Profile
Back to Her Roots
Grayhawk Teacher to Publish Magazine for Hispanic Youths
by Marc David

Christianne Meneses Jacobs speaks Spanish exclusively to her 2 1/2-year old daughter Isabelle. Her husband, Marc Jacobs, speaks to her in English.

This isn't a method for confusing their daughter but of making her aware of both of her cultures. It was Isabelle who was the inspiration for her mother starting a magazine, Iguana, that is intended for Hispanic children between the ages of 7 and 12 to keep up with Spanish while learning better English in schools.

This is a subject near and dear to Meneses Jacobs, who came to Los Angeles from Nicaragua at age 16 without knowing any English. She was 20 years old when she graduated from Los Angeles High School. By then, she was a good enough student to be accepted at Wesleyan University, a prestigious liberal arts college in Middletown, Connecticut.

Meneses Jacobs was a government major with an emphasis in international relations. She did internships in the entertainment industry and was convinced that she wanted to work with Latino filmmakers. When she discovered that companies wanted her to work for free, she was discouraged.

A friend told her the state of California needed bilingual teachers. Meneses Jacobs checked into it. She called Union Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles, which asked if she could be at the school in one hour. She was teaching second grade that day.

All of her students were Hispanic, so she mixed English and Spanish into her lessons. Two of the children couldn't understand her when she spoke Spanish, which got her thinking about ways that she could incorporate the best of both languages. It also made her think about her daughter, who she wanted to be bilingual. The magazine was launched. It is totally separate from her teaching position.

"I started researching the idea a year ago and found that it was difficult to find reading material in Spanish," said Meneses Jacobs. "I talked to parents and did surveys. I went to several Latino Book Festivals and talked to authors."

"I decided it (magazine) would be all Spanish. It would be a resources, a tool for parents so that their kids could continue reading in Spanish and not lose their language."

The official launch is scheduled for March, although she has already published a prototype. Meneses Jacobs will be the editor. Her husband will be art director and her mother will be text director. The bimonthly magazine will have 32 pages.

When she placed an ad for contributing writers on the Internet, she was "overwhelmed" by responses, hearing from people in Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina and Puerto Rico as well as in the United States. She is hoping for a nationwide publication.

"I hope parents will support it and that the community supports us with this enterprise," Meneses Jacobs says. "I think the Spanish language is valuable for our children. It makes them competitive in the future and preserves our language."

© 2004 RBC Publications, Inc. Impreso con autorización.

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