Kindergarten Registration

Recently the principal of the grade school suggested I attend a kindergarten registration to promote the garden and recruit parent volunteers. So, I decided to make a little sign for the table to encourage parents to pick up a garden bulletin and sign up on the list posted. I write a garden bulletin each month and April's was filled with photographs like I showed here.

This morning I raced to get the April garden bulletin's Spanish translation text into the newsletter format in time for the kindergarten registration. The woman who translates for the school sent it last night at 10:30 pm. She works full time and does translations, so I'm grateful she can turn it around within the week. I sure hope I can learn more Spanish by simply copying and pasting for this bulletin.

I got to the school and I'd forgotten to include the Spanish version .pdf attachment. I had to walk back home and send it. Finally, I got it sent and the school staff printed it. Well, I visited with the community resource staff person and a spanish-speaking woman (there for translations?) and learned where I just might be able to find chayote plants. We definately need some volunteers from the Hispanic community to bring cultural diversity to the garden beds.

I just remembered that the principal told me that there is great fear in this community. Nobody needs to wonder why after hearing the hate-filled nonsense coming out of Arizona's legilature and cowboy law enforcement. Hell, even found our own rethuglican congressional representative, Brian Bilbray (R-pulsive,CA) spewed this in response to the AZ profiling,

Discussing Arizona's pending profiling bill on "Hardball," Chris Matthews challenged Bilbray to cite a "non-ethnic aspect" by which law enforcement agents could identify illegal immigrants. "They will look at the kind of dress you wear, there is different type of attire, there is different type of -- right down to the shoes, right down to the clothes," Bilbray replied.

*headdesk* It's not surprising that registering a child for school is threatening to this community. So is answering a census worker's knock on the door and countless other tasks people of privilege never need consider, not for an instant. Even volunteering for a school garden could feel like too much exposure. Even so, I hope we can develop this relationship. The existing PTA is pretty dense-packed with white middle class women fixated on fund raising, grant writing, corporate crumbs and general silliness. (Now that last is just mean, but I just have to acknowledge I feel so much of the energy is devoted to fluff and nonsense). It is like having a mono-crop garden or all bluegrass landscape. Too vulnerable to disease and pests, besides depleting the nutrients. Diversity is key.