The Juntos Program

I N T RO D U C T I ON

The Juntos Movement: An Immigrant Story Within Extension

Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States, and in a Pew Research Center survey in 2016, Latino voters ranked education a top priority (Pew Research Center, 2016). This eFieldbook presents an Extension-born program that focuses on a growing population in North Carolina and that today is a national effort. The Juntos Program takes an asset-based approach centered on “the family/la fami lia” in designing services and defining success. In 2007, the Juntos team surveyed the Latinx communities in North Carolina to determine what topic they

wanted to know more about and what resources they needed. Like the Pew Research study did nearly ten ye ars later, our survey revealed that Latinos’ number one priority was to understand and learn how to navigate U.S. school systems so that their young people could reach their academic goals.

Since 2007 the Juntos program has evolved in programming and grown its reach beyond North Carolina. Journey with us as we look at an Extension program that sees an America that is multi-racial, family-centered, bicultural, and bilingual. An America with first-generation students and their families who are rich with potential and poised to change the narrative of opportunity in this country. An America where respect and honor for culture, heritage, and language are assets and not deficits.

“ Juntos focuses on educating the parents and the students, but also it allows them to and helps

them maintain their customs, their Latin American heritage.”

— Juntos father

Throughout this eFieldbook, we acknowledge and use various terminology to refer to the Latino(a)/Latinx/Hispanic population. Latinx is the newest, gender-neutral term used in higher education settings, among some college-age students, and in literature. Still, we respect the use of Hispanic, Latino, Latina, and a person’s country of origin, which many of our families prefer to use. This eFieldbook is about the Juntos journey and how others can learn from what we have experienced and developed. In Part 1, we give you the history of Juntos. Part 2 describes how the program has grown with a vision for sustainability and offers best practices we learned along the way. In Part 3, you will hear the voices of Juntos coordinators, reflecting on their Juntos Program experiences and offering advice to other Juntos partners. In Part 4, a Juntos partner shares how the partnership has allowed space for Juntos students to publish their stories on multiple platforms through the Literacy and Community Initiative writing program. In Part 5, we give you detailed program marketing and communication tips and share our new