October 2008
Mercedes ISD’s Cynthia Wise Galvan makes it cool to stay after school
By Jeff Carmack

Freddie Fender may be San Benito’s best-known native but to the students of Mercedes ISD, Cynthia Wise Galvan is the real star. As the project director for the district’s 21st Century Community Learning Center (CLC), Galvan is giving Mercedes ISD students myriad reasons to stay in school.

The Mercedes ISD CLC operates as an after-school tutorial program on all eight campuses. Its main goal is to increase student competency in core subjects, such as math, science and reading. However, thanks to Galvan, Mercedes ISD students — many of whom live in poverty and are considered at-risk — are exposed to much more than pure academics.

As the program director, she has expanded the curriculum to include special interests such as karate, photography, guitar lessons, gourmet cooking, mariachi music and more. On any given day, about 1,800 of the district’s 5,000 students take advantage of the after-school program, estimates Galvan.

And true to its community learning label, the CLC also offers classes for parents, who can learn anything from online security to salsa dancing.

From the Valley to Austin and back
Galvan took a circuitous route to get to her current position as the CLC director. After graduating from the University of Houston, she taught math and science in Harlingen ISD. During that time, she volunteered after hours for Ann Richards’ gubernatorial campaign, eventually becoming Richards’ campaign chair in Cameron County. Galvan so impressed Richards that the white-haired First Lady asked her to come to Austin to serve as executive director of the Governor’s Commission for Women.

After working for Richards for two years, Galvan spent another two years as executive director of the Senate Hispanic Caucus. When Richards was voted out of office and the caucus was dissolved,
Galvan became a senior budget analyst for Travis County’s Department of Human Services.

Galvan says her years in Austin convinced her that public education was her true calling. She eventually returned to the Valley and resumed teaching.

“I’m glad I left because I found out the grass isn’t always greener,” she says. “It’s how you take care of that grass
that matters.”

After Galvan had been teaching for four years, her superintendent suggested that she apply for the CLC position. Originally a federal program under No Child Left Behind, CLCs across Texas were being reorganized as state-funded programs under the Texas Education Agency, and Mercedes ISD needed someone to run the program. Galvan landed the job without a hitch.

Now starting its eighth year in operation in Mercedes ISD, the after-school program is a huge hit, Galvan says. To make learning more palatable to at-risk students,
CLC teachers approach lessons a little differently than when they’re teaching during school hours.

“A lot of what we do in the program, we can’t do during the day because then we’re focused on specific objectives,” she says. “There’s a twist to how we teach in CLC. We use music to learn math, or we play games to teach multiplication. We have a motto: It’s cool to stay after school.”

Yet, there’s no doubt that serious learning takes place, thanks to CLC.

“It’s all aligned to state standards, but it’s fun,” Galvan says. “In fact, it’s so much fun that the students don’t realize they’re learning.”

She says the program is especially popular with students whose first language is Spanish. Classes are structured so that they can speak Spanish, English — or a combination of both. The relaxed, non-graded classroom atmosphere alleviates performance pressure, which, in turn, accelerates learning, Galvan says.

Working moms and dads, in particular, love the program because they know their kids are being supervised after school in a safe, nurturing environment and that the district will bus them home at the end of the day.

Galvan is a firm believer in the efficacy of the program.

“I know it works,” she says. “It provides all our students with activities that make school fun — a place where they can make new friends, a place where they can feel safe, and a place where they belong, like a second home.”