La Comunidad is a professional development model that I developed for teachers of limited cultural, linguistic, and experiential proficiency of Black and Latino Students. Being Latino in America should not mean being stuck in a binary where one is forced to choose a side. As with African Americans, it is important that Latinos in America understand that they are a very diverse group of people. As an English teacher of many Latino students, it is important to convey that I am responsible for their academic, linguistic, social, and overall development when they enter the classroom. Many of my Latino students are bilingual and I see that as a GOOD thing. Most of my Latino students were born right here in America, therefore the anachronistic notion of telling people to "go back to your own country" is truly sad. African Americans know all too well about this kind of talk. Hopefully, our Latino brothers and sisters will learn from our history and avoid some of the backlash and missteps that we had to face in order to get to where we are today.

[An Aside: Obama 2012, Si se puede]

As a way to improve their academic, social, linguistic and overall development, I use strategies that I think are best practices for Latino Students. All teachers must make a better effort at gaining clarity on the assets that Latino students possess. For example, a key strategy of the La Comunidad professional development model, is making sure Latino students are exposed to successful, positive people who share a similar history, language, and culture. The photos included in this iReport were taken during the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Latinos. My students were able to participate in a community conversation led by Juan Sepulveda, the director of the White House initiative. They were very impressed with Mr. Sepulveda's willingness to spend extra time with them as they shared their dreams of someday attending college and helping their communities. Perhaps one of these young men will become the first Latino president of the United States of America. Oh, wouldn't it be lovely.