Chatham Community Library presents ‘K-12: Tracing the Latino Experience in Chatham County Schools’

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PITTSBORO — In conjunction with the Chatham 250 celebration, Chatham Community Library will host a virtual lecture by Dr. Virginia Cárdenas, retired educator with Chatham County Schools.

The program — titled “K-12: Tracing the Latino Experience in Chatham County Schools ­— The Personal Journey of a Latina Educator,” will be held virtually from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 25. A question-and-answer session will follow the lecture. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required and is available at: https://tinyurl.com/CCL-Cardenas. The event is part of a series of discussions chronicling the history of communities of color in Chatham County.

Dr. Cárdenas will take the audience on a journey through her personal walk as a Latina teacher, principal and administrator of public schools. She will describe the experience of the first Latino students in Chatham County, who were members of a family recruited by the poultry industry. They were placed in the same classroom, because only one teacher in Siler City spoke Spanish at that time.

Dr. Cárdenas will discuss retrospectively how Chatham County Schools worked to address the needs of an unexpected influx of students by creating partnerships with other county agencies. She will tell of the successes, the failures, the barriers to equivalent education, and the lessons learned allowing Chatham and other counties to improve educational opportunities for Latino students.

Dr. Cárdenas began her career as a teacher in Chatham County Schools, and she later served as the director of the Magnet School Assistance Program for the Wake County Public School System. As a teacher, principal and school administrator, Dr. Cárdenas has worked to provide all children with a quality education that lays the foundation for success and global citizenship.

She holds a master’s degree in school administration and a doctoral degree in school leadership from UNC-Chapel Hill. She is the chairperson of UNC’s Alumni Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, and former Chair of the ACRED Latina/o subcommittee.

Residents may visit the libraries’ website, www.chathamlibraries.org, or contact the Library at (919) 545-8084 or rita.vanduinen@chathamlibraries.org for more information.