It’s FAFSA Week of Action: Time to Take a #FAFSAFastBreak!

This is crossposted from the U.S. Department of Education’s blog, Homeroom.

It’s FAFSA Week of Action (April 15-19) and to kick off the effort the U.S. Department of Education is thrilled to announce the launch our #FAFSAFastBreak campaign, a national effort to drive FAFSA submissions among high school seniors and returning college students. Everyone has an important role to play!

We have already received nearly 200 #FAFSAFastBreak commitments from high school counselors, principals, superintendents, after-school programs, parent groups, non-profit organizations, and other local and state education organizations that have pledged to share information and host a variety of virtual and in-person events.

Hosting or attending a #FAFSAFastBreak submission event is a great way to encourage students and families to take advantage of the historic financial benefits afforded by the Better FAFSA.  For example, the new and improved Better FAFSA form can unlock up to $7,395 in federal aid that a student does not need to repay to help cover the cost of college. What’s more, the Better FAFSA ensures 665,000 more students will receive Federal Pell Grants to pay for college, and more than 1.7 million more students will receive the maximum Pell Grant!

Throughout the FAFSA Week of Action, over 85 in-person events will take place across the country ranging from FAFSA clinics to FAFSA spirit weeks in local high schools. For example:

  • Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs issued a statewide FAFSA proclamation, sent a FAFSA letter to AZ school leaders, school counselors and community partners, and encouraged the launch of a statewide Finish Line to FAFSA campaign website to encourage completion events, which includes a regularly updated calendar highlighting all FAFSA events in the state!
  • Bridges 2 Life and Broward County Public Schools in Broward County, Florida are planning a FAFSA outreach campaign to reach over 30,000 parents via email, text, and Instagram; hosting bilingual FAFSA bootcamps, and offering $20 gift cards for seniors who complete their FAFSA.
  • JP McCaskey High School in Lancaster, PA is hosting individual appointments for families throughout the school day all week in both of their high school buildings, before coming together in a central location in the afternoon and evening to offer more appointments with the support of some of their local higher education and community partners. Their goal is always to try to meet families when they are available, and so they will have appointments as early as 8am and as late as 7:30pm, with light refreshments available throughout.
  • Jackson City School in Jackson, Kentucky set a goal of 100% FAFSA submissions by April 19, is creating videos that highlight the importance of FAFSA, is supporting student leadership in promoting financial aid awareness throughout the community and is hosting a FAFSA Spirit Week with daily activities to engage students.
  • The Los Angeles Unified School District is hosting regional FAFSA completion workshops each day during the Week of Action, in-school and after-school completion sessions for students and parents and is calling and texting students and parents directly to explain the importance of and steps to submitting the FAFSA.
  • The Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development plans to launch a Week of Action social media campaign to build upon their ongoing efforts to drive FAFSA submissions, which include regularly holding a “FAFSA Frenzy” completion effort throughout the state, pushing the importance of completing the FAFSA through social media and websites, and plans to supply graduation stoles to seniors who complete their FAFSA. Governor Mike Parson also put out PSA radio ad and sent a letter to high school seniors.

Are you holding a submission event during the FAFSA Week of Action? Check out amplification ideas here, example social media messages here, and be sure to share your efforts and success stories using #FAFSAFastBreak on social media!

Tracking FAFSA Data

Want to keep track on how your state, district or high school is doing in terms of FAFSA submissions? Check out your state rankings here (updated weekly) and look up submission data filtered by district or high school at the Federal Student Aid website here.

FAFSA Snapshot

Now is the time for high school seniors and returning college students to submit their 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, an application that students and families need to complete to apply for federal student aid, such as federal grants, work-study funds, and loans. Students can complete the FAFSA form here.

Additional FAFSA Resources

  1. Video: What is FAFSA?
  2. FAFSA Checklist & Timeline for Students & Families
  3. Pro Tips for the 2024-2025 FAFSA Form
  4. FAFSA “How To” Videos
  5. FAFSA Bootcamp Webinar Recording

You can also find additional resources, toolkits, pro-tips, and “how to” videos on the U.S. Department of Education’s website here.

For more information about the FAFSA process, check out StudentAid.gov here. Users can click “Español” at the top right side of the page, or choose Spanish as their preferred language if they have a StudentAid.gov account.

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Raising the Bar for Multilingualism and English Learners Through a Re-Imagined National Professional Development Program (NPD)

This is crossposted from the U.S. Department of Education blog, Homeroom

The U.S. Department of Education Invites Applications for NPD Competitive Grant

A purple graphic with the ED logo and white text that reads: Raising the Bar for Multilingualism and English-Learners Through a Re-Imagined National Professional Development Program (NPD)

By: Beatriz Ceja, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) and Loredana Valtierra, Policy Advisor, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development (OPEPD)

The need for bilingual and multilingual teachers is critical more than ever, as over five million of our public-school enrolled students are English learners (ELs). “Raise the Bar (RTB): Lead the World” Initiative is the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) call to action to transform pre-kindergarten through postsecondary learning and unite around what truly works. The National Professional Development (NPD) program, administered by the Office of English Language Acquisition, is ready to respond to the call. Investments in programs that promote academic excellence to boldly improve teaching and learning will increase our global competitiveness.

The NPD program is a competitive grant program that provides funding to support the implementation of pre-service and in-service professional development activities intended to improve instruction for ELs and assist education personnel working with ELs to meet high professional standards. This competitive grant through new rulemaking is focused on the development and support for bilingual and multilingual teachers. The Notice Inviting Applications, which was recently published in the Federal Register on March 12, 2024, aligns with the education priorities of the Biden-Harris Administration and the Department’s goals to ensure that ELs have access to well-prepared educators and growing the number of qualified bilingual and multilingual educators needed to expand the availability of bilingual program. An $8.4 million dollar investment, this effort seeks to support pre-service training programs for teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators, and aspiring educators, including high school students, who want to become fully certified as bilingual or multilingual educators.

For both Beatriz Ceja, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Language Acquisition (OELA) and Loredana Valtierra, Policy Advisor for the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development at the Department, this work is fueled by personal experience.

When reminiscing on her experience, Beatriz said, “I remember walking into the classroom on my first day of kindergarten ready to learn. I didn’t speak English at the time and my kindergarten teacher did not speak Spanish. While kind, she sat me down with the other students who didn’t speak English and together we tried to make sense of this new experience. I felt unseen and felt embarrassed for not speaking English. In those days, I was pulled out of the classroom for hours with the rest of the Spanish speaking students to learn English. At some point I learned enough English to participate with the larger group and the pull-out time was decreased. Years later I would become a bilingual teacher and recognized the importance of making families and especially EL students feel welcomed into our schools by acknowledging and valuing their native language”.

Loredana shared a similar sentiment, “In sixth grade, I was a bilingual kid who attended a predominantly white school district. That I spoke another language at home seemed irrelevant and unnoticed until one day, a newcomer student arrived from Honduras who could only speak Spanish at the time. Not a single adult who taught us could speak to her and I was assigned to be her interpreter. We shared the same schedule, sat next to each other in every class, and suddenly had the eyes and ears of our white peers on us at every moment. Sometimes it wasn’t so kind, but my new classmate couldn’t understand that. I felt alienated and disappointed by our ‘very good school district’. How did we live in America, and nobody was prepared to receive students like her? I still think of her and know that for every lonely feeling I held, she likely felt more.”

This reimagined NPD came out of recognizing the shortage of multilingual teachers and a gap in federal policy to specifically address the need, while a growing number of public-school students speak a language other than English at home. We hear about this need from so many school communities. The education field has often missed or overlooked the growing talent among our bilingual paraprofessionals and young people in their own backyards, as a pool of bilingual and multilingual future teachers. This is the talent of potential educators that we need to tap into, inspire, and support.

We need to uplift the assets bilingual communities bring to our schools like their heritage language and culture. The hope is that students like Loredana’s classmate and children like Beatriz are seen and that they truly have access to high quality educational opportunities.

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Reaching Bilingual Teachers Earlier in the Pipeline: Proposed Priorities for the National Professional Development Program

This was crossposted from the U.S. Department of Education blog, Homeroom.
Reaching Bilingual Teachers Earlier In The Pipeline: Proposed Priorities For The National Professional Development Program

By: Montserrat Garibay, Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director, Office of English Language Acquisition

I clearly remember my first day of middle school as a newly arrived student from Mexico in Austin, Texas, I didn’t speak a word of English and was nervous to start a new life with my mother and sister.  My first class looked like the United Nations, students from all over the world speaking different languages, we were shy and scared.  It wasn’t until, our ESL teacher, Mrs. Hernandez welcomed us with a big smile that I knew t I was going to be fine. My feelings were confirmed when I heard her speak Spanish.

Within a few months, everyone in the class was learning. Mrs. Hernandez had high expectations for all the students; her classes were rigorous, she had us working in groups, collaborating, singing, and using different strategies. Her classroom was full of diverse books, multicultural pictures and a world map with our pictures and displaying our best work. She had also established a strong relationship with my mom and would communicate with her often to let her know how I was doing in school. She would share about different resources such as food banks and after school programs for tutoring.

Within a year, I was able to transition to regular English classes. Years later, I graduated from high school all because of Mrs. Hernandez’s strong foundation., she helped me believe in myself.  Mrs. Hernandez was my inspiration to become a bilingual teacher. I wanted to be just like her. Her presence inspired me to embrace multilingualism, become a critical thinker, and actively engage with families. That experience fueled my passion for education and led me to become a teacher.

Nearly a decade later, when I was a bilingual pre-k teacher at the same school district where I attended middle school and graduated from high school in Austin, Texas, I had the opportunity to pursue my master’s degree in Bilingual Education at the University of Texas at Austin through Proyecto Maestria, a National Professional Development (NPD) grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

At the time, Proyecto Maestria may not have been called a “grow-your-own” effort, but it had the components of what we know today to be beneficial. This grant opened the door to expand my knowledge about the importance of quality bilingual education, the impact that it can have on promoting biliterate and bicultural students, and the benefit of continuing as a bilingual teacher in my home community. That NPD grant had a significant impact on my life because it provided me with the opportunity to continue my education with the goal of providing an exceptional education for my students. Getting to this point in my career though, wasn’t easy. I had to navigate working multiple jobs to pay for my tuition, being a first-generation college student, taking remedial math classes to be proficient in math. I can only imagine how many more doors it could open if it were available for aspiring educators who need help getting their foot in the door – who perhaps like me, want to serve kids like the ones we were, but don’t have all the resources to get started.

This is why the Department is proposing new priorities, requirements, and definitions in the NPD program that would grow our numbers of bilingual and multilingual educators to expand the availability of bilingual programs for all students and help ensure that English Learners have access to well-prepared educators,  and emphasize and elevate supports for students from low-income backgrounds. The Notice of Proposed Priorities (Federal Register :: Proposed Priorities, Requirements, and Definitions-National Professional Development Program invites public comment for 30 days.

Montserrat Garibay is the Assistant Deputy Secretary & Director for the Office of English Language Acquisition at the U.S. Department of Education. Previously, she served as the Senior Advisor for Labor Relations at the Office of Secretary for two years. Garibay was a bilingual pre-kindergarten teacher for eight years and a National Board-Certified Teacher in Austin, Texas. She served as Vice President for Certified Employees with Education Austin, a merged union local with the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. She graduated from the University of Texas-Austin with a Master of Education. 

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Digital Equity Champions for All Learners: Madison College High School Equivalency Program Builds Digital Skills among Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers

This is crossposted from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology.

In Wisconsin, Madison College’s High School Equivalency Program (HEP) supports migrant and seasonal farm workers and their families earning their Certificate of General Educational Development (GED) or High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED). Learners in this program are mostly mobile, and they come from across the entire state, often rural and remote areas. Therefore, even prior to COVID-19, program director Alex Fernández needed ways to enable learner access to the program from remote locations. Then, the onset of the pandemic accelerated the need for digital access and skills. 

To meet learners’ device access needs, Madison College created the Technology Access Program to loan laptops and hotspots to registered students, including HEP participants, free of charge. The HEP program also informed learners about federal programs such as the Affordable Connectivity Program. Learners were encouraged to use their cell phones to access content in areas with unreliable internet service, and instructors provided technical support and flexibility with submitting assignments. 

When the GED exam transitioned online, students needed to learn both exam content and digital skills to navigate the exam platform. Elizabeth Fontán, an HEP instructor at Madison College, found that learners’ hesitancy to use technology and lack of support in home languages served as significant barriers to acquiring digital literacy skills. “My students were overwhelmed by computers,” Fontán explained. She began meeting her learners’ needs by leveraging materials translated into Spanish. Fontán also integrated digital skill-building opportunities into instructional content and sought to destigmatize learners’ lack of knowledge on how to use technology. “We take for granted the skills of opening a document, attaching files,” said Fontán. “These need to be built in[to the curriculum].” 

The program has observed the impact of device access, skill-building opportunities, technical support, and attention to factors that contribute to learner success like childcare and course/assignment flexibility. For example, prior to the pandemic, Madison College HEP began offering online opportunities for learners to build digital skills and work towards their HSED on the weekends to accommodate learners whose schedules had limited flexibility during the weekday.  Currently, recognizing that some learners live in migratory camps and share limited physical space with their families, the program is working to implement stipends for childcare, so learners can better participate in remote learning. 

With these supports, learners have been better able to persist in the program and often continue their educational journey past their HSED/GED, taking other classes offered at the college. Fontán shared the story of Ignacia, who had participated in the program for many years but hadn’t passed the GED tests. Although she was initially intimidated by the transition online, she used remote learning opportunities to her advantage, especially given her busy schedule as a certified nursing assistant. Leveraging the flexibility of online classes and competency-based – rather than exam-based – coursework, Ignacia recently graduated from Madison College HEP and plans to enroll in a nursing program soon. 

Learners are additionally provided with a personal device upon completion of the program, which enables them to continue leveraging technology to meet their and their families’ needs, such as assisting their children with schoolwork. Fernández says the program helps them “see they can do things they didn’t think they were capable of.” 

When asked for advice for states developing digital equity plans, Fernández stressed the importance of sharing program successes with leaders at the local and state level. “These programs might not be on their radar until it is highlighted. We need to advocate for these things because it takes money. We need to convince people to allocate funds for this.” For educators and educational leaders, Fontán encouraged the explicit inclusion of digital skill-building opportunities when developing curricula with digital elements.

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Apprentice Trailblazers: Share your story, build the future

This is crossposted from the U.S. Department of Labor blog.

This year marks the 86th anniversary of the National Apprenticeship Act, which established the Registered Apprenticeship system as we know it today. As the apprenticeship system continues to evolve, expand and diversify, Registered Apprenticeship continues to serve as a gold standard of work-based learning.

In honor of Registered Apprenticeship’s transformative impact on the lives of millions of apprentices over the past 86 years, we’re launching the Apprentice Trailblazer Initiative. This new initiative will create a national network of apprentices and apprenticeship graduates from all walks of life and give them a platform to feature their stories, share their experiences on Registered Apprenticeship, and show how apprenticeships increase opportunities for all communities, particularly underserved populations.

The Apprentice Trailblazer Initiative is a part of our broader Youth Employment Works strategy, which supports policies, partnerships and strategies to provide equitable access for all young people to prepare for high-quality career paths through Registered Apprenticeship.

The first cohort of Apprentice Trailblazers will focus on youth ages 16-24. We’ve seen how Registered Apprenticeship provides young people the unique opportunity to gain critical skills and work experience in their early working years and access to a career pathway and free education, often including college credit and even a degree. Serving as an Apprentice Trailblazer will offer additional professional development opportunities for apprentices and graduates, as participants will have the chance to enhance their leadership and teamwork skills and engage in networking and mentorship.

As we turn towards the future of Registered Apprenticeship, we must ensure that all youth, especially those from traditionally underrepresented populations, have access to these opportunities for good jobs and high-growth career pathways.

Apply to become an Apprentice Trailblazer

We are calling on all youth apprentices and recent graduates interested in becoming Apprentice Trailblazers to coordinate with your Registered Apprenticeship sponsors on the application. The application deadline for the first cohort is Sept. 30, and we plan to announce the first cohort of youth Apprentice Trailblazers during National Apprenticeship Week, Nov. 13-19.

Visit the Apprentice Trailblazer page to find the application and learn more about the initiative.

Please spread the word throughout your networks, encourage youth apprentices and recent graduates to apply, and remember to tag us on social media with #ApprenticeTrailblazers and #ApprenticeshipUSA.

Brent Parton is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department’s Employment and Training Administration.

Watch Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su announce the Apprentice Trailblazers Program.

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Launching the Career Connected High School Grant Program

This was crossposted from the U.S. Department of Education blog, Homeroom.
Launching The Career Connected High School Grant Program

For far too long, there have been invisible walls between K-12, higher education, and workforce systems treated like they’re set in stone. That you need to complete one before moving on to the next. But the reality is that there’s a lot more overlap, and it’s time to Raise the Bar and reimagine high school in this country.

That means that in high schools of the future, college is one, but not the only, pathway to a brighter future. And in high schools of the future, every student graduates with the tools they need to “Unlocking Career Success.”

That’s why today, at the Unlocking Pathways Summit in Aurora, Colorado, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced the launch of a new $25 million Career Connected High School Grant program. This program will provide grants to consortia of local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and employers to pilot evidence-based strategies to increase the integration and alignment of the last two years of high school and the first two years of postsecondary education to improve postsecondary education and career outcomes for all students.

These grants – and these summits  – are part of the Raise the Bar: Unlocking Career Success initiative, aimed at helping young Americans access good-paying jobs created by President Biden’s Bidenomics agenda. This cross-government effort seeks to increase and expand access to high-quality career pathways to help young Americans pursue jobs in today’s in-demand fields and be prepared for careers of the future. These summits, which are co-hosted by Jobs for the Future and partnering federal agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Commerce, Energy, and Transporation, bring together state and local leaders to discuss their youth workforce strategies and efforts that they can lead to create high schools of the future and ensure that every student is on a path to success.

Grantees can use funds for a variety of different activities based on the need of the region, including additional dual enrollment classes, covering the costs of tuition, books, supplies, and other related expenses for low-income students, tutoring, other academic supports, transportation for students to work-based learning sites, the development of new career & technical education (CTE) programs in high-growth fields like clean energy or to support teacher training and new equipment that may be needed to launch these programs.

The notice inviting applications (NIA) is now live here, and for more information about how the Department is working to strengthen college and career pathways sign up for our newsletter here.

Together, we can Unlock Career Success for all of our students.

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Digital Equity Champions for All Learners: How UnidosUS’ Padres Comprometidos Program Empowers Latino Parents with Digital Skills to Support Learners

This was crossposted from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology website.

UnidosUS is the largest nonprofit Latino civil rights advocacy organization in the United States. As part of the organization’s commitment to student success, UnidosUS launched the Padres Comprometidos program to support Latino parents’ ability to navigate the public school system and empower them as advocates for their child’s education.

In a conversation with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, Jose Rodriguez, UnidosUS’ director of parent and community engagement, described the reality of the digital divide for Latino parents. Many parents and caregivers do not have the necessary technology to engage with the school system, and even among those that do, many do not understand how to fully leverage that technology to meet their needs. For example, Rodriguez explained that many parents might only have a mobile device to access the Internet, and they might not be familiar with e-mail systems and other digital tools.

In response, Rodriguez and his team built the Padres Comprometidos Ed Tech Program to help develop Latino parents’ understanding of how they can use technology to their advantage. UnidosUS developed resources and curricula that showcase how to use common digital platforms and learning management systems used by schools. By offering these resources in partnership with schools, districts, and local PTAs, the program enables parents to use digital tools to build stronger relationships with teachers and school leaders.

Rodriguez said, “I knew that most of the [platforms] had the same features — they had a microphone that you could mute and unmute, they had a camera that you could turn on and turn off, they had a chat [function], and they had the raise your hand feature. So…I started creating lessons, which became our materials for the PC Ed Tech curriculum.” According to independent evaluations, the program has consistently increased Latino parents’ engagement with teachers and school administrators. Additionally, students whose parents were in the program were more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities, and after the program, parents were found to spend more time at the school and play a “larger role in preparing their child for college”.

Rodriguez said that his personal experiences with linguistic discrimination shaped his perspective on barriers that immigrant parents face when engaging with their child’s education. “I’m constantly thinking about the parents and thinking about the families and the caregivers and how to get them the material in a language or in a format that is comprehensible to them,” he said.

Additionally, Rodriguez spoke about UnidosUS’ Digital Skills for Life program, a workforce development initiative that teaches in-demand skills. In partnership with Google, UnidosUS implements this 5-week, cohort-based program, which teaches adult learners – including many parents – fundamental digital skills, such as basic computer software and hardware knowledge, web navigation, and digital communications. Rodriguez discussed how the program unlocks opportunities for parents in many aspects of their daily lives, saying, “Digital Skills for Life is helping the parents connect with…doctors, it is helping them do online banking, it is helping them by preparing them for the 21st century.”

The Padres Comprometidos and Digital Skills for Life programs demonstrate how digital access and skill-building opportunities can support parents from underserved communities to navigate the public school system and empower them to become advocates for their child’s education. By providing resources and training programs that showcase how to use educational technology platforms and leverage digital tools, leaders can help build stronger relationships between parents/caregivers and schools and support families in meeting their holistic needs, which can have long-term benefits for students.

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My Hometown Community College & The Change It’s Made In Me

This was crossposted by the U.S. Department of Education’s blog, Homeroom.

By: Ángel Gabriel Garcia, Student at Oxnard College

My name is Ángel Gabriel Garcia, and I am a proud first-generation community college student at Oxnard College. I was born and raised in Oxnard, California, a city that’s often ridiculed and overlooked due to its high concentration of immigrant families and poverty. The ugly and negative stereotypes I’ve heard about my community over the years have instilled a burning passion in me to prove the cynics wrong and show my community’s beauty. Thanks to my community college, I’ve been able to start doing just that.

My community college experience has given me the support and space to develop my academic skills and advocate for the people and spaces I care about. For me, community colleges offered hope and an opportunity to stop the deepening cycles of poverty that so many immigrant families tragically fall into. Community colleges provide a path for young people to bring generational transformation to their families through better-paying careers and life-changing opportunities. I have personally been blessed with immigrant parents who have encouraged my siblings and me to achieve a higher level of education. My community college has given my family that opportunity and helped countless neighbors, friends, and relatives of mine to do the same.

I’ve also been given a chance to participate in our Associated Student Government (ASG), which has given me incredible experiences to speak out on issues impacting my community and to develop my leadership skills as a young adult. I’ve combined those skills with my passion for art, which I use to raise awareness on important issues impacting students and my community, such as mental health, LGBTQIA+ rights, and the rights of undocumented families, including some of my own relatives. After graduating, I plan to eventually transfer to a four-year university where I’ll continue majoring in art and exploring opportunities to make an impact in the community I love.

In short, my community college experience has helped me blossom and pursue the goals I have set for myself and my family. My community college has provided me with the resources and education I need to get ahead. I never feel like a number on this campus, and I know no other place that would have given me this opportunity. I am eternally grateful to Oxnard and its community college for shaping me into the person I am today and I hope to continue this new cycle of growth, education, and hope for my family in the years to come.

Ángel Gabriel Garcia is a proud first generation community college student at Oxnard College where he is majoring in Studio Arts. Ángel is the Senator of Academic Affairs in the college Associated Student Government. Ángel is in his second year at Oxnard College.

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Student Loan Debt Relief Do’s and Don’ts

This was crossposted from the U.S. Department of Education blog, Homeroom.

student loan debt relief do's and don'ts

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM SCAMS INVOLVING STUDENT LOAN DEBT RELIEF

YOU ARE YOUR BEST PROTECTION AGAINST SCAMMERS

DON’T pay anyone who contacts you with promises of debt relief or loan forgiveness. YOU DO NOT NEED TO PAY ANYONE TO OBTAIN DEBT RELIEF. The application will be free and easy to use when it opens in October.

DON’T reveal your FSA ID or account information or password to anyone who contacts you. The Department of Education and your federal student loan servicer will never call or email you asking for this information.

DON’T ever give personal or financial information to an unfamiliar caller. When in doubt, hang up and call your student loan servicer directly. You can find your federal student loan servicer’s contact information at Studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/servicers.

DON’T refinance your federal student loans unless you know the risks. If you refinance federal student loans that are eligible for debt relief into a private loan, you will lose out on important benefits like one-time debt relief and flexible repayment plans for federal loans.

DO sign up at www.ed.gov/subscriptions to be notified when the Student Loan Debt Relief application becomes available.

DO create an FSA ID at StudentAid.gov. You will not need it for the debt relief application but having an FSA ID can allow you to easily access accurate information on your loan and make sure FSA can contact you directly, helping you equip yourself against scammers trying to contact you. Log in to your current account on StudentAid.gov and keep your contact info up to date. If you need help logging in follow these tips on accessing your account.

DO make sure your loan servicer has your most current contact information. If you don’t know who your servicer is, you can log into StudentAid.gov and see your servicer(s) in your account.

DO report scammers to the Federal Trade Commission by visiting reportfraud.ftc.gov.

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Hispanic Heritage Month: “La Historia De Mi Gente”

This was crossposted by the U.S. Department of Education blog, Homeroom

Hispanic Heritage Month: "La Historia De Mi Gente"

By: Amanda Zepeda

My first teachers were my parents. Both grew up in immigrant households in the vibrant city of Los Angeles. They were Chicano latch-key-kids of the 1970s. My father began working at a young age, supplementing the family’s income with a paper route before school and gardening work with my grandfather on the weekend. My mother loved reading and writing. She was always naturally good with numbers and words, which made her stand out in her classes. Both were quick-witted and capable, and yet neither of them were particularly pushed by their parents academically. As a defiant reaction to this, my parents made it a point to repeat phrases such as “Appreciate what you have”, “Pay attention in school”, and “You’re going to college!”. They made it their mission to ‘break the cycle’ and give us what they had not been given.

My dad eventually got a job right out of high school, and my mom made her way to a four-year university, encouraged to do so by her teachers. She dropped out before graduating, but eventually went back almost twenty years later to cross that stage. The experiences that they had helped to shape who they became and thus shaped how they decided to raise my siblings and me. They taught us the importance of family, to show compassion, to persevere, and most importantly, the value of education.

I believe education is the most valuable source of freedom a person can have. Throughout history, people have been imprisoned, punished, and castigated over knowledge. Thousands have fought to obtain it and others have fought to keep people from having it. Knowledge is our way to success; knowledge of our culture, knowledge of our people, and knowledge of our history.

Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, I was surrounded by my Latino community. However, I did not always see myself or my community represented in school. We learned about Columbus, the California Missions, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and many other topics and yet the accomplishments of my communities were mysteriously missing from our textbooks and discussions. While those people and events are important to understand the complexity of United States history, they do not tell the complete story.

The first time I had a Latina teacher was the first time I had a teacher that spoke like me, looked like me, and had stories like mine. I did not have this experience until I was in community college. Before this, I had felt disconnected from my history, my family’s story, and myself for so long. I didn’t even realize anything was wrong. Sitting in my first Ethnic Studies class was the first time I learned about Native resistance against Europeans throughout North America, or about empowered Chicanas in the 1960s demanding social change, or about the intertwined history between the United States and Latin America. It was my history; my family’s story being told. A story of immigration, loss, trauma, love, strength, and perseverance. La historia de mi gente. I realized that this is what I wanted for the next generation. I didn’t want them to wait twenty years to hear their stories. I wanted them to see themselves reflected, acknowledged, and valued in their K-12 classes. So, I decided to continue what my parents had begun, to attempt to “break the cycle” of lack of education for as many kids as I could. I decided to become a teacher.

Celebrating Latino Heritage month to me means commemorating and acknowledging those that came before us. It means honoring our ancestors and sharing their powerful stories in and outside the classroom. Stories of community, of resistance, of love, of passion, of struggle and of achievement. Stories that we can learn from, that will bring us together, and make us stronger.

Amanda Zepeda is a second generation Chicana from the San Fernando Valley. She was a community college transfer student that graduated from San Francisco State University with a double major in History and Latina/o Studies and a minor is Race and Resistance. This is her second year as a high school educator teaching both Ethnic Studies and United States History and has been working within the education field for the past eight years.

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