Informed & Inspired

Tasha Irianto says it’s the little moments she’s missed the most. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Diego State University teaching credential student went months without seeing her second graders outside of a Zoom window. 

In honor of Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, two San Diego State University College of Education faculty members and alumnae share their personal memories of Chavez and the movement he led. Dr. Lupe Holguin Buell ('85, ’02) is single-subject coordinator and Sheila Solórzano ('77, '78) is bilingual credential program supervisor in the Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education.

At a time when COVID-19 restrictions have ground non-essential border traffic to a halt, San Diego State University is using an innovative virtual approach to continue offering its bilingual teacher credential candidates an immersive global experience.

In our latest installment of COE Stories, meet lecturer Dr. Griselda Palma and student Yuting Qiao from San Diego State University's new Mandarin teaching credential program. Learn how the creation of the program honors a promise Palma made 15 years ago. Video by Ian Ordonio.

Across California, school districts are scrambling to fill a severe shortage of bilingual educators to keep up with the growing numbers of English learners in the classroom. The need in rural communities is particularly acute. As a result, many schools have turned to teachers with only bachelor’s degrees and “emergency credentials” — one-year permits typically given to substitutes — to fill in the gaps. 

A few months ago, Amber Riehman (’14, ’15, ’20) found herself listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “All, Here, Now” speech. King — speaking in 1966 at the height of the Civil Rights movement — warned against what he called “gradualism,” asserting: “We want all of our rights, we want them here, and we want them now.” For Riehman, those words made an impact.

As a young undergraduate student at the University of Texas-El Paso, Dr. Alberto Esquinca made a daily trek across a bridge spanning the concrete banks of the Rio Grande. The journey provided him safe passage beyond the imposing border fence — the physical representation of the century and a half of geopolitics that separated his family’s home in Ciudad Juarez from the opportunity he sought in the United States.

Two San Diego State University College of Education faculty members were among seven local women named to the 2020 class of the San Diego County Women’s Hall of Fame. Dr. Nola Butler-Byrd (’99, ’04), associate professor in counseling and school psychology and director of SDSU’s Community-Based Block (CBB), was honored in the Empowerer of Women category. Dr. Lupe Holguin Buell (’85, ’02), lecturer and program coordinator in dual-language education, was named in the Bridge Builder of Multicultural Understanding category. They will be honored on March 15.

San Diego State University has been honored by a Latinx education and policy consortium for its success in meeting community needs for bilingual educators.