Students, teachers take on PSJA Census Week
Texas Border Business
PHARR – Thousands of students and their families in Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD learned about the 2020 Census through interactive Google Classroom lessons as part of PSJA Census Week held May 27-May 1, 2020.
PSJA Census Week was held in partnership with district partners the Cities of Pharr, San Juan, and Alamo and consisted of various distance learning Social Studies lessons and interactive activities like photos and TikTok Challenges. To recognize educators for the efforts, the City of Pharr provided gift cards that were raffled and mailed to winners.
For Selina Garza, Social Studies Teacher at Austin Middle School, she hopes the curriculum and efforts helped promote more representation of her community at the local, state, and federal levels.
“The Census 2020 lesson brought all that information together to help the students fully understand the importance of the Census and the importance of being counted,” said Garza. “These lessons will hopefully start a wave of knowledge about the Census and continue to do so, so we can increase participation in the future.”
As part of their lessons, students read articles, created posters, and some showcased their knowledge through videos about the Census with their families. Middle school and high school teachers also helped raise awareness of social media platforms like TikTok.
In addition to promoting the Census 2020 at the classroom level, PSJA ISD district leaders in the PSJA Census Committee are also promoting the mandated survey to employees via department outreach and to the community through efforts by Parent Census Ambassadors through the PSJA Parental Engagement Department.
“We know how important the Census statistics are for our tri-city community and the Rio Grande Valley and want to make sure our PSJA Family counts,” said PSJA Superintendent Dr. Jorge L. Arredondo. “Thank you to our amazing students and staff for their efforts in raising awareness, and of course our city partners for joining us on these efforts.”
According to the US Census website, the U.S. Constitution mandates that a census of the population be conducted every 10 years. Census statistics are used to determine the number of seats each state holds in the U.S. House of Representatives and inform how state, local and federal lawmakers will allocate billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities every year for the next 10 years.
“Getting an accurate census count is so important for our community’s future, and I applaud PSJA ISD teachers and students for their creativity and innovation in using digital resources and social media to engage with users while actively promoting and encouraging participation in the 2020 Census,” said City of Pharr Mayor Dr. Ambrosio Hernandez.
Officials from the cities of San Juan and Alamo also want to encourage tri-city residents to make sure they complete this mandated survey.
“Step forward and be counted,” said Alamo Mayor Diana Martinez.
According to the City of San Juan Mayor Mario Garza, uniting for these partnerships will make a difference.
“Each person that participates in the 2020 US Census can make a difference and help impact the next 10 years of health care, infrastructure, and education in our community,” said Mayor Garza. “Please remember, everyone, counts.”
