Leading and thriving in a diverse community

Brenda De Leon and Moises Padilla

by Julie Fanselow

September 26, 2005 | Focus on Study Circles, Vol.16, No.2 | Lexington, Nebraska

 

Brenda De Leon and Moises Padilla pause for a photo at Lexington's study circle
action forum on immigration.

For Brenda De León, study circles represent “a life-changing experience.” And Moises Padilla says he learned many things in study circles that he can take on to college and a business career. For both graduates of the Lexington High School Class of 2005, taking part in the process was an exciting new way to learn more about how others view the world.

De León and Padilla were part of a team that helped launch study circles in Lexington, a city of about 11,000 people in south-central Nebraska. A former railroad town now dominated by a meat-packing plant, today Lexington is home to many new residents from Latin America who have come to town because there are opportunities to find work.

This community that once had few people of color now has a majority Latino population, along with a growing stream of refugees from Africa. To help longtime residents and newcomers find ways to communicate and improve services in their community, Lexington has begun study circles.

Just a few weeks before their graduation last spring, Padilla and De León put in a full day of classes, then competed in school sports events before heading off to an “action forum”—a community event designed to capture ideas generated in a round of study circles on immigration. Throughout the evening, the bilingual teens—both born in Mexico—helped keep discussions on track, translating the proceedings for participants who spoke only Spanish.

When it came time to decide on action priorities, the participants agreed that a one-stop information center for new immigrants was badly needed. Some community leaders from churches and other organizations had already begun meeting to revive and expand the one-stop resource center idea. Participants at the action forum were invited to join the team, and 12 people signed up that night.

Inspired by their experience in the study circles, De León and Padilla started a study circle-style program at Lexington High School. Called Breaking Boundaries, the circles aimed to help students reach beyond race and class barriers.

Patricia Sanchez-Stewart, a leadership development specialist for the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service, says taking leadership on this project enhanced Padilla and De León’s stature as positive role models. “Other kids want to know how to get involved,” she adds. In June, both teens went to Seattle, as part of a 12-person team, to report on Lexington’s study circles success at the Developing Networks of Responsibility to Educate America’s Youth conference.

Both students have been awarded college scholarships. This fall, De León plans to attend the University of Nebraska at Kearney, while Padilla will enroll at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. Wherever life leads them, the skills they’ve developed as study circle leaders will help these dynamic teens take leadership in college and beyond.

The study circles are part of a project that grew out of “Developing Networks of Responsibility to Educate America’s Youth”—an initiative that is funded by the Kellogg Foundation via the Institute for Educational Inquiry.

Lexington's study circle program at a glance:

City and state: Lexington, Nebraska
Population: More than 11,000
Focus of study circles: Immigration, parent involvement, and breaking down social barriers
Number of study circle participants to date: More than 140

Read more in our fall 2005 special issue of Focus

Learn more: Immigration  | Youth Issues