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Campus News - October 15, 2001 |
Mexico City native teaches cultural acceptance to youth
By Laurie Mellas-Ramirez
A
native of Mexico City, Maria Casellas-Kelly shares firsthand knowledge of Latin
America with local youth through her work as education specialist for the UNM
Center for Latin American Resources and Outreach (CLARO).
Its so important to be aware of other cultures. We see that especially
now, unfortunately, she says, acknowledging the recent attacks on America.
You have to start teaching kids to be accepting when they are young.
Funded by the Title VI Higher Education Act, the center is a function of the
UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute (LAII).
The R in CLARO is curriculum guides, videos, recordings, maps and
books available for loan to K-8 teachers and their students. Casellas-Kelly
is the O.
Ive always done outreach for LAII. I was working with the schools
and I saw a greater need. With CLARO, we make a real connection between schools
and UNM. I am a product of the University. I talk to the students as a real
human being who was educated at UNM and is thankful for it. We have so many
programs that are excellent, says Casellas-Kelly, who earned both her
masters and Ph.D. from UNM in Latin American and Iberian history.
Teachers frequently request that she come in as a guest speaker. Casellas-Kelly
may up show up in a classroom to talk about current politics, a typical school
day for Mexican children or how literature and history relate.
Invariably, whatever I plan for the day I never do it because the phone
rings and I hear Can you help
? she says. I like
the human contact and the variety of my job. I dont like to sit behind
a desk all day.
She got her start at UNM as a teaching assistant in the language department
from 1975-'79. She departed to teach at St. Pius X High School, but returned
as a lecturer in 1987. She joined LAII in 1988.
Last May, Casellas-Kelly and Rosario De Santis co-directed the first annual
Ibero-American Poetry Contest for first through fifth graders. Children memorized
and recited poems in Spanish competing for prizes donated by the UNM Bookstore.
The contest helps the children with language and its good for their
self-confidence. Its hard to stand in front of a group and speak
even for adults, she says.
A teacher shared with Casellas-Kelly that for at least one little girl the
trip to UNM was her first venture out of the South Valley.
I like the children to see that there is whole world out there full of
discoveries, she says. I get a lot of satisfaction watching kids
do something different and knowing I contributed to it.
The second annual poetry contest will be held in April at UNM. Spring also marks a return to teaching for Casellas-Kelly. She will offer an undergraduate course on the Spanish Civil War, 1936-'39, through the Honors Program.
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