The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues

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Archive for December 2015

A Chicago public school teacher's 2015 blog highlights

Since May 2011, the White Rhino Blog has remained an independent voice regarding education and Latino issues.  I started this blog around 3:00 a.m. one weekday morning because I, like many Chicago Public Schools teachers, felt voiceless when it came to issues that directly affect my profession and my culture.  I’ve been called a “wildcard”... Read more »

By Ray Salazar, NBCT,
December 29, 2015 at 1:25 pm • 

Chicago Public Schools students organize lunch boycott Thursday, Dec. 17

Chicago Public Schools students’ complaints about the crappy Aramark lunches have gotten national attention.  Roosevelt High School students, with the guidance of teacher Tim Meegan, started a civics project–The School Lunch Project–to communicate the poor quality of school lunches. These civics students are calling for a citywide lunch boycott on Thursday, December 17 to pressure... Read more »

By Ray Salazar, NBCT,
December 16, 2015 at 9:47 am • 

On Our Lady of Guadalupe: Faith, Feminism, and Fatherhood

This Saturday, December 12, Mexican Catholics celebrate one of the most important holidays of the year–the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Worshipers sing mañanitas, songs of praise early in the morning, and buy roses in her name.   These celebrations commemorate the day she appeared to Juan Diego on Mexico’s City Tepeyac Hill in... Read more »

By Ray Salazar, NBCT,
December 10, 2015 at 10:22 pm • 

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• About the Blogger

  Since 1995, Ray has been a public school English teacher in Chicago.

  In 2017, thanks to a former student, Ray received a Distinguished Secondary Teacher Award from Northwestern University.

  In March 2013, The White Rhino tied for second place in the Best Blog category of the Education Writers Association's national writing contest.

  Ray earned an M.A. in Writing, with distinction, and a B.A. in English and Secondary Education from DePaul University. He's been a National Board Certified Teacher for over ten years.

  He graduated from a neighborhood Chicago public high school.

  His writing aired on National Public Radio and Chicago Public Radio many times. His editorials appeared in the Chicago Tribune and on CNN's Schools of Thought blog, as well as on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' Web site. He's also written articles for NPR's Latino USA, Latino Rebels, and NewsTaco.

  Ray is also a powerlifter and an aspiring guitarist.

  For thirty years, Ray lived in Chicago's 26th Street neighborhood. Today, he lives a little more south and a little more west in the city with his wife, son, and daughter.

  Photo credit: Rocky Jara: Rocky JPhoto on Facebook

• The Blog’s Title

  This comes from a conversation with another Latino English teacher when we met a few years ago. He said I was the only other Latino English teacher he knew: "We're white rhinos."

  According to National Geographic, there are about 20,000 southern white rhinos struggling to survive in the wild.

  The last male northern white rhino in the world died in March.

  Like the animal, Latino English teachers exist in low numbers. And we know the low number of Latinos with college degrees in our city.

  Therefore, I have a perspective that, like the white rhino, must fight to exist. The writing here includes my responses, reflections, reactions to Latino- and education-related issues.

• Recent posts

  • Talking to our immigrant parents about living wills and last wishes »

    Ray Salazar, NBCT on The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues
    Posted May 25, 2021 at 2:34 pm

  • We can't talk about Adam Toledo without talking about 7th grade »

    Ray Salazar, NBCT on The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues
    Posted April 27, 2021 at 5:23 am

  • Chicago Public Schools student overcomes social anxiety by playing guitar »

    Ray Salazar, NBCT on The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues
    Posted April 26, 2021 at 9:09 am

  • Chicago public school teacher discusses creating socially just and academically challenging classrooms »

    Ray Salazar, NBCT on The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues
    Posted April 6, 2021 at 8:47 am

  • Chicago Public Schools needs to switch to a year-round calendar this fall »

    Ray Salazar, NBCT on The White Rhino: A Blog about Education and Latino Issues
    Posted March 21, 2021 at 12:06 pm

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