By Anna Welch
For the Camera

This year David Almarez found a new outlet for self-expression. As a shy, eighth grader, Almarez had never felt comfortable performing in front of people or getting involved in school programs or activities. Yet as Almarez moves across the dance floor acting out his intense emotions, he expresses himself without fear of the audience.

"I've learned a lot about myself," said Almarez, 14. "I'm not someone who ever really gets involved with anything, but I'm learning a lot and having fun with my friends. Now I'm more comfortable performing in front of other people."

Through an organization called PAN (Poets and Actors Networking), Almarez and 25 Latino Casey Middle School students express themselves through dance, poetry and acting while developing leadership skills and confidence. Each week during the school year PAN students, age 11-14, meet for workshops held at Casey Middle School and work on hip-hop and poetry. Once a month, PAN holds an open-mike, Young Poets and Actors Night, in which kids can perform in front of an audience.

"This program works to integrate the Latino community into the public sphere," said Cecilia Valenzuela, the PAN director who is also working toward her master's degree in bilingual education at the University of Colorado. "There is a certain degree of invisibility among this population in Boulder. In our program we have these Latino students who are not traditionally in showcases around Boulder but who are doing the same things and have the same talent. They just need the venues open to them."

In Spanish "pan" means bread, and according to Valenzuela, like bread, this organization is needed within the community. "PAN is a means of feeding one another through self-expression," she said.

Valenzuela and Dana Walker, associate director of PAN, began the organization a year ago because they saw a need for more after-school programs for middle school Latino students. Middle school students struggle with personal identity and need a positive outlet for expression, Walker said. As they developed the organization, they gained funding primarily from CU grant money as well as local private family donations.

During the workshops, Valenzuela and Walker bring in local artists, such as hip-hop dancers and poets, to mentor the kids. "We are really networking and trying to mobilize the artists and social activists who are already out there working in the community," Walker said.

Poet and educator Lalo Delgado has been teaching kids for the past 50 years and loves working with PAN students. "I came from Mexico without a word of English when I was just about the same age as these kids," Delgado said. "They can relate to me and also see me as a role model. I am someone who is successful even though, just like them, I came here and had to borrow the English language."

The workshops also teach students contemporary forms of expression not often taught in traditional classrooms, Walker said. Many students like to break dance or draw graffiti and can express that interest with PAN. During the workshops, they learn about the history of the numerous art forms, as well as the various ways to perform the art.

"We include hip-hop music, graffiti and other nontraditional art forms because they are important to the students," Valenzuela said. "The music the kids are listening to is poetry. It's about social change."

Sandra Ortega, 13, a seventh grader at Casey Middle School enjoys learning about the history of graffiti. "I love doing graffiti, and I get to do my art here," Ortega said. "I'm trying to learn more about the art, and I can't learn it in my classes because if anyone sees it they'll get mad and think I'll do it on buildings and stuff."

PAN students perform in different venues depending on the month. They have performed at places such as La Estrellita, which has now changed owners, San Lazaro Park Properties, 5505 Valmont and Casa Alvarez, 3161 Walnut. However, participation in the performances is not obligatory, Walker said.

"We like to move around because we feel it generates more of a consciousness when people see students reading poems in Spanish or English and writing their own poetry," Valenzuela said. "We want to generate that interest and moving around gets more people involved."

This year, PAN students also worked with CATV, Channel 54, learning how to use video cameras and editing equipment. Valenzuela and Walker hope to integrate this component into a summer program for the students. "We want to take what we are doing now and add a media component so that they can air their poetry and other art forms," Valenzuela said. Valenzuela and Walker would also like to see the students take the cameras into their communities and address some of the issues there.

"These kids are living between two worlds. Most of them speak both Spanish and English and must constantly switch back and forth," Walker said. "The kids feel comfortable here because they know they are among friends. We are opening new doors for them and looking at things differently."

May 15, 2001

E-mail this story to a friend | Printer-friendly version