Middle school in Burbank renamed after Dolores Huerta
¡Sí se puede! Welcome to Dolores Huerta Middle School – or DHMS for short – the newest school named after the civil rights leader in Burbank in Southern California.
“Well, it’s an honor, whenever I have a school named after me and it also makes me very, very humble to think that the school district of Burbank would think of naming the school after me,” said Huerta, in an interview in Fresno two days prior to the renaming ceremony that took place on Sept. 17 at the school with staff, students, dignitaries and elected officials to honor the 91-year-old Latina icon and former teacher.
Dolores Huerta MS is located at 420 South Mariposa Street, in Burbank, a predominately white city of about 104,000 residents in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley. It is well known for being home to Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Studios, as well as having the largest IKEA in the country.
Hispanic or Latinos are 24.5 percent of the city’s population.
Huerta became the first woman to have a school named after her in Burbank. The renaming of the school took place during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Huerta – who was present for the ceremony that included folkloric dances – toured the school, saw the new murals and met with staff. The school offers a dual immersion program.
“When I heard that the school had been named after me and that there have been many, many other great people that had been nominated for that school, I feel very, very proud and also because at that school, there are a number, a large number of young Latino children that go to that school. So that really fills me with a lot of pride,” Huerta said.
Huerta was selected and approved by the Burbank Board of Education as the namesake of the school during a lengthy and complex process involving a broad-based committee of Burbank residents.
The school was originally name after David Starr Jordan, a scientist who was a leader and driving force of the eugenics movement, who believe in racial segregation and racial purity.
During the ceremony 14 students spoke about the process of renaming the school how important was for them to rename the school as students didn’t want the school to be name after “a man who didn’t agree that every race is equal and thought that a specific race was better than the rest.”
With the renaming of the school, Huerta said Latino children will see themselves represented.
“I think when the Spanish-speaking children, they see somebody that looks like them or somebody that bears their name, and to have a school named after a Latino person, that definitely gives them that kind of self-confidence that they need, that makes them know that they belong and that they can feel very, very proud of who they are,” Huerta said. “And I think it’s very important.”
Huerta said children and students, “know how important they are when they see people that look like them can have positions as teachers, lawyers, doctors, airplane pilots.
“And of course, when they know that somebody that has a Latina name or Latino name is somebody that that they can look up to and that they can respect makes them feel really good,” said Huerta, who has a number of schools named after her not only in California but also out of state, including one in Tulsa, Oklahoma what was rename from Christopher Columbus to Dolores Huerta.
Huerta said is feels “really good to know that there are people outside of California that know the work that I have done, especially with the farmworkers, and that they think that my name is good enough to be put on a school.”
As a former teacher, education is important for Huerta.
“I think a lot about education. I do believe that education is going to be the savior of our country. We know we have a lot of divisions in our country. We have a lot of ignorance and that the only way that we can really meet all of the challenges and issues that are facing us as a society is through education,” Huerta said. “I was a teacher myself, and when I had schools named after me, then I know that that that really adds to the whole importance of education, especially when it comes to our black and brown students.”
Huerta said the job is not done when it comes to fighting for school to get the resources needed to provide students with music, art, theater in their schools.
“We need to have that in our school so that our kids are exposed not only to the academics of reading and writing and science and math, but also the theater arts. Because that gives again, that will fill their soul when they can have this other type of activities in their schools. And so we really have to keep fighting,” said Huerta, adding that California once was number one in the country in terms of money spend for students.
Huerta said teachers also need to be paid better, need smaller class sizes and a support system of social workers, nurses and counselors.
“So, we have a lot of work to do. And I think that is to me, that’s the true meaning of having a school named after me that we can really continue to fight for education. Sí se puede,” Huerta said.
Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 21 de septiembre de 2021, 4:42 p. m..
