The Texas State Board of Education approved Mexican American Studies (MAS) as an official course in 2018.
While the one-credit elective covers the contributions of Mexican Americans, advocates are pushing for MAS to be recognized as a core history/social studies course in Texas high schools.
A report led by a trio of San Antonio high school students examined the role MAS plays in the community. It asked students, teachers and administrators how they feel about the course.
MAS for Our Schools ultimately found that, among other things, MAS had a positive impact and enriches the learning of U.S. and Texas history.
Marcela Hernández, a recent graduate from Northside ISD’s Marshal Law & Medical Services Magnet School, is one of the student researchers.
They said the course opens chapters of history that are often undertold.
“I took Texas history in middle school. I took U.S. history, world history, and if Mexican Americans were mentioned — if Mexicans at all were mentioned — then it was a short, little thing,” Hernández said. “Hearing the full history that MAS provided, that's what drew me into it first.”
Hannah Rosales and Jonas Lokensgard— both recent graduates of John Marshall High School in NISD — also worked on the report.
Rosales said courses like MAS give students a better understanding of the diverse world in which we live.
“It helps create a cultural balance between everybody where they can understand how people are different from themselves,” she said.
The research for the report was conducted in partnership with mentors from the nonprofit IDRA, a San Antonio-based nonprofit that works to achieve equal education opportunities in public schools.
Lokensgard said working with IDRA was a highlight.
“They listened to our voices. We weren’t just students and they were the teachers. I felt like we were peers.”
View the full report below:
