Item 6. Academia Cuauhtli's Accomplishments and Plans — original pdf

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Academia Cuauhtli Summer & Fall 2025 Accomplishments and Plans Funding by City of Austin (one-time) Summer 2025 ● $106,000 allocated to support Academia Cuauhtli’s culturally and linguistically diverse arts programs (2025-2026) ● $80,000 allocated to establish a new, full-time Culture and Arts Education Supervisor role, to ensure program sustainability and growth (2025-2026) Funding by the Austin Independent School District ● Provision of transportation for participating students. ● Provision of meals during program activities. Biliteracy Curriculum Development with La Collaborativa Cuahtli and Manor ISD (see Appendix A) ● Lead by Patricia Nuñez (Academia Cuauthli, UT Austin College of Education Doctoral Student), Julia Hernandez (Academia Cuauhtli and Dual Language Coordinator at Manor ISD) and Maribel Robles (STREAM Bilingual Museum Education Harvard University and Blanton Museum of Art) ● Date: Tuesday June 10, 2025 9am-3:30 ● Total of 20 public school educators ● Location: Benson Latin American Collection, 2nd Floor Nepohualtzintzin Workshop (see Appendix B) From July 23–25, 2025, a hands-on workshop on the Nepohualtzintzin—an Indigenous Mesoamerican mathematical tool—will be held at the Cepeda Austin Public Library (651 N Pleasant Valley Rd, Austin, TX 78702). The sessions will run daily from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. In total, we had 20 adults and 15 children in attendance (we capped it at 35 due to funding). The Nepohualtzintzin, rooted in the symbolism of 20 fingers and toes, embodies completeness and the worldview that the universe resides within us. The workshop is designed to provide participants with both historical knowledge and practical application of this ancestral mathematical instrument. Workshop objectives include: ● Exploring the historical and cultural significance of the Nepohualtzintzin. ● Examining its physical structure, functions, and mathematical principles. 1 ● Offering guidance for classroom implementation. The program is free of charge, and it welcomes teachers, caretakers, and children (with an accompanying adult). Registration link: https://tinyurl.com/nepo2025 This event is presented in collaboration with Academia Cuauhtli, the Tánko Institute, the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, LILAS Benson Latin American Collection, and the University of Texas at Austin Department of History. Research - Publications in preparation and press 1. Martinez, A. (2025). The Effect of Academia, A Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, on English Language Learner Achievement [Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin]. Note: Dr. Anthony Martinez defended his dissertation on March 31, 2025 at the University of Texas at Austin, College of Education and was supervised by Dr. Pedro Reyes. His dissertation should be published on Texas Scholarworks in the next couple of weeks. Abstract: The public school system in the United States continues to witness a rise in English Language Learners (ELLs). An ELL student is defined as one whose native language differs from English. Best practices identify Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) as an effective approach for working with ELLs, potentially contributing to the academic achievement of students from diverse backgrounds. While researchers have explored the implementation of CRP programs, few studies have concentrated on elementary-age students, and even fewer on ELLs within elementary education. This emphasizes the idea that early interventions can lead to higher success rates among students. This ex-post facto independent measures research study represents the first quantitative approach to assessing the effect of a CRP program, such as Academia Cuauhtli, on the academic outcomes of elementary ELL students. The central purpose was to compare standardized exam scores in three subjects and the attendance rates of fourth- and fifth-grade ELL students who participated in CRP programming through Academia Cuauhtli against similar counterparts who did not. The overall pattern of results illustrates that high-fidelity implementation of CRP programming can enhance students’ academic outcomes. In this study, across all subject and rate analyses, students who received CRP programming consistently outperformed those who did not receive it. Results offer empirical evidence on how best practices can improve student success, particularly for ELLs. They also highlight the importance of academic freedom, ensuring that all students have access to a curriculum that best supports their learning and development, especially as student demographics keep evolving. 2. The Power of Authentic Cariño, Political Care, and Community: Eagle Academy Teacher Agency During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In Peer Review at the Association of Mexican American Educators Journal. By: Dr. Maria Del Carmen Unda, Dr. Lauren Mena Shook, and Lizeth Lizarraga Duenas 2 Abstract: This qualitative ethnographic study examines the complexities of the Eagle Academy Latina/o Maestra/os (teachers) during COVID-19 in public schools, illustrating how authentic cariño is both an embodied and political reality. Using the Political Theory of Care (Woodly, 2015; 2021) and Authentic Cariño (Curry, 2021; Valenzuela, 1999) frameworks, we qualitatively and analyze pláticas with 13 Latino/a teachers from the 2020-2021 academic year and ethnographic data. These pláticas were conducted within the context of Eagle Academy, a cultural and language revitalization program for Title I Spanish-speaking students and families. While political institutions overtly failed Black, Brown Indigenous communities across all systems by perpetuating colonial logics of care, on the other hand, the Central Texas local community COVID-19 underscored the necessity of care as a political act, as demonstrated by the Eagle Academy Maestra/os, who safeguarded the physical and mental well-being of their students and themselves. The pandemic revealed that the problem was not a lack of cariño among educators, parents, or students, but rather the deficit perspectives and structural ignorance embedded in U.S. public school systems. This chapter emphasizes the need for systemic change in public education while highlighting culturally sustaining programs like Eagle Academy, which model care as a political and transformative practice amidst political chaos. 3. The socialization and language practices of Latinx students in a culturally centered Saturday school program in Austin’s East Side. In progress dissertation by Alma Ixchel Flores-Pérez, doctoral student at the Department of Linguistic Anthropology at UT Austin Abstract: In the 10 years since its founding, Academia Cuauhtli has established itself as an organization for, and for Latinx families. One of the key pillars of Academia Cuauhtli’s curriculum is language. The Saturday school explicitly markets itself as a “language revitalization” project with the goal of combating Spanish language loss that many students within the district are experiencing (Bell, 2020). Namely, the program provides instruction and ideological prioritization of Spanish for English-learning students. Based on initial literature obtained from the program’s website, it is not entirely clear what the linguistic programmatic breakdown is – meaning that it is not clear whether the program utilizes Spanish-immersion, 90/10, or 50/50 dual language, all common models adopted in other private and public schools within Austin. What is clear is that the program and its educators place a large value on the ability to ensure that Latinx students are not only learning Spanish but seeing value in their full range of linguistic abilities (Bell, 2020). This pedagogy falls in line with translanguaging models which attempt to remove some of the named boundaries between linguistic codes, and instead take a speakers’ full range of language use as complete and valid (García, 2014; Martínez, 2017; España et al., 2022; Bale et al., 2023). Within programmatic models like immersion, or dual-language, there are often specified times in which students are expected or encouraged to speak in a particular language. In contrast, translanguaging spaces often prioritize hybridity and flexibility of communication. While it remains to be seen how language is being used both for instruction and interaction within the program, Academia’s prioritization of Spanish, multilingualism, linguistic, and cultural pride, likely have deep impacts on the language socialization and ideologies that students are being exposed to. These socialization and ideological frameworks may also lie in support or in contrast to those encountered in other areas of students’ lives like their elementary schools and families. Through my presence and observation of the program, I will examine how students are being socialized by and through 3 institutional spaces like Academia, as well as what their interactional use of their linguistic repertoires may indicate about the language ideologies they carry. Fall Grants in progress (5 total) Grants will be written by Dr. Maria Del Carmen Unda, Dr. Angela Valenzuela, and Dr. Emilio Zamora. 1. Humanities Texas https://www.humanitiestexas.org/grants/major This grant will support programming costs. Letter of Intent due September 30, 2025 Final Application due October 3, 2025 Funding: $20,000 2. Texas Cultural Trust https://txculturaltrust.org/what-we-do/texas-women-for-the-arts/grants/?utm_source=chat gpt.com This grant will support programming costs. Funding: $20,000 - $25,000 Applications for the 2025–2026 cycle open October 1, 2025, and close December 1, 2025. 3. William T. Grant Foundation https://wtgrantfoundation.org/funding/research-grants-on-reducing-inequality This program supports research to build, test, or increase understanding of programs, policies, or practices to reduce inequality in the academic, social, behavioral, or economic outcomes of young people ages 5-25 in the United States. Application opens: November 2025 Funding: $100,000 to $600,000 over 2-3 years 4. Texas Commission of the Arts https://www.arts.texas.gov/gpa1/ This grant will support programing costs. Intent: To advance the creative economy of Texas by investing in arts organizations. This competitive grant program provides multi-year operational support. Applicants write their grant for a one-year period, and if funded, will provide an update for the second year. Depending on the availability of funds, the organization’s award amount will be the same for two fiscal years. Application deadline: March 1, 2026 Funding: $25,000 - $50,000 5. Moody Foundation https://moodyf.org/application-process/ This grant will support programming costs. Applications open year-round. Funding: $50,000 - $100,000 4 Fall 2025 Cuauthli Fall Saturday School Location: George Sanchez Elementary School Total student enrollment: 20-50 ● September 27, 2025 - Welcome Day - Migracion: Nuestra Herencia ● October 4, 2025 - Field Trip Sacred Powwow at San Marcos ● October 11, 2025 - Migracion: Separados No Somos Iguales (Papalotes) ● October 18, 2025 - Activismo: Derechos Civiles ● October 25, 2025 - Viva La Vida Parade Downtown ● November 1, 2025 - Activismo: Posteres Activistas ● November 8, 2025 - Graduation y Convivio La Collaborativa Fall Calendar ● Four Nepo workshops to be facilitated by La Colaborativa teachers and DREAM team members. Public library- open to the public ○ K'iche in Schools ○ Local school campus- open to the public ● Nahuatl in the Classroom workshop by Maestro Carlos Aveces from Raíces del Saber (in collaboration with ICI) Exhibits of student work in local venues Publishing student writing through Bookspring Teaching Community Languages in Public Schools- partnership with the Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca (Feb. 2026) End-of-Year showcase of all the work in the classrooms ● ● ● ● 5 Appendix A 6 Appendix B 7