Students look to MLK every day

In Besteiro Middle School teacher John Moore’s classroom, every day is Martin Luther King Day — every day equality and justice are taught with conviction.

Moore is part of the regional branch of Teach for America, which places teachers in some of the nation’s most under-resourced public schools to try to bridge gap of educational equality between students.

For Moore, King’s inspirational writings and speeches on nonviolence and equality during the civil rights movement are among his greatest teaching tools.

Princeton University used Moore’s Web site as a resource for New Jersey students to use as they competed in an essay contest about what role King would take in the current news/" class="autolink">immigration debate. Though the contest is only open to New Jersey residents, the powerful link between King and immigration was too striking for Moore to give up on a technicality.

“When I saw the contest I instantly thought, ‘how can I make this work for my kids?” Moore said. “These kids know about this firsthand.”

Moore got Princeton to agree to open the contest to the students, under the stipulation that they would not be considered as competitors among the larger group of contestants.

The four participants from Besteiro — Abigail Cabrera, Vanessa Trevino, Blanca Gonzalez, and Melissa Guerra — accepted Moore’s invitation to participate in a local version of the competition.

Matthew Webster, also a TFA teacher, helped to involve two students from Rivera High School, Mayra Flores and Alexa Karina Mireles.

“(Mr. Moore) challenges us, he doesn’t give up on us,” said Guerra, who received the most honorable mention for her essay.

“I had a lot of friends tell me it was a dumb idea, but I still did it,” said Blanca Gonzalez. “They don’t want to waste time, they don’t want to think about the future.” For the record, the girls are spending their time considering careers as dentists, anchorwomen, lawyers, and air force pilots.

On Tuesday, Guerra read her essay at the City Commission meeting, where she and her fellow participants were honored with a plaque from the city. The students were also included in Princeton’s Martin Luther King Day program.

Moore has good reason to believe that if Guerra had been included in the general contest, she would have stood an excellent chance of winning.

Her essay opened with a personal story of an immigration she had witnessed. She discussed a family of four immigrants who, from their wet and muddy clothes, had evidently just crossed through the Rio Grande. To Guerra, their desperate migration was filled with hope and signified an effort to improve their lives and bring their ambition to this country.

“They understood what they would have to sacrifice to start from the bottom and work to the top,” she said.

Guerra invoked King’s approach to conflict resolution in relation to the border fence.

“If Martin Luther King were here, he would probably say, ‘What has happened to the word equal?’ The only thing (immigrants) are in search of is a new tomorrow.’”

Guerra asked the crowd and Mayor Pat M. Ahumada, who sat with his eyes fixed on her throughout her reading, if a wall was the correct way to solve a dispute.

“Our creator created us, but society created barriers to stand in between,” she said.

Besteiro principal Alma Cardenas Rubio announced the Besteiro participants over the loud speaker earlier that day and attended the City Commission meeting to support them.

“This is the kind of accomplishment that you’ll understand five years from now,” she told the students. “It’s the beginning of so many more successes.”

Added Ahumada: “You have brought Brownsville to another level.”