Mimi's Stories, Chapter 23:
Golden West College, Puppetry 
and the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Affairs.

My church calling was a little unusual and quiet. I was called to Public Affairs.  The task was to glean newspapers for articles about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), clip any article pertaining to the Church and send them up to Salt Lake.  

It was very good training for the future of writing Somos Primos. I began to see the patterns of how an article is written: Grab the reader with the first sentence and tell them the desired message in the last paragraph.  Soon a comfortable pattern developed and my days were virtually free.  I also observed the difference between a news report and an opinion piece masquerading as a news report.  Those were the most interesting.  The use of emotionally backed words, inferences, and suppositions were very apparent with articles against the Church.  I also observed the placement of the articles within the newspaper, plus the titles used.  Titles are used to catch your attention,  sometimes actually contradictory to the information.  This calling and activity trained me well to read objectively for the facts and underlying reality of the historical and present Hispanic/Latino communities. .   

Happenstance, I read a newsy flyer circulated by Golden West College, requesting suggestions from the community for new classes. Checking the catalog of classes, I found a very complete theater art department selection of classes; however no puppetry classes.  I quickly updated the curriculum that I had developed for Center Junior High in Manhattan Beach, adjusting it to an adult level class, geared to youth leaders.  

I met with the director of community affairs for GWC.  He explained that the theater arts department had offered a pupptry class, but they had not been successful.   However, he was willing to give it a try.  

I helped with this effort . . . I placed flyers in the local libraries and also took the flyer to the two elementary schools districts. We had no problem filling the class.   Students came with varied interests and of all ages: GWC students looking for an art class, youth leaders, pre-school teachers, librarians, etc.  Most students were interested in the use of puppetry for the playground or classroom, but some were also interested in becomingprofessional puppeteers and performing.

From 1975 to 1980, I enjoyed teaching Puppetry and Marionette skills at GWC.  I applied to and received three media related Golden West College grants, which helped me make good contact with the KOCE staff. One of whom, I am still in contact, a dedicated Veterans Activist, Alfred Lugo. 

KOCE was first signed on the air on November 20, 1972, as the first television station licensed to Orange County, initially airing four hours of programming per day. It broadcast its first telecourse in 1973.^[1] It was originally owned by the Coast Community College District. The station first home was originally at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California.

Even as a part-time lecturer, I had the opportunity of using my position to help educate the community to the broader Hispanic culture. I produced/directed/mounted Hispanic folktales puppet plays. These were performed in the little theater at Golden West College to a children's audience.  The students used any of the great variety of puppets to which I had the fun of teaching both construction and performance techniques. .  

I wanted to cover the range,  from finger puppets to big-mouth muppets, from paper puppets to marionettes. Plus I wanted to introduce the fascinating world of puppets from other countries. Rather than requiring my students to purchase a series of books, I wrote a manual which was published by GWC and sold at their bookstore.  The purpose was an inexpensive, easy hand-book of construction for a great variety of puppets, from finger puppets to marionettes.  Even included were the patterns for constructing Big-Mouth Jim Henson puppets.  

Before the first semester was over, students asked for a second semester of puppetry to be offered.  Soon I was teaching two nights a week.    I helped start an Orange County Chapter of Puppeteers of America and eventually,  I was invited to speak at an International Puppetry Conference held in Washington, D.C. .  I was able to meet puppeteers from all over the world, and widen my cultural awareness.

In 1954 I was interning at the Shatto Drama Center, a recreation facility run by the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department.  In cooperation with the Los Angeles School District newly organized public broadcasting television facility, our youth at the Shatto Drama Center would present puppet plays on television.  

Twenty years later, in 1975 with the popularity of Jim Henson's wonderful use of puppetry as a teaching tool, I wanted to prepare my students to have the experience of learning how to perform for a camera, "a la Jim Henson".  I contacted Jim Henson and was VERY surprised to receive an invitation from him to attend a filming of a movie, he was in the process of producing.  It was quite a memorable experience.  Jim was kind and soft-spoken and made me feel very welcomed.  One thing I certainly learned, the amount of time it takes to produce a film.  The same scenes were repeatedly, repeatedly filmed.   All day filming, may result in 2-3 minutes of running time.

I encouraged my students to practice their puppetry performance skills at home, in front of a mirror, and before family and friends.   I set up performing opportunities by scheduling student performances in schools and libraries.  

We also put on puppet shows at GWC, both indoors and outdoors. The community response was surprisingly high.  We actually ran out of seating for the English performances. 

I did learn something about our Latino community, which stayed with me:  a hesitancy of the Latinos to go on a university campus.  The English performances were filled to over-flowing, but the Spanish performances were sparse.  Orange county and specifically Westminster is very ethnically mixed.  The puppet plays were all based on folk-tales from different countries, but primarily Latino based.  I was very disappointed with the low attendance to the Spanish performances, because I was starting to do research on my own roots and was excited to share with the general public, a bit of the Hispanic culture.  

Golden West College had a Department for the Deaf.  Since puppetry is a very visual performance art, that the deaf could participate.  I had to convince the department head.  Two deaf students signed up for my class.  They performed with the marionettes which they constructed.  I selected some music with a strong base for the vibrations, which the deaf could feel.   It worked very well.  The Department head attended their performance and was surprised and very pleased.  The students were too.  I saw their faces light up, when the audience started clapping for them.  

Some of my students and I, performed with a professional puppeteer in the Huntington Beach Mall. That was fun.  Two students, ventriloquists made Big-mouth muppets.   They performed during the Christmas holidays at local libraries, as did some of my students using hand-puppets.  

Wanting to reach the Latino community, I decided reach out.  I built a simple, collapsible stage and wrote a script for a two man show, writing it with a potential partner.  I had seen one of the youths from my church, Sam Sepulveda,  perform as a Mexican clown juggler.  I thought he would be perfect . . .  and he was.  With the theme of Just Keep Trying, we performed for free in schools and libraries   He was the front man and I was the puppeteer.  

Another application of puppetry was for a Sacramento group that had a non-profit organization dedicated to over-come  drinking problems in the Latino community.   The group wanted a stage, puppets, and a script which they could perform.  The theme was "Ganadores Saben decir Basta".  They had a time deadline to complete their grant. Fortunately my Mom and sister helped with making the big-mouth muppets and meeting their deadline.  

Golden West College was a technologically advanced community college with computer labs and with KOCE, a PBS station located right on the campus. KOCE was, a fully equipment television facility. Classes were offered for professional training.  There were also classrooms set up with video taping equipment for student projects and practicing. 

Happenstance, when GWC scheduled my classes to meet in a classroom that had videotaping equipment,  I took the opportunity of exploring and learning about all components of a pleasing frame, the visual and the audio, the lighting, the background and foreground, sequencing, tying the visuals together, entering and exiting a frame.   Again I was being prepared for my next adventure.

The ability of the camera to direct the focus of the viewer is very powerful.  When two cable companies were setting up in our area, they were offering training for community-based involvement in their programming offers.  I jumped at the opportunity and participated in their community workshops. 

One of the benefits was using their equipment, cameras and editing.  I really enjoyed being able to borrow one of their big camera and experimenting.  When I showed my first project to the trainer, he blurted out in surprise . . . . .  "You EDITED in the camera!"  He was so surprised, it surprised me.  I simply had a storyline and shot/recorded in sequence, avoiding time-consuming editing. 

Dr. Altimari and the Huntington Beach Unified School District 

In addition, while teaching at GWC, I decided to take a film class. In getting acquainted with other students, we naturally chatted about our interest.  One of the students in class asked if I might be interested in a full-time teaching position. Her  brother was educator Dr. Altimari, a consultant to the Huntington Beach Unified School District, K-12.  He was trying to find a replacement for a theater arts teacher, who had been fired from a federal Title 7 project.

In 1979, the City of Westminster was receiving a very large number of  Vietnamese refugees.  The schools were in need of materials to assist the teachers in understanding the cultures of the Vietnamese, Laotians and Hmong, to help both the teacher and students in adjusting socially, and to speed up the student's English language acquisition.   

Dr. Altimari was very interested in my background, bilingual/bicultural, with a Master's thesis in Recreational Drama, and a California Teaching Credential K-12, plus a lecturer/adjunct teacher at Golden West College, Theater Arts Department.  Dr. Altimari felt that the use of drama and dramatic activities could and should be an important component of language programs.    

Dr. Altimari interviewed me over the phone on a Friday and Monday morning I reported to Mike Madrid, the project coordinator, at Westminster High School.   

The really odd thing is that the week before, I was looking in the newspaper at teaching jobs.  Win said, "Don't you know, they are laying off teachers".  And I answered, "I think I am ready for a full-time teaching job, besides I am just looking, just curious." 

I think the Lord was preparing me for two changes.   In 1979 there was considerable change going on in Orange County, which affected funding for the Junior colleges in this area.  Golden West College needed to reduce their staff.  Since I was a part time lecturer, I was informed that I would not be offered a position  after June 1980.  A full time instructor from the Theater Department was to teach my classes.  

For part of a year I was teaching my night classes at Golden West College and performing as a Resource Teacher on a OBEMLA Title 7 project.

I jumped in with both feet on the federal project.  In 1981, I earned a State Certificate of Competence,  Spanish.  I had lots of fun attending conferences and training in ESL and Bilingual Education.   Since I did not have specific classes that I was teaching, it was easy to arrange for me to attend.  

I was really fortunate.  I was able to hear the latest concepts, philosophies, and strategies from leaders in the field of language acquisition.  Now, my task was to apply dramatic techniques.  My classroom/office was a trailer, which I shared with Vy Do, a Ph.D. candidate.   I used a variety of dramatic approaches: 

First, I was assigned groups of newly arrived refugees from South East Asia.  They had no English skills at all.  I found out very quickly that they had cultural attitudes about each other. I received training from the Department of Education concerning South East Asia cultural taboos. 

I really enjoyed the challenge.  I experimented with different approaches to get the students to recognize the sounds of important survival words, plus handy words for functioning in school among the other students.  

I used pantomime, rhythms, imitation, songs, recitation, rhyming, choral reading, dialogue partner responses, poetry.  Every lesson was designed to engage physical  involvement and some fun aspects.  

Mike Madrid, Project Director would visit my sessions and tell me what "techniques" I was using,  who had developed that learning strategy, when and where. 

Although the funding was for the South East Asia students, I also sometimes I had students from Central and South America, who were newly arrived refugees.   Of course, I was interested in the Latinos.   The contrast between both groups was very insightful. 

When a group of Latinos were waiting. you would not even know they were there.  By contrast, you could hear the South East Asian student from outside the trailer without even trying.    Also, how they took a test was very different.  The Asian students were very competitive.  They would not stop writing when the timer went off and would continue writing until you took the paper from them.  However, the Latinos, would stop immediate and sit back.   I enjoyed seeing the differences, realizing, unspoken,  they are are set by each group and become part of their reaction to life experiences.       

Second:  I started compiling an annotated bibliography of books that were basically using drama for language acquisition.   

Third:  I prepared lessons depending on the English language skill level.  Westminster High School had three levels. Newly arrived students were tested to determine which ESL class they should be assigned.  During this same time period, the city of Westminster was also receiving refugees from Central America, Guatemala and Honduras.  Therefore ESL Classes had students from both South East Asia and Central America.

The project was a K-12 project.  The lessons that I prepared were to improve oral language English speaking skills. They were not subject based.  As requested by a teacher in the high school or specific district schools included in the federal project, I would present a lesson. For the lower grades, I also included overhead projector shadow puppets, rod puppets, paper puppets, and various hand puppets. 

Fourth: I prepared a manual, which even 20 years later was still being used.  I only know that because a sister in church mentioned that she had been at the Department of Orange County for Vietnamese cultural training and my manual was being used.  

Fifth: I had learned much and asked the district if I could write a grant for them to submit..  What I felt was needed were lessons based on visually shared experiences, which would generate and encourage free, naturally flowing classroom discussions.  

The plan was to produce a video series of  common American experiences, such as going to the doctor, dentist, library, shopping, doing laundry, etc. with supportive lesson
the vocabulary pulled out from each video, questions, etc.  They were to be viewed in the classroom on a VCR which could be stopped and started, replayed, etc. It would be a more natural way of English acquisition, hearing, viewing, assessing, and sharing. 

New Title 7:  Video Involved Television for Aural/Oral Learning 

The grant which was awarded was entitled: Video Involved Television for Aural/Oral Learning.  The project was completed in 1986 and was identified by the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, as one of the top ten national Title 7 projects in 1986.  

VITAL produced three Units of oral learning materials, based on the basic principles of natural language acquisition: the need for pre-production of hearing/seeing in context, and an emotional connection.

UNIT-1: We produced over 50 videos within this area.  I wrote the scripts and had two young men, on staff with videotaping and editing skills. The print materials in English were prepared by Vietnamese teacher and a secretary. 

This is the description by Tim Carpenter, Orange County Department of Education, Media Services 
Costa Mesa, CA.: "An educational video tape series for classroom use.  Video tapes depict daily events that vary from a trip to the emergency room to preparation of a spaghetti dinner.  The tapes are intended to enable student of various ages and proficiency levels to master every day vocabulary.  The series available in VHS format includes instructor videotape, viewer tapes from primary to college levels, teacher guides, student workbooks, evaluation sheets and vocabulary lists."   The County distributed them through-out the country. 

I received job offers from the State, Los Angeles County and OBEMLA to do presentation on how to use the materials; however, the idea of traveling and sleeping in hotels did not appeal to me. 

UNIT-2: A series very popular with the Vietnamese community.  It was an introduction to the City of Westminster with a Vietnamese voice over. The sites were selected by Vietnamese staff member.  At one point, the public library had 13 sets of that UNIT which were checked out regularly.  

UNIT-3:  was a series of videos for the college bound minority student.  I wrote the scripts and  contacted California State University, Fullerton Minority Affairs office.  They liked the concept and actually produced the series on campus, with their staff.  I included all the steps needed to attend a college, registration, scheduling, purchasing books, attending classes, meeting new people, and allowing themselves to be helped and be open to other cultures.  The series was written around a love story between an Anglo boy and a Latina.  When I met with the campus film director assigned to the project, he greeted me with,  "Do you know what you've done?"  I did not know how to respond.  I thought he was upset with me.  "You've written a "soap opera", he said, with a big grin.    I guess he thought, before reading the scripts that it was to be a dull series of  talking heads, on the subject of dealing with a campus issues.  The director was excited with the project. 
I saw the finished project.  It was both entertaining and informative.  He had done a great job, and the two lead characters (played by theater arts majors) were very believable.  

Outside of the creative challenges of teaching puppetry and developing dramatic activities and scripts for language acquisition,  I became increasing  interested in researching my family history, and helping others to do the same.  I got my toes wet in 1982.  In 1986, completing VITAl, I devoted myself to searching my roots.