Imagine that your student at the U of A calls and says, “we met (professional athlete --insert your favorite’s name here) today!” You might be impressed and think, “Wow, pretty neat.”
Now imagine that your child attends a highly focused charter school, and comes home saying, “We spoke to the President of the United States on a conference call today.” How many dishes would you drop? Well, that’s exactly what happened to students at TIA’s Midvale campus.
It began with their teacher,
Mr. Basurto, who taught his students that they could make a difference.
Congressman Raul Grijalva comes to school to speak and answer questions
One of the school’s students wrote a letter about how her father had been deported. Her family had been in the United States for many years; then one day her father up and vanished (picked up by ICE). This young student simply told her story and wanted to know why the United States would take parents away from their kids. Her teacher,
Mr. Basurto, touched by her story, sent it to Congressman Raul Grijalva. Also moved by the letter, the congressman agreed to come to the school to speak and answer questions.
“The whole school was so thrilled. ‘Oh my gosh, he’s actually here!’ Everyone was so excited--no one talked; they just listened,” said one student after the visit from the congressman.
Congressman Grijalva’s message to the students was simple, yet powerful. “You students keep proving the quality of the education you are receiving. Over and over again you out-perform many of the larger schools.”
One student after the event exclaimed, “Being able to ask questions… it was empowering to know that we can make a difference.”
TIA Students Speak with the President of the United States!
For the past two years, these super-charged TIA students have been writing the White House about social and policy issues they feel have a great impact on their lives… They have been noticed! On several occasions, they have conducted conference calls with the congressmen at the Capitol about the Dream Act, to make sure the Dream Act would make a difference for people in Tucson. This spring, however, they had a conference call with President Obama. True story. As you can imagine, it was not a long conversation, but he was careful to encourage the students to apply themselves and to be the kind of Americans that will make us all proud.
TIA is doing something simple, yet profound--TIA is creating world changers!
One of the teachers observed, “I don’t know about you, but when I was in high school, as is the case with most teens these days, my greatest concern was getting a high score on my video game!” That is not the case for these TIA students. Inspired by their amazing and caring teaching staff, they are learning that they can make a difference. TIA is doing something simple, yet profound--TIA is creating world changers!
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