Interview with Juan Robledo, Project Analysts with Healthy SBCSS

This month focus will be an interview with Juan Robledo project analysts with Healthy SBCSS San Bernardino County Superintendent Schools 

Transcript

 Don  00:05

Hello, my name is Don English Director of Children Deserve Success and Executive Director of the San Bernardino County Wide Gangs and Drugs Task Force. And I want to welcome you to our Children Deserve Success Podcast. Monthly we will be sending out these recordings regarding all things related to child welfare and attendance, School Attendance Review Board, foster youth services, McKinney Vento Homeless Programs in our county and the San Bernardino County Wide Gangs and Drugs Task Force. This month focus will be an interview with Juan Robledo project analysts with Healthy SBCSS. 's San Bernardino County Superintendent Schools Juan welcome today, so glad to have you here.

Juan  00:49

Thank you so much, Don.

Don  00:50

Yeah, my distinct pleasure. Could you, Juan if you would you please tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do for San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools.

Juan  01:00

So my name is Juan Robledo. I am an immigrant child of my parents. They are both raised in Mexico or and here in San Bernardino County Superintendent Schools. I am a Project analyst and I oversee fiscal grants for Healthy SBCSS specifically the CalFresh that tobacco use prevention education, and also the mental health.

Don  01:29

Juan, how long have you been in education and what's been your journey?

Juan  01:33

So I've been with education for about 27 years. I started off as a student worker working in the print shop, got promoted to accounts payable, worked in accounts receivable, process warrants reconciled cash. Then I started went over to Healthy SBCSS where I oversee the budgets. We're about $7 million in our budgets between our grants.

Don  01:57

Wow, phenomenal, it's just Yes, amazing. When you come from the background that you do, you have a unique perspective, that many of our students in San Bernardino County face as it relates to your parents immigrant status. Can you elaborate a little bit on your background as it relates to that and your educational journey?

Juan  02:19

So yeah, so my educational journey, growing up with my parents, they were not focused on education. So my mom has a second grade education. And my dad finished high school here in in California. My mom said, she didn't think education was important, and neither did my dad, they thought that going to the workforce right after graduation was important. And they wanted me to do to trade school. So my dad, it was a plumber at the time, and a gardener. And so that's the field they wanted me to go into. Now growing up, I got to see a lot of my aunts and uncles working hard labor jobs. And they were always in pain, some kind of body aches, and I knew I didn't want that for myself. I didn't want to work with my hands. And so I thought education was the way out for me. And so I did go to community college, after high school, and the only reason I wanted went to community college was because I wanted to do the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. So I wanted to do taxes. And so that was my way into community college. But growing up, like I said, education was important. And so my parents said, we lived in an area where immigration was really, really, really bad. And so ICE was out everywhere. And so we would take side streets, we would take alleys, just to go to school, the grocery store. And so we were always being afraid of being caught by immigration. And so if this route to school was about five minutes, it would take us over an hour, just because we wanted to make sure that the big white buses were, you know, the people were being deported, we would try to avoid them. And there was a lot of times where, you know, we would encounter one and so we step back, and almost like hide and my mom would use that like learning experience and like start teaching us about like the different plants that were around. And we would use them like my mom would tell us like they were used for medicinal or this way, and she would teach us a little bit about the plants and then once it was free, then we would continue going and so finally would get to our destination either school. And so but if the event that we did get caught my mom, like I said, because at the time they weren't asking for, you know, birth certificates are anything they just took everyone on the bus. He transported him to LA or they took them down to the border San Ysidro. And so we did know I know a couple of people who were deported To exit and, you know, it wasn't a fun thing. But most of the time when we would walk around like said, take the bridge, go underneath the bridges, through train tracks, just so that we can go to the grocery store go to school. It was just, it was terrible. It was hard. But my parents did make it, you know, where it was somewhat fun, like trying to find like, look for different types of plants. So that, you know, we could, you know, try to yeah, get our mind off of it

Don  05:30

I'll tell you were one your determination. Obviously, your family was very determined, 

Juan  05:35

Yes 

Don  05:35

to make it in in the United States. But I have another question for you. What was your attendance rate? How often would you say you went to school?

Juan  05:43

I did go to school every day may not necessarily on time. But we did go to school every single day. It was very important that my parents got us to school. And said, and my dad like I said, we only had one vehicle. So it was important for us. My dad would take the car to work. And then my mom would just walk us to school and but it was like I said it was attendance was very important, but not necessarily. We were punctual all the time. Yeah,

Don  06:09

Yeah, that's phenomenal. Because in the state of California, are chronic, absenteeism rate hovers around 12%? Which is, which is a ton of absences for kids. Right? We know the importance of school? Yes, being a safe play for students and also for their social emotional growth in their academic growth.  

Juan  06:28

That's correct. 

Don  06:30

 Talk a little bit about an obviously, I can kind of surmise what your answer might be. But were you involved with any activities, you know, school, sports, or clubs, anything like that?

Juan  06:41

So no, I wasn't involved in any sports, any clubs. And the only reason is because we were really scared of immigration at that time. So immigration would hang out around like the grocery stores in the downtown area where we lived at the parks. And so most of like the sports activities was held over at the parks. And so I do remember what my cousin did paid for me to do basketball one season, but my parents never went to any of my games, because it was always we're scared of immigration. And so like I said, during that basketball season, we only did home games, I didn't never want to in the away games, it was mostly we stayed at home, at home games, but it was just being careful. And if we in the event, I was with a group of Mexicans. Then I knew if I got deported, I knew where to go. And in Mexico, because I had family out there.

Don  07:39

Wow. The undocumented label of your parents, how did that affect you? As it relates to anxiety or depression or a sense of isolation? Did I should ask did that affect you, and if so how?

Juan  07:58

You know, my parents made it where it was fun. So I don't think depression was anything. Isolation, definitely. Because we weren't allowed to do many stuff around our neighborhood or going out to the community. So isolation was definitely a big thing. But like I said, my parents would try to make it fun. You know, even like, you know, Halloween is coming around the corner, like, We Never Went trick or treating, my parents would always buy us candy, or make us treats at home so that we can enjoy that at home. And never opening the door never giving out candy because we didn't know if it was immigration at the door. So

Don  08:35

I know that you mentioned that your parents and education meant a lot. And obviously, for them to go through what they did your mom particularly to get you to school is something that I just applaud. What would you say is the biggest difference of between your educational experience and your children's educational experience.

Juan  08:55

So I think that's it's a big difference. My I feel that education is very, very important for my kids. I want to make sure that they succeed that they have like the good go to a good school, make sure their attendance is that are all the time, make sure that they take advantage of the different programs, either at school or in the community. Because I do want to see them succeed. You know, I think my parents did the best they could with me, and I want to make sure they do the same thing for my kids and I want them to succeed as well. So if it's possible to get them into a four year university, and if they can't, then maybe a trade school where they feel like you know they can benefit from it or learn

Don  09:35

Are they active in the community or sports or anything like that? 

Juan  09:38

Yeah, so all my kids are involved in some kind of sports. I have two that are playing travel ball. Two that are doing cross country two that are doing soccer so I have five boys and so seeing them playing sports, you know doing travel ball or doing cross country. It brings almost like a tear. Mm. Because I didn't get to experience that. And so seeing it through their eyes, makes me so happy to see that experience that they're having, I definitely want to provide a lot more. Give them the training so that they can succeed. Because I know I didn't have that experience.

Don  10:16

Well, Juan, and I want to commend you and your wife for the parents that you are, obviously and then creating opportunities for your kids. And I'm sure it doesn't just start with your kids, right? We're in the community, we're educators, we try to do what's best for all youth that we serve. What is something that you wish educators would have understood it when you were in school? Number one, is there anything you wish they would have known that would have made a difference in understanding you better and others like you,

Juan  10:47

I think just to be a little bit more understanding. So I grew up in, in different locations, we moved a lot. And so my first I went to preschool and kindergarten in Long Beach. And in the early 80s, it was still segregated, where I lived in an Asian community. And I went to school or only Mexicans went to school. And so then the Asians were bused to a different school. So I only learned Spanish until like, third grade. And so when I moved to San Bernardino in third grade, that was the first time I ever spoke Spanish, I mean, English, I'm sorry. So I didn't learn English until third grade. So being a little bit more empathetic, and understanding of like the students, you know, that sometimes, you know, learning a foreign new language is definitely different. Yeah, so. So that's what I would recommend is just being a little bit more empathetic and understanding.

Don  11:47

Um, was there any educator that you connected with or anybody in the educational system that you felt like you could actually talk to? That you trusted, to be able to talk to you? So?

Juan  12:01

No, there wa sn't any specific educator growing up. Growing up with my mom always teaching us it was always more, you had to stay quiet. Because if anyone heard you speaking Spanish or didn't hear the dialect of an American, so then it was almost like you're, you're being targeted, and you better be careful, because they can call Immigration on you. So a lot of the times, because it was more we say to ourselves, we stayed sheltered, isolated, and we didn't talk much, because unless we were spoken to, and it was very, very short, so that our, our language wouldn't come out.

Don  12:40

So you know, you seem to be a quiet guy, but you're engaging. Do you think that, you know, your past has kind of contributed to you being kind of introverted, or would you say that did now?

Juan  12:53

No, it definitely is introverted? Yeah, I definitely said I think a little bit of both introvert and extrovert, but the introvert more just trying to stay sheltered, and not to speak to anyone till I'm being spoken to. And as much as I tried to break that habit, you know, it's just, it's rooted in me.

Don  13:12

What would you say now? Because we still have undocumented undocumented people who attend our schools? 

Juan  13:22

Yes. 

Don  13:23

Whether it's their own label or family labels, such as you experience, what do you see that we could do to really assist those kids, as they matriculate through our system, and kind of help those families.

Juan  13:36

I think just having more support for, for the students, so more English learner activities, and not just focusing on the students, but also with the parents as well. And also trying to encourage the parents are saying that, you know, not to worry about immigration, that they're here now, you know, and that they're going to be taken care of that they won't be deported. You know, and that's a hard concept to, to reach the parents because a lot of them are still scared. But just try to give them that assurance, gaining their trust.

Don  14:10

Living in that constant fear man is gone. 

Juan  14:11

Yes. 

Don  14:13

That's very unsettling and uneasy. If you could speak to a student now, who's dealing with some of the same issues that you dealt with in school? What advice would you give him?

Juan  14:26

I would say just to be patient and be courageous. You know, courage enough to speak out, you know, not to be sheltered courage enough to take that chance and educate yourself more courage enough to to just be brave. Yeah,

Don  14:45

Well, I'll tell you I am. You know, I work with as you know, the marginalized youth, foster homeless and promise youth, of course, undocumented youth, et cetera, as a country But what do you think we could do better to serve students who are coming from similar backgrounds as you?

Juan  15:07

As a country, I think that we should be extended a little bit more understanding, because that's not just people from the south border, but it's also from the north, or people coming in from different countries, just to be a little bit more understanding. You know, I think we're all afraid and we want to do better with ourselves.

Don  15:25

Absolutely. And I know that's the reason you've been in education for 27 years. And I want to thank you for your service to the youth throughout San Bernardino County, we need people like you, I get the pleasure of being serving in same branch as you under direction of Dr. Houston. So it's great to see you on a regular basis. And I want to just encourage you to continue to be a beacon of light for those who are like you and let them know they're not invisible, right? That's really important to understand that no matter where you come from, or no matter what your circumstances, you are not invisible, and that you have an advocate. So I know you and I will continue to be advocate for kids in our role with San Bernardino County Schools and in our community. So thank you so much.

Juan  16:08

It's a pleasure. So thank you,

Don  16:09

I appreciate you. Thank you for listening. We hope you find this information valuable. If you have any topics or questions that you would like addressed, please email them directly to cwa@sbcss.net as always, we hope you stay well. And continue to transform live thru education.