Welcome! Nawah! Hau Kola! Bienvenidios! Jambo! Cualli Tlaneci!
Did you know that el molcajete is a stone tool utilized by indigenous populations in Meso-America and Mexico since at least the 1300’s to grind chili and tomatoes into salsa? It was the first food processor and the perfect gift for any aspiring chef.
Welcome to Journey Through Our Heritage(Journey) one of the nation’s most innovative and unique multi-cultural educational programs sponsored by Metropolitan State College of Denver (MSCD) Department of Chicano/Chicana Studies and Department of African/African American Studies. The Journey partners MSCD students with local high school students and engages them in a year long program that enhances current public school curriculum in the areas of African/African American, Native American, Chicana/o, Mexicana/o, Mexican-American, Red Bones, Métis, and Latina/o studies. The grand finale of the year long endeavor is an academic “knowledge bowl” between participating high school teams.
The Journey also participates in numerous community events and works with the Mauricio Saravia School of the Arts year round.
Mission
Journey Through Our Heritage promotes self empowerment, develops leaders and engages students with community by increasing their cultural and historical knowledge base through involvement in healthy competition, rigorous academic study and community service through the use of history, creative arts, language, and cultural arts.
Goals
- To implement indigenous values, traditions, and practices to support youth through a rigorous interdisciplinary competition designed to challenge and inspire young minds.
- To create a formal connection between Metropolitan State College students with GED/high school students state wide.
- To engage, collaborate and work with community by building relationships with program administrators, community organizations, schools and potential partners who desire to participate in the program.
- It is to embrace and promote diversity by broadening participating teacher’s ability to teach a more culturally inclusive curriculum. We achieve this by facilitating the infusion of cultural and historical contributions of Latinos and other predominant ethnicities. Our efforts result in avenues for the success of all students in order to increase achievement by engaging in culturally relevant activities.
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It is with sincere gratitude and honor that the Journey Through Our Heritage program acknowledges the hard work and dedication of Domonic Velarde. Through his diligence and meticulous attention to detail the JTOH website has taken on new life. The depth and breadth of this endeavor is breathtaking.
Sincerely
Dr. Renee Fajardo
Coordinator of Journey Through Our Heritage
| Many thanks. Artwork courtesy of Stevon Lucero at http://www.stevonlucero.com/ |
| From left top to bottom. "Sacred Tree North", "North American Aztec", "Tlateco Market Diorama2", "Sacred Tree East", "Quetzal Astronomer", "Teztcatlipoca", "Sacred Tree South", "Tekpatl", "Sacred Tree West" |