|
Maria's Story
Maria Christina Torres was born in Los Bordos, a slum in Ecatepec de Morelos, deemed one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico where at least 600 women have been murdered since 2012. It is located just half-an- hour from the capital. Much of Los Bordos has no running water or electricity, few schools, and fewer hospitals. Most young children attend primary school where only half of the students who begin primary education finish and 7 out 10 teens do not understand what they read or know how to multiply. Only 62 percent reach secondary school of which 45 percent graduate in contrast to about 75 percent of U.S. students who graduate from high school on time with a regular diploma. The public education system remains one of the most arduous challenges that Mexico, the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, faces. Mexico falls to last place in the Pisa report (Program for International Student Assessment) on education. *** Maria was in the sixth grade when she emigrated from Mexico to the United States with her mother and younger sister. Maria’s parents were divorced, and she had little contact with her father. The Torres family moved in with Maria’s aunt, who had come to the United States from Mexico ten years earlier and lived in a two-bedroom apartment in rural western Texas. As a little girl in Mexico, Maria’s nickname had been Luna, which is the Spanish word for moon. She had dreamt of one day travelling into space and maybe even visiting the moon. |
Maria Christina Torres
|
|
|
Interact with Maria in Chapter 3
"Making Instruction Accessible Through Culturally Responsive Teaching" |
