Chaldean Voices

DIEGO VALLEY CHARTER SCHOOL HELPS IMMIGRANT AND DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS ATTAIN THEIR DREAMS

 

Hear our radio interview, originally aired on the East County Magazine Show on KNSJ:

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Story by Miriam Raftery, photo by Leon Thompson

August 28, 2015 (El Cajon) – Miguel Angel Soria and Peter Alkatib at Diego Valley Charter School in El Cajon are working wonders, helping 80% of their students—all at risk and drop-out youth—graduate with a high school diploma and go on to college or a career pathway. They are also co-producers of the Chaldean Voices documentary film debuting soon on KPBS and in El Cajon to celebrate Chaldean-American month.

About 30%  to 40% of the student body are Iraqi Chaldeans and most of the rest belong to other minority populations.  The school offers flexible scheduling to accommodate students who must work or raise children, also providing tutoring and other help to assure their students achieve their dreams.

Audio: 


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CHALDEAN VOICES - A TALE OF IMMIGRANTS

 

Photo: Film makers Miguel Angel Soria and Peter Alkatib

Film review by Mimi Pollack

July 19, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--As an ESL teacher at Grossmont College, the majority of students in my classes are Iraqi and Iraqi Chaldean. Thus, I had a particular interest in the documentary, “Chaldean Voices”, which I saw Friday evening at “Documentaries on the Prado” at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. Chaldeans are Christian Iraqis. Most have fled their war-torn home and with the exception of Detroit, Michigan, the largest number of Chaldeans now live in El Cajon, California, and surrounding neighborhoods.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.