "The students got to know each other personally through the project," he says proudly. "Many have stayed friends."
   
   " People like Hector, and the Rites of Passage program, . . . . validate what the students are feeling in the schools," says Garcia, who worked alongside Cash during the Puertas Abiertas kick-off last summer. " People like Hector, and the Rites of Passage program, . . . . validate what the students are feeling in the schools," says Garcia, who worked alongside Cash during the Puertas Abiertas kick-off last summer.
   ...
   After earning his degree this spring, Cash accepted a position as the Latino programs coordinator and bilingual instructional assistant at 4J's Madison Middle School, where he is responsible for organizing and advising the Latino Student Club and serving as liaison between the school and its families.
   
   Eventually, Cash would like to teach high school, but for now he's satisfied knowing he's on the right course, heading for the right place.

2. 2. feature

   www.oyetu.com/education/column - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/3/2006   Last Visited: 11/3/2007

   Hector Cash's life spiraled downward after his father's murder in 1992 in El Salvador's civil war. "I was on the wrong highway heading for the wrong place," says the 24-year-old about the life he led before moving to Oregon.
   
   Cash left his native El Salvador to live with various relatives in Puerto Rico, then Hawaii, California and New York. By the time he moved to Eugene to live with his older brother in 1996, Cash had been expelled from high school and was hanging out with "the wrong crowds. . . . I was crying out for help, but no one would hear me," he recalls.
   
   Cash enrolled in classes at Lane Community College in 1997, after completing the high school equivalency program at the University of Oregon. He credits Lane for providing him with "the tools for a better future . . . The school helped me to know what I wanted to do in my heart."
   
   Connie Mesquita, Lane's Multi-Cultural Center coordinator, remembers Cash as daunting - a tall figure wearing a hair net, guarded and private in demeanor.
   ...
   Sylvie Florendo, Lane's Spanish tutoring lab supervisor, recognized that Cash was "self-motivated and a self-initiator."
   ...
   The students' candid questions didn't intimidate Cash in the least. "I'm their friend and what they're struggling with I can relate to," he says. The fact that Cash has dealt with many difficult and tragic issues was not lost on the students, half of whom are immigrants, Garcia notes.
   
   Cash also helped the students learn about their ethnic histories through the creation of an eclectic mural, 5 feet by 13 feet, which depicted historical and cultural icons from Mexico, South America and Central America. "The students got to know each other personally through the project," he says proudly. "Many have stayed friends."
   
   " People like Hector, and the Rites of Passage program, . . . . validate what the students are feeling in the schools," says Garcia, who worked alongside Cash during the Puertas Abiertas kick-off last summer. " People like Hector, and the Rites of Passage program, . . . . validate what the students are feeling in the schools," says Garcia, who worked alongside Cash during the Puertas Abiertas kick-off last summer.
   ...
   After earning his degree this spring, Cash accepted a position as the Latino programs coordinator and bilingual instructional assistant at 4J's Madison Middle School, where he is responsible for organizing and advising the Latino Student Club and serving as liaison between the school and its families.
   
   Eventually, Cash would like to teach high school, but for now he's satisfied knowing he's on the right course, heading for the right place.