This webinar will explore DEI strategies in the elementary classroom using bilingual Children’s literature. The presenter will use their own published children’s book, Las Cosas Diferentes/ Things that are Different to model strategies on DEI in the elementary classroom. The participants will understand how to implement said strategies in their own classroom.

About the Presenter/ Author:

Francisco Javier Fuentes, Ph D was born in 1968 during a year of great uncertainty in the United States of America. Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated and the country was in turmoil. Prior to her death, his mother told him that although he was born in a tumultuous time, he could be a beacon of hope. Javier’s efforts to project that beacon of hope have been his drive throughout his career in serving our traditionally underserved communities. Dr. Fuentes was born in Nogales, Sonora Mexico. His father immigrated his family in 1974 when Javier began his public-school education in Nogales, AZ. He was a product of the state’s first bilingual education programs and in fact, his first-grade teacher was Ms. Roni Ashford, the author of Disney’s Book Coco. To this day they still stay in touch. Javier received his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Secondary Education in 1990 and his master’s in education in Bilingual/ Multicultural Education in 1999, both degrees were from Northern Arizona University. He was a classroom teacher in bilingual education and ESL classrooms for 7 years and later became a very successful school principal and an area superintendent. Javier has always served our traditionally underrepresented communities. Javier received his Ph D in public policy in higher education at the University of Arizona. As an author Dr. Fuentes hopes to inspire all adults and youth to sincerely appreciate diversity and cultural differences to make our planet a better and a more enjoyable place to share.

Register here.