Throughout the years, we have been inspired, motivated and sustained by the powerful
and moving testimonies of parents when they completed PIQE’s classes or when they advocated on behalf of their children.

A farm worker in San Jose stood before his graduating class and said that he learned from PIQE that he is the architect of his children’s future and he must decide which bus they will get on:  the bus that takes them to work in the fields or the bus that takes them to the university.  He declared that night that, “My children will be on the bus to the university.”

Sra. Alicia Millan, a single mother of four children living in Barrio Logan, called the PIQE office to share with us what PIQE did for her family.  She humbly stated, “If I hadn’t had the fortune of attending those PIQE classes 12 years ago, I don’t know where I or my family would be today. Those classes opened my eyes, encouraged me, and motivated me to never give up on my children. It was like a light bulb going on inside my head! But more than anything, being in classes with other parents made me feel that I wasn’t alone. We, as parents, care for our children and we learned that we could make the difference in their future!” She concluded her comments with “GRACIAS, PIQE!”  Ms. Millan’s four children are now attending a community college or a university—her son, Juan Carlos, is doing his doctorate studies at UCSD in Physics.



On Wednesday, April 2, 2003 at Lincoln High School, a Latino father stood up at his PIQE graduation (unannounced) and asked to say a few words.  He turned to his children and then choked up—the silence said more than any words could convey.  The entire audience was moved to tears as he told his children, “Everything that I have done to you before PIQE, please forgive me, and know that things will be different in the future at home and at school.”



One of my most moving experiences occurred at a PIQE graduation in Orosi, California, a small farm community outside of Fresno.   The principal, Yolanda Vasquez, shared with the parents the true irony of life.  That afternoon a couple of visitors came to her office and one of the two men’s surname sounded familiar.  At the end of their meeting, she asked the man if he was related to Joseph Seymour from Seymour Farms and if he was, was Mr. Seymour still living.  The young man proudly asserted that he was Joseph Seymour’s son and he was doing quite well.  



Ms. Vasquez asked the young man if he would deliver his father a message from her. “Please tell Mr. Seymour that Salvador Vasquez (Ms. Vasquez’s father) lived a proud and dignified life and that his eleven children are all professionals today.”  The audience cheered and celebrated as Ms. Vasquez proceeded to explain to them that thirty years ago, her father Salvador and his five brothers were fired from Seymour Farms and banned from working in the surrounding farms in Tracy, California.  Why? Because Salvador had dared to invite Cesar Chavez and the UFW to meet with him.  Since the six families couldn’t find work, they finally relocated to the city of Orosi and continued to work in the fields to support their families.  Yolanda concluded her remarks by stating that thirty years later to the day, she now meets the son of Mr. Seymour and this evening she sits with Arturo Rodriquez, the President of the United Farm Workers and successor to Cesar Chavez.  The audience stood and clapped loudly.  All of us on the stage smiled as we looked at each other with a sense of satisfaction that we are part of something special.

Mr. Fred Avalos (San Jose) took an afternoon off from work to visit the school of his son who had brought home an “F” on his report card.  He went into the school office and asked to see his son’s “CUM-FILE” and was told by the clerk that he needed to first schedule an appointment.  Having just graduated from PIQE, he knew he was entitled to review the file.  He also knew that he probably couldn’t take another day off work---he calmly told the school clerk to please tell the principal that Freddy Avalos’s lawyer was here to meet with her.  The clerk told the principal that a parent in the front office was claiming to be a lawyer.  The principal entered the front office area and asked Mr. Avalos how she could help him.  Mr. Avalos responded, “I am Freddy Avalos’s father and lawyer because I represent his future.”  The principal met with Mr. Avalos that afternoon to review Freddy’s “CUM FILE” and they devised a work plan to improve Freddy’s grades.  Mr. Avalos called PIQE to share this experience and to let us know that his son’s grades have improved as a result of his meeting with the school.    

On March 19, 2003, Ms. Bonnie Fung graduated from the PIQE program at Washington Elementary in Los Angeles and she was selected as the class speaker.  In Cantonese, she told the audience, “I really enjoyed the highlighted information regarding college requirements and how we as parents must be prepared, and how the PIQE facilitator presented the information to everyone.  Also, the life samples that she used to make these illustrations “REAL”.

In 2002, PIQE hosted a panel of parents who were randomly selected to share their experiences after taking the PIQE classes.  They all shared very moving and inspiring stories of how they got involved with the schools of their children and how many of their children were now either attending college or had already graduated.  Each credited PIQE for helping them improve themselves and their families.  At the conclusion of the panel presentations, one of the mothers stood up and asked to share something very personal.  She was a short indigenous woman from Mexico and none of us were prepared for what she would share with us.  She went on to tell us that she had lived for years in a very abusive relationship with her husband.  When she finally went to her own father to tell him, he simply responded, “Well, have a good death!”  So she continued to stay in spite of the ongoing violence towards her and the children.  She then told the group that after attending the PIQE classes, “I found my spirit and my value as a human being.  I told my husband that the next time he abused me or the children I would report him to the police.”  On the next violent outburst by her husband, she had him arrested and the court ordered him to attend anger management and spousal abuse counseling.  She proudly concluded that he went through the counseling and has returned to his family and they very happy today.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the audience and we thanked her for sharing such a personal account.



It is because of these stories and thousands more, that we are determined to keep PIQE focused on empowering families and giving every student the option of a college education.  I have often told my colleagues that we should collect all these stories and I could rival the books, “Chicken Soup for the Soul” and publish our own, “Menudo for the Spirit.”  Thank you in advance for your donation; together we will make a difference!  By sponsoring a family, you will become an official member of PIQE and your name will be added to our website with the amount of your sponsorship.  You can visit our website to read our reports, share your comments and read about the ongoing special stories, projects and events.

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SI SE PUEDE!!!