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Language
Lessons
I became
a business owner in 1995 when I decided I wanted
to create a business that integrated my talents
as an artist and teacher with my desire to pass
on the Spanish language to my new son, Silviano.
I am Cuban-American, and my parents instilled in
me a pride in my heritage and the Spanish
language that permeates my life.
I began to notice that Hispanic culture and the
Spanish language were being lost with the new
generation, and I started an afterschool program
teaching Spanish through art. The program was
very successful. There was nothing out on the
market like it, so a year later I decided to
develop and package the concept, and “SUBE:
Learning Language Thru Art, Music & Games” was
born. |
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Agnes Chavez, pictured here in
1996 with her son Silviano, is
the founder and director of
Logic Dream Productions Inc. and
was a recipient of a 2004 Anna
Maria Arias Memorial Business
Fund Award. |
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The original SUBE kit is a
Spanish-as-a-second-language (SSL) program that
comes with a step-by-step manual aligned with
national standards, color-coded flashcards, card
games, music videos and CDs, and story- and
activity books. This multisensory approach, in
two sequential levels that span preschool
through fifth grade, motivates children to learn
Spanish. I marketed SUBE locally, in New Mexico,
for the first seven years to assure that the
curriculum was field-tested successfully. This
year, I developed the English version of SUBE,
which uses the same model to teach English as a
second language.
SUBE grew as my son grew. In fact, I can chart
his growth by looking to the SUBE product.
Silviano is 11 now, and when he was 3, he and a
group of his peers participated in the series of
SUBE Latin music videos that I wrote and
produced. My community here in Taos, N.M., was
thrilled to see their kids star in the videos
and have been supportive as I’ve struggled to
become a business owner, working two and three
jobs while marketing SUBE.
The support of organizations such as the Anna
Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund, Wesst Corp
(Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team), and
the New Mexico Community Development Loan Fund
(NMCDLF) have made it possible for a small
business like mine, with very limited capital,
to keep growing. Thanks to these organizations I
have added new products or upgrades every year
to stay competitive. The Anna Maria Arias
Memorial Business Fund allowed me to produce a
new product that teachers had been asking for—an
early-reader book series.
This year, I began marketing SUBE at national
conferences, and the business, now approaching
its 10th year, is growing steadily. A few years
ago, I formed a partnership with the National
Hispanic Cultural Center, Intel, and the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) to realize a bigger
dream—to find new technologies and new ways to
preserve cultural and ecological diversity in
the schools, as well as in the communities.
Through this partnership, Intel is setting up
TechSitios in Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the
Philippines, and my company has been contracted
to implement a series of educational workshops
at these TechSitios called Digital Storytelling,
a powerful new way to teach people with little
to no computer experience how to tell their
personal stories using multimedia technology.
After a three-day workshop,
participants—including ranchers, teachers,
curanderas, artists, and writers—create a
three-minute video clip that provides a
microcosmic view of common social and cultural
issues. We have found that the art of digital
storytelling creates a profound shift from being
externally directed by world media to being
empowered by the creating and sharing of
personal stories using multimedia technology.
I passionately believe that language is the grid
in which many vital cultural traditions and
identities are embedded—and that it is through
these cultural traditions and identities that we
stay in balance with the earth, with our
communities, and with ourselves. We live in a
critical time, environmentally and socially. I
believe that business, like so many other
aspects of our lives, is being challenged to
evolve and grow in ways that meet the needs of a
new global community. I am grateful that I have
found a business that meets that challenge and
thankful to those who have made it possible.
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