Florence Crittendon High School students: Standing(l-r), Vanessa Almeida with 3-month-old daughter Jaqui, Serena Gallegos with her 1-year-old son Isaiah, Desiree Hutchison, Jessica Sedillo, Dominique Roberts, Angelica Contreras, Keosomalee Prark and her 2
Photo: TCF
The roots of Día de los Niños (April 30th) began in Latin América as a holiday honoring children and has been adopted by the United States with a variety of festivities that highlight the beauty of children Through The Weekly Issue/El Semanario’s Student Writing Project, we highlight the literary talents of students with their written submissions. This week students from Denver’s Florence Crittendon High School submitted various poems inspired by their children. We applaud the student’s efforts in sharing their genuine love and praise for their children, and their written talents.
For Jaqui
By Vanessa Almeida
For Jaqui
Who eats mommy’s milk and loves watching t.v
Who laughs at awkward noises and funny faces
Cries ma, every time she’s hungry
Cries for attention when she’s alone
Jaqui of the long-soft haired baby and her favorite pink pacifier
Who is learning to rollover
Scared of loud random noises
Scared of scary looking people
Lover of naps, hugs, and kisses
Lover of toys hanging high, and anything lickable
Thanks to you, I can always smile on a bad day
Thanks to you, I have a reason to love life again
Jaqui of the long naps
Who eats mommy’s milk and loves watching t.v
Vanessa Almeida is a freshman at Florence Crittenton High School.
In the Eyes of a Child
By Dalia Apolinar
A child is a free innocent soul, waiting to explore the word.
The park is their jungle, their house like a playground.
A box is their spaceship; thin air is their best friend.
They love yummy cookies and hate yucky cooties.
They look at a mirror and make funny faces,
then eat spaghetti to have saucy faces.
They look under their bed for big scary monsters,
get stories read about fun,
...
Temp agencies, ‘raiteros’ exploit undocumented
Ty Inc. became one of the world's largest manufacturers of stuffed animals thanks to the Beanie Babies craze in the 1990s.
But it has stayed on top partly by using an underworld of labor brokers known as raiteros, who pick up workers from Chicago's street corners and shuttle them to Ty's ...
ASSET Bill: ‘People do believe in humanity’
Moments after Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the ASSET bill at the Student Success Building on the Metropolitan State University Denver campus this week, a beaming President Stephen Jordan went to the microphone and put an exclamation point on an historic event.
“ASSET,” he proclaimed to ...
Citizenship must reflect more humane principles
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) finds the immigration bill introduced last week a modest start on reform, due to provisions that address family unification and workers’ rights and create a narrow path to citizenship for some immigrants. But much of the bill reproduces many of the ...
Communities of color face higher environmental risks
This week we celebrate Earth Day, an international campaign for environmental awareness and protection. While this is a time to celebrate our planet, we are also reminded of the great environmental risks facing communities of color and their resilience to protect both the planet and their ...