This was the tweet I sent during my visit to the White House last week. That's exactly how I felt. Being in a room with over 60 of the top Latina bloggers in the country while speaking to representatives of the executive branch was beautiful and powerful.
LATISM, the largest non-profit organization for Latinos in Social Media, in partnership with Latina Bloggers Connect organized the event. We gathered in Washington, D.C. last week to participate in a business retreat and visit the White House for a briefing on education and health.
After listening to a panel in which Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Associate Director of Latino Affairs and Immigration; Alejandra Ceja, Chief of Staff, Office of the Under Secretary, Deparment of Education; Lisa Pino, Deputy Administrator, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Deparment of Agriculture; and Marissa Duswalt, Associate Director for Policy and Events, Let's Move Initiative, shared with us about the White House's latest initiatives on education and health, they opened up the microphone for questions.
And, of course, you know me, I was the first to the microphone to talk to them about a few of my concerns, namely:
- Overcrowded elementary school classrooms
- Excessive testing in classrooms
- Loss of music, art, and physical education classes
- Nutritional choices in elementary school lunches
Judging from the response from my sister blogueras, I wasn't the only one concerned. They were especially vocal in their support when I mentioned the excessive testing in elementary classrooms.
What do you think? Are you having the same concerns?
After an extensive Q&A session, the panelist let us know there is a lot of great information available now on many of the issues and concerns we have at the following websites:
- College Affordability: https://wh.gov/double
- Education Civil Rights: Know your Rights (English) | Recursos de la Oficina Para Derechos Civiles (en Español)
- Health Care: Healthcare.gov (English) | Cuidadodesalud.gov (en Español)
- Nutrition: www.myplate.gov (English) | Mi Plato (en Español)
- Fixing Our Broken Immigration System: President’s Blueprint on Immigration Reform (English) | (en Español)
- The Hamilton Project Speech by Cecilia Muñoz: watch video here | text of remarks (English) | text of remarks (en Español)
And you can also read the White House experiences of other bloggers here.
If you had the opportunity to talk to someone at the White House, what would you ask?
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