Disaster Recovery Grants Project
A Program of The Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy
Final Report, September 2009
Presidio ISD
The objective of this project, as written, was:
- to employ a temporary English Literacy and Civics (EL Civics) program assistant for recruitment purposes to attract students who failed to return to classes after the 2008 September Rio Grande flood. The program projected it would have greater possibility to meet or exceed the EL Civics grant target numbers for 2008-09.
Presidio used the grant to hire a part-time recruitment specialist with an objective to recruit between 25 and 30 students. The grant was not only met that objective, but exceeded the recruitment goal by pre-enrolling 32 students. The grant helped the adult education program at Presidio because they would not have accomplished their enrollment goal without the additional recruitment help supported by the recovery project. Given the isolation of this community and the dire economic situation in which they found themselves after the storm cut off communications with Mexico, the award helped efforts to reach out to displaced students and encourage them to come back to the program.
Presidio requested an extension of the time originally planned to finish their activities in order to use the remaining $540 to pay additional hours for the recruiter to help at the beginning of the new school year.
The Presidio EL Civics program achieved what it had proposed to do; they met all 2008-09 EL Civics grant target numbers and recruited potential 2009-2010 students as well. The EL Civics program was able to impact the Presidio community beyond the classroom in a positive way. Thanks to the Barbara Bush Texas Fund, the Presidio EL Civics program’s future looks brighter than ever.
Presidio EL Civics staff members and teachers Cynthia Obrero and Marijou Paragas shared their experiences, speaking candidly about their fears and desperation during the flood. Both staff members, who live in the teacher complex just south east of town, described how they feared for their families’ safety every time there was a knock at the door. Both the Obrero and Paragas families were evacuated from their homes three times and worried about losing their belongings. “Things were very confusing. Emergency personnel would tell us to go to the shelter, but when we got there the shelter staff would tell us that it was safe to go back home,” explained Paragas. However, both women shared that they felt very lucky to have made Presidio their home away from home. “Many friends, neighbors and strangers offered a lot of help, I knew we were not alone in this” said Paragas. “Actually coming back to work for EL Civics made us see how things would soon be coming back to normal,” stated Obrero.
Other staff members such as Mr. Renee Aguirre had unique stories to tell. Even though Mr. Aguirre was never evacuated from his home, he helped other residents, state and local emergency workers, schoolchildren, and prison inmates fill sandbags during the day; 40,000 of them. Then at night he volunteered at the shelters, setting up cots, serving food, and helping the elderly, all while preparing for his EL Civics class which would soon begin. “I was very optimistic that this would soon pass and that students would certainly return back to class,” said Aguirre.
Student stories had a different perspective. Some students such as Cecilia, Martha, and Antonio shared similar stories of desperation at being trapped in Mexico and unable to return to the United States. They told of a common battle of uneasiness and inconvenience. With help from relief agencies, Presidio ISD was able to charter a bus to bring back stranded residents from Mexico. For most, coming back to Presidio was like a dream come true. Many were relieved that their homes were unscathed. But for one EL Civics student, Cecilia Dixon, her moment of relief took on a different challenge. “My home was literally crumbling all around me. Water had somehow soaked in through the walls and through the roof!” described Cecilia as she looked at her home. Cecilia’s home was affected and says she had nowhere to turn for help, saying, “I had no flood insurance…What would I do? Who could I ask for help?”
Cecilia, along with others affected by the flood, did return to the EL Civics program and was able to find the assistance needed. The opportunity came when the program invited the Presidio mayor to speak to the EL Civics students. “I took the chance to speak when the mayor asked us to share our stories on the flood” she remembers. “I was able to ask and get all the answers I needed.”
In other areas, the Disaster Recovery grant enabled the EL Civics program to create a staff position for the sole purpose of recruitment and getting adult students back to class. A recruitment plan was developed and activities were set in motion. The recruitment plan detailed two overall objectives and eight targeted activities with hopes of meeting the ultimate goal of reaching 2008-2009 grant targets for the program.
