Home | Site Map | Donate | Staff

California - Los Angeles

 

SIATech at Los Angeles Job Corps Center
221 W. 11th Street, Ste. 210
Los Angeles, CA 90015
County: Los Angeles County      
Tel: (213) 743-5102

Principal: Mr. Jake Gordon

jake.gordon@siatech.org

 

Overview

 

SIATech at Los Angeles Job Corps center is located in downtown Los Angeles surrounded by the business and fashion districts. SIATech students are from the diverse neighborhoods of the Los Angeles area as well as other states and countries such as China, Ethiopia, Vietnam, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, Sierre Leone, and the Philippines. Therefore, ethnic diversity is a strong asset at the school site. Additionally, SIATech students have strong skill sets in navigating the U.S. educational system and economy as a result of facing many structural and societal inequities such as racial and gender discrimination.

 

SIATech students exemplify a strong level of tenacity, resilience, determination and a vested interest in their personal and communal growth process. The portrait of a SIATech Los Angeles student encompasses the following layers:

 

• Strong Willed
• Determined to do well academically
• Open to personal growth and change
• Socially conscious about injustices in their communities and a willingness to improve current conditions
• Responsible for their personal economic well being
• Willingness to enter the pipeline of higher education
• Ability to speak fluently in languages other than English
• A strong sense of commitment to their family and ability to gather social resources
• A passion and love for developing their own music, art, poetry, short stories, and films based on life experiences

SIATech at Los Angeles is connected with the larger community through the Job Corps center. Trade instructors maintain strong ties to the workforce outside of Job Corps and participate in a variety of community activities. Some past activities include graffiti removal and participating in a variety of community events. SIATech Los Angeles students also come together for the Acting Club, Talent Shows, and outings to various locations in Southern California. With a strong commitment to social justice initiatives, the SIATech staff is continually building partnerships in the Los Angeles area to provide students real life learning opportunities that align with the YWCA's mission of eradicating racism and empowering women. The promotion of peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all people is a daily commitment SIATech at Los Angeles implements in alignment with the YWCA's (Young Women's Christian Association) mission who operates the Job Corp's center.

 

 

Principal Profile

 

Jake Gordon became principal of the Los Angeles site in 2010. Mr. Gordon brings a wealth of experience with the SIATech program. Prior to joining SIATech, Mr. Gordon worked as a history teacher at a high school in San Jose with a predominately at-promise population. Mr. Gordon has been a social science, creative technology, and senior projects teacher at the SIATech Long Beach site, and was recognized as an Employee of the Year at the site. Mr. Gordon earned his masters in Educational Administration from California State University Long Beach.

 

 

 

Los Angeles Welcomes Bobby Verdugo
Chicano Rights Activist Captivates Students
by Daniel Butler

 

On Tuesday, August 24, 2010, one of the primary organizers of the 1968 East Los Angeles high school walkouts came and spoke to our Los Angeles SIATech students. Bobby Verdugo attended Lincoln High School and helped to organize a walkout involving 20,000 students and several surrounding high schools and colleges. Students took notice of the unfair treatment of Chicano students in schools and decided to bring these issues to light peacefully.

 

 

A captivated audience listened to Bobby tell stories of how students were not allowed to speak Spanish in class, how the restrooms were locked during lunch hours, and how he and other students were "swatted" (corporal punishment) for the smallest things.  He became a little choked up when he spoke about how the "swatting" and racial insults, after some time, began to break his soul. He also told of a teacher who told him he had three things strikes against him right off the bat; "You're fat, lazy, and Mexican."

 

 

Bobby told of how situations like these led to small meetings at student houses after school, to bigger meetings between students from different schools, to a full walkout with the Black Panthers and the Brown Berets. He told of his first time seeing the HBO movie "Walkout," in which his character was portrayed, and how he became emotional when he saw the footage of students from other schools being beaten by the police. He said one of the principals actually opened the doors of their high school and let the police in before their students could walkout.

 

Bobby shared with students what he is doing now. He is now a social worker who works with teenage fathers. He said a lot of the teenagers he works with say they don't know how to be fathers because they never had fathers of their own to teach them.  Many of our students can share that experience. He also was proud to share he married his girlfriend, also his girlfriend in the movie, and they have been happily married since.

 

 

Student Steven Madera-Gonzalez said, "I can’t believe the cops were beating them. They were trying to block Amendment 1: the right to free speech." Jessica Lara said, “Not a lot of people take the time to do what they did.”

 

Frank Martinez said, “They were standing up for us: the future generation."

 

SIATech Los Angeles continues to promote the Job Corps mission statement  "to attract eligible young adults, teach them the skills they need to become employable and independent, and place them in meaningful jobs or further education" and the YWCA’s mission to "eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all."

 

 

 

Los Angeles Student of the Month: Christopher Tribble

 

Chris Tribble is a nineteen-year-old native of Los Angeles, CA. He prefers to be called Chris. He loves Thai food, and his favorite restaurant is Paul's Kitchen. Also, his favorite color is orange. Chris dropped out of high school and did not do anything for two years- then he enrolled in Abraham Friedman Occupational Center for one month; his aunt then told him about Job Corps, where his journey began on March 14, 2010.

 

He sacrificed a big family vacation in order to come to the Los Angeles Job Corps and work towards completing a trade and earning his high school diploma. Chris loves sports such as basketball and football. His favorite teams are the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Clippers. He enjoys listening to Hip Hop music on his IPod and writing poetry in his spare time.

 

Chris was raised with the values of having a good personality and earning good grades. He truly respects, acknowledges, and values the love and support from his mother. In a recent essay about the most important person in his life, he stated how his mother is very important to him because he would not be here if it were not for her, and she is always there for him while protecting him from bad people, which made him into the man that he is today. Chris said, "If she could, my mom would probably give me the world."

 

Chris has been commended by many of his teachers. They have reported that he is a very respectful and excellent student who is motivated and completes assignments daily. After graduating from SIATech, Chris plans on attending John C. Smith University, Clark Atlanta University, or Notre Dame University full-time as well as working full-time as a government auto mechanic. Chris describes himself as the gentle giant.

 

 

 

Recent News

 

SIATech Los Angeles Participates in "Immigration Teach In"
by Jake Gordon

In light of the recent student interest in Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, the Los Angeles SIATech school site hosted its first “teach-in” to provide an opportunity for students to discuss their concerns about the current legislation which will require all residents in Arizona to carry proof of citizenship at all times. Students also had an opportunity to discuss other Arizona legislative items such as the state’s attempts to no longer offer Ethnic Studies courses in schools and not allowing teachers with strong accents to teach English.

 

SIATech student Ricardo Castaneda began the day of activities by presenting his short film “The Underground.” The movie details the daily struggles of undocumented workers and the challenges they face leaving their home countries to find a better life in the United States. The film illustrates the resilience, determination, hard work ethic, and strong commitment to the family unit many immigrants possess as they make their journey to a foreign land. Ricardo’s inspiration for developing his script was based on his respect for undocumented workers willingness to sacrifice for the larger benefit of their family by finding better paying jobs in the United States. Ricardo described to his classmates the purpose of the film, “I want to show everybody through this film that we don’t come here to mess around or to do harm. I’m trying to show how hard it is to cross the border and so we can appreciate what our families did to sacrifice to make a better life for us.”

 

After the viewing of Ricardo’s film, Enrique Vasquez of the Answer L.A. Coalition provided general information about Senate Bill 1070 and what the law will mean for undocumented immigrants. Mr. Vasquez discussed at length how the issue of racial profiling can be a potential problem since it involves the judgment in how officers determine who is undocumented. Local poet, Don Newton also shared a spoken word piece that he developed that detailed the possible civil liberty infringements that could occur if Senate Bill 1070 was passed. District Director

Arturo Chavez also attended the teach-in and discussed issues that undocumented immigrants face locally in the Los Angeles area.

 

The highlight of the day were the student led discussions that occurred at the end of every class period where everyone was given an opportunity to share how they felt about Senate Bill 1070. Some students were strongly opposed to the bill. Below are some examples of what students are thinking about the bill.

 

Nataly Hernandez: “The law is unfair because they are discriminating based on people’s skin color. How can a police officer tell who is undocumented just by looking at them? I think Latino people would be pulled over more than Whites or Blacks. Because cops would assume that if you're undocumented if your Latino.”

 

Jeffery Reyes: “Part of being a citizen is following the law. There’s a certain responsibility that we have to hold by having our ID’s and driver’s license etc. and following the rules of the law. One of the rules of this certain aspect of this law is I feel it is important that Arizona cops do their duty but not racially profile. But if they feel someone is suspicious they have the authority to take action for it. Not all cops are the same and will not be prejudice in their stopping of people.”

 

Nancy Garcia: “I wouldn’t mind carrying papers because if you’re here legally you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. I don’t think it's fair to others who got their papers the right way.” Jildardo Casillas: “This law would be unjust. It’s unconstitutional. Its legal racial profiling and that makes no sense. Because we’re here in America everyone is supposed to be equal, and if someone is being judged by the color of their skin or the way they look that’s unconstitutional in itself.”

 

Steven Gonzalez: “It makes me feel unwelcomed because I have brown skin. If I’m brown, I feel I don’t’ have the same rights. I feel the law may also make people feel ashamed to be brown and want to be White. It’s a bully law and it will make the entire state of Arizona feel like a large prison.”

 

Marco Marmolejo: “The law would target Mexicans because that is who the police would assume has no papers. It would be really hard for the police to tell who has papers and who doesn’t which would lead to unfair treatment based on skin color.”

 

The Immigration Teach In was a massive success. Students participated in high-level discussions that demonstrated their analytical thinking skills. Instructors and mentors built upon their relationships with each other and the students. And, students actively shared their opinions in an environment of respect and honesty. The Immigration Teach In is another example of how SIATech creates innovative opportunities for students to be engaged, mature, and grow into lifelong learners.