A Cross-Cultural Journey through Language, Identity, and Education I was born and raised in Costa Rica, in a rural area where nature, community, and language were tightly woven into daily life. My cultural identity was shaped among banana and pineapple plantations, daily family gatherings for coffee, and everyday conversations in Spanish. From a young age, I learned that language is more than communication, it's belonging. Years later, when I immigrated to the United States as a teacher, I began a new chapter in my identity: navigating life as an English learner and teacher, and becoming a guide for students crossing their own cultural and linguistic borders. This experience taught me empathy and resilience. Like many of my students today, I arrived with hopes and dreams but felt invisible in a system that didn’t fully see me. There were no mentors or cultural maps. I learned by making mistakes and learning from them. That’s why my classroom today isn’t just a place for learning ...
At my school, where the vast majority of our students come from immigrant, multilingual, and economically marginalized backgrounds, we know that family engagement cannot be just an event, it must be a relationship. That’s why I’ve designed a culturally sustaining community action plan called “Parent School: Leadership and Community Engagement.” This project reimagines family involvement by creating a space where parents are not only welcomed, but valued as leaders, teachers, and decision-makers. Grounded in the principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy, this monthly program recognizes the cultural wealth that families bring and builds a structure where their voices shape the educational experience. Why a Parent School? Too often, immigrant families are left out of school decisions—not because they don’t care, but because traditional systems don’t reflect their languages, values, or realities. As Banks et al. (2025) remind us, when we affirm families' identities and build...