The following is an excerpt of an editorial written by advanced English students which appeared in the Jackson Hole News & Guide on November 23, 2005. The editorial is an example of how community issues have been integrated into our curriculum.

We engage students in critical analysis of challenging situations in their lives and community. We look forward to sharing more student voices with the Jackson community!

We are Latino students learning English at Teton Literacy Program and we care about the Jackson community. After the sexual assault that happened on the 21st’ of August, there has been tension between Latinos and Americans.

We are writing this article after conducting some interviews with community leaders and organizations like the Sheriffs Office, Social Services Department, Latino Resource Center and a special interview with the town Mayor. Our goal is to help Americans to better understand Latinos, in order to build a strong community.

As a part of the Latino community, we have found some myths here in Jackson. The first myth is that Latinos do not pay taxes because they are undocumented. Every Latino who works in the United States pays taxes whether they are documented or undocumented. The documented immigrants pay taxes with their Social Security number, while the undocumented immigrants pay their taxes with the ITIN number (Individual Tax Payer Identification Number). This is a number issued by the government that is used to collect taxes from undocumented immigrants.

The second myth is that the Latinos are freeloaders; some Americans think that Latinos receive services paid for by the American people. Actually, the federal government offers programs for the poor; these programs are not exclusively for Latinos; they are for the community in general.

“The money spent on Latinos is a pittance over all the rest of the community.” This is a quote from [Mayor] Mark J. Barron.

For Latinos, our family is of highest value. Our commitment to family is for a lifetime. We take care of our young, and our elderly. In order to provide for the basic needs of our family, we work hard. To accomplish this we face many challenges such as leaving our homes and families behind, learning a new language and culture, and we work to be accepted in a new community.

The mayor says, “that 62 % of revenue that pays for public funds is from sales tax revenue, more than half is from tourists, are we freeloaders? I don’t think so, but someone could say so.”

We are not denying that we have criminal elements in our community, just like any other race. We want to invite our Latino community to work against any criminal actions by reporting any wrongful activities and show the community that we can cooperate to solve problems and change those Latino myths. Perhaps this article can help everyone to better understand our Latino community.

Written by: César García, Connie Vasquez, Leo Sanchez, and Lidia Morales