Rosbel Pena is a two-time teacher of the year in the Mission School District. He’s been an educator for more than two decades, and now teaches sixth grade math at Alton Memorial Junior High School.

“I teach kids of all kinds, and I notice the ones that are athletically fit, and they like to do athletics and sports, they tend to be more alert and active in class,” Pena said. “And for the most part, they do seem to be more academically excelling.”

Alton Memorial holds physical educations classes for its students everyday. The state of Texas doesn’t require daily physical education. Instead, the state leaves it up to local school districts to decide how much time kids are active during the day. Texas doesn’t even mandate daily recess and the only stipulation is that kids are active two to three hours a week.

The McAllen ISD is hoping to lead the pack in physical education. The school district is getting $2 million from federal government and various other grants. It’s using the funds to hire more PE teachers, buy new equipment and feed students healthy snacks throughout the day.

Jackson Elementary in McAllen is using some grant money to repaint its blacktop with new basketball lines and areas for hopskotch and foursquare.

“There’s a lot of evidence that shows movement grows brain cells,” said Mario Reyna, the health and PE coordinator for McAllen ISD. “Teachers are being encouraged to move their kids around in the classroom because movement does a lot for the brain. The evidence is clearly there.”

PE is no longer about dodgeball, tiny shorts and climbing ropes. Simply moving and having fun seems to be the key at young ages.

A projector at Roosevelt Elementary in McAllen encourages students to show off their dance moves and burn calories before returning to the classroom.

“You feel strong, smart,” said Summer Sanchez, a second grader at Roosevelt. “Really smart.”
Belinda Jordan is the bariatrician at the Renaissance Bariatric and Metabolic Institute in Edinburg. She also taught elementary school before putting on the white coat.

“When people exercise, their bodies release natural hormones called endorphins,” Jordan said. “And those endorphins make them feel good. Especially for children, it’s a way of stress relieving, a way of helping them concentrate more. I think that overall it’s helpful in their studies.”

Jordan says if she were putting together a PE curriculum, she would have the kids exercise later in the day, so they can burn off the sugar and calories from lunch. They can then return to class energetic and ready to learn.
Pena sees the benefits first hand in his class.

“Our kids get to go outside and unleash their energy,” Pena said. “When they come back after lunch, they’re very energetic. And they’re alert. Sometimes you think it’s the afternoon, they’re going to be tired, but they are alert.”

A national study found Texas to be one of the 12 states with a high obesity rate, at more than 30 percent. Another ranking, by the National Education Association, says that the state is 49th in the U.S. in spending per public school student.

Last year, Texas high schoolers matched the state’s lowest SAT scores in more than a decade.

While making sure our children get regular, vigorous exercise will not fix all of these problems, education researchers are now unanimous that it would be a step toward a brighter future.

Credits:

Feliciano Garcia – Producer/Host
Brian Caraveo – Camera/Editor
Steven Diaz – Camera
Mike Tomczyk – Camera
Javier Garcia – Asst. Editor
Beats by Z Muzik for Humbled Soul Productions
Special Thanks to Peddy Yuval – Pery

Such is the case of Puerto Rico, where Governor Alejandro Padilla, a Democrat but the leader of the island’s status quo commonwealth party, and Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, a Democrat but the leader of the island’s pro-statehood party, continue to promote a failed political tradition that has gone on for decades in a place that has yet to shed its colonial relationship with the United States.

In the past week, Pierluisi—a non-voting member of the U.S. House of Representatives—trumpeted his introduction of H.R. 2000, also known as the Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act:

The purpose of this Act is to provide for a federally authorized ratification vote in Puerto Rico on the admission of Puerto Rico into the Union as a State and, if a majority of voters ratify Puerto Rico’s desire for statehood, to describe the steps that the President and Congress shall take to enable the admission of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union.

Quite frankly, Pierluisi is taking a huge political gamble, based on a November plebiscite vote that rejected Puerto Rico’s current commonwealth system with the United States and favored statehood. However, the results of last year’s plebiscite were still murky, enough for García Padilla to criticize his Administration’s representative to Washington. In a piece the governor wrote for The Hill this week, he states:

Every Puerto Rican agrees that any self-determination that is fair, transparent and democratic should give an equal opportunity to each and all of the viable options with respect to our relationship with the United States. I commend President Obama for his proposal to hold a new plebiscite in Puerto Rico, which is an act that acknowledges that any fair self-determination process must include all valid options: statehood, independence, free association and Commonwealth.

García Padilla sees no need to support H.R. 2000, instead choosing to waste more energy on yet another ambiguous plebiscite that doesn’t do anything finally resolve the island’s status quandary. By the way, what does Pierluisi do after reading García Padilla’s piece in The Hill? He contacts The Hill and submits his own response to the response. What a surprise.

The result is an eternal and frustrating cycle of status posturing that does not move Puerto Rico forward. Pierluisi and García Padilla bicker, and the consequence is continued division among Puerto Ricans, those who live on the island and on the mainland.

Such a cycle has been going on for decades. Ever since Luis Muñoz Marín switched his allegiances from independence to a commonwealth arrangement  in the early 1930s as a way to gain political power, to when Luis Ferré formed a statehood party that resulted from his losses to Muñoz Marín in gubernatorial races of the 1960s, the obsession by the island’s politicians to play the status game continues. Puerto Rico still lacks true self-determination, and the bigger problems of unemployment, crime, and economic opportunity get ignored.

The matter only worsens when Pierluisi goes so far as to say that the Puerto Rican diaspora living in the United States should have no say in the island’s political future. That comment will not sit well with actual voting members of Congress, such as New York’s José Serrano. And the slanted language of the statehood bill won’t win the support of Illinois’ Luis Gutierrez.

In the end, this only solution is one binding vote with two options: statehood or independence. The vote should be open to all Puerto Ricans born on the island. This is not the ideal for García Padilla, who is still stuck in defending a status quo many Puerto Ricans no longer want. Allowing all Puerto Ricans who were born on the island to vote in this new voting arrangement will ruffle Pierluisi’s aspirations.

But this option will force Pierluisi and García Padilla to actually work together and prioritize the interests of all Puerto Ricans over the selfish interests of two status-dependent political parties that belong in a bygone era.

True leaders know when to adapt, and I ask my fellow Puerto Ricans to form a united front and demand that such a solution is put in place. Only then will we put all this behind us, and only then will Puerto Rico truly advance.

Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77 ) founded LatinoRebels.com in May, 2011 and proceeded to open it up to about 20 like-minded Rebeldes. His personal blog, juliorvarela.com, has been active since 2008 and is widely read in Puerto Rico and beyond. In the past 12 months, Julito represented the Rebeldes on Face the Nation, NPR, Univision, Forbes, and The New York Times.

Explain your blog name: My blog is named Adriana’s Best Recipes and I started it as a tribute to my abuela Mama Licha, who was a wonderful cook whose recipes inspire me today. I wanted to share the recipes I grew up with, especially because as immigrants, our culture and values can be conveyed through food. I started cooking at home and pretty quickly my extended family both in the United States and in Mexico would ask for the recipe. So every time I cooked I would take pictures of the cooking process and the final product and share with my family. When I discovered the world of blogging, Adriana’s Best Rest Recipes was born and I hope the name conveys the fact that I’m sharing something really special.

Blogging since: I began blogging in both English and Spanish in June 2011.

Blogging from: I blog from home in Orlando, Florida, though my I get most of my inspiration in the farmers markets. I start each recipe by testing it several times and when I finally fine-tune the flavors, that’s when the cooking starts and the magic begins. It’s a labor of love but a passion of mine so I enjoy it and even more so when my followers leave comments on how they loved the recipe.

Adriana Martin is inspired by her Mexican upbringing to create recipes that remind her of home.

Most popular post: My most popular posts are those that incorporate flowers, which you can use to create beautiful, delicious food. I have a guide to cooking with flowers and a recipe for tomato farfalle and basil flowers has been very popular. I also love to grill and some of my favorite recipes are for grilled corn soup and grilled chicken a l’orange. And when it comes to Mexican recipes, my most popular posts have been for my famous enchiladas verdes and shrimp ceviche.

What you’ve learned about food while blogging: I’ve learned that you need to respect the ingredients, making them the stars of the dish. My motto is “simple ingredients create masterpieces.”

Where do you get inspiration for your posts? I’m always inspired by the farmer’s market, where I can find fresh ingredients. I’m also inspired by both of my grandmothers, who passed to me their passion for making people happy through delicious food.

What have you learned from blogging: I’ve learned that you can touch the lives of many people through publishing a recipe. I’ve also learned that you need to train yourself,  take photography classes and learn cooking techniques so that your product results are better. I see my first blog posts from when I started and I definitely see an improvement! Shoot for the stars and always keep dreaming.

Where else can we find you online? You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.  I’ve also collaborated with Grilling is Happiness and Que Rica Vida.

What are your favorite food blogs? I love Nibbles and Feasts for great photography and simple ideas. I also love Sweet Life Bake for her great Mexican recipes. I also relate to Muy Bueno Cookbook because many of the recipes they publish are also the basis of many of my own childhood food memories.

Immigration activists who crowded into the Senate committee room to hear the proceedings shouted “Yes, we can! Si se puede!” after the 13-5 bipartisan vote.

The legislation would grant a change at citizenship to the nation’s approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants, create a new program for low-skilled foreign labor and increase the amount of visas given to foreign workers to come work in this country.

“Of particular importance is the fact all of the Senate Democrats on the committee as well as Gang of Eight Republicans Jeff Flakes (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) helped to ensure the path to citizenship remains achievable,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of the pro-immigration reform organization America’s Voice.

Three Republicans – Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah — voted in favor while five Republicans – Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Mike Lee of Utah and Jeff Sessions of Alabama — voted against the legislation. Ten Democrats, including those who are part of the Gang of Eight, who drafted the 844-page legislation voted to take the legislation to the full Senate floor.

The 13-5 vote came with compromise from gay rights supporters who decided to sidestep the same-sex spouses provision in favor of reaching a solid bipartisan agreement.

In a statement, Obama said the measure is “largely consistent with the principles of common-sense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system.”

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who staked his conservative Republican credentials on the need to reform immigration as part of the Gang of Eight, released a statement saying “The amended bill that heads to the Senate floor would make significant progress to secure our borders, make E-Verify mandatory for the first time in American history, effectively crack down on immigrants who overstay visas, and modernize the legal immigration system to meet America’s 21st century economic needs for both highly skilled talent and guest workers to fill labor shortages.”

New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez and Gang of Eight member also  praised the vote and said he was pleased that the original foundation of the legislation was not weakened.

Before the vote today there was some final tense moments as Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who serves as chairman, proposed to give same-sex and heterosexual spouses equal rights under immigration law, which Republicans like Senator Rubio had said would be a deal breaker.

“I don’t want to be the senator who asks people to choose between the love of their life and the love of their country,” said Leahy.

But Senators like Illinois Democrat Richard Durbin said that while “I believe in my heart of hearts that what you’re doing is the right and just thing- this is the wrong moment, that this is the wrong bill.”

The panel also agreed to a last-minute compromise covering an increase in the visa program for high-tech workers from 65,000 to 100,000, a deal that brought Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah over to the “yes” ranks on the vote.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he will bring the legislation to the Senate floor early next month for a debate that may last the month of June.

In the Republican-led House the immigration bill is more uncertain, though there will be a hearing in the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

“It’s a long road ahead – but the diverse coalition that has formed in support of comprehensive immigration reform continues to grow,” said Senator Menendez.

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

“At this point, information is relatively low but the desire to be engaged in the process is very high,” said Dr. Gabriel Sanchez, Director of Research for Latino Decisions, who conducted the survey for Adelante con la Salud: Latino Health Care Engagement Project, which seeks to inform the state’s Hispanics on the new law.

A key finding was that only a mere 6 percent of Colorado Latinos knew about the health care exchanges – the main mechanism created by the law so families can purchase affordable insurance.  This is significant, because the law was set up so that health care costs would gradually go down as millions of  Americans sign up for health insurance through the exchanges.

Currently, the high cost of health care has taken its toll among Latino families, according to the poll. Forty three percent of Hispanics in Colorado say they have used up savings to pay medical bills, and almost one in three say they can’t cover their basic needs due to medical costs.  Forty five percent of Latinos surveyed say they rely on home remedies to defray medical costs, almost three in ten skip treatments and more than a quarter of Latinos did not get their prescriptions filled due to costs.

When asked how they would prefer to obtain information on the ACA, Latinos surveyed said hospitals  (27 percent) followed by doctors (21 percent).  ”We cannot assume doctors are informed about the Affordable Care Act,” said Sanchez, who is also the Assistant Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico.  Giving the medical community key talking points, said Sanchez, is necessary to avoid medical doctors giving “misinformation” about the new health care law.

Melanie Herrera Botz, co-Project director from Adelante con la Salud, said Colorado is already ahead of some states, especially on the rollout of the health care exchanges, which are supposed to be in place in October. “We changed the name to Connect for Health Colorado, we’re running tv commercials, and bus ads will be rolled – let’s hope our work pays off in October,” she said.

“One of our jobs is educating on how to navigate the health care system,” said Herrera Botz, explaining many families need to understand the basics, like what a premium or a deductible is.  ”If we don’t educate them on how to use it, it won’t work,” she said.

An interesting finding of the survey was that only 25 percent of Latinos knew that undocumented immigrants cannot participate in the health insurance program. Half of Latinos thought they could – and 62 percent think they should be eligible.

Today, he is grateful that not only is Iglesia Camino Nuevo one of the only buildings still standing for miles, but the entire Hernandez family is alive and well. Since they have no food, water, electricity or gas, they are staying with him.

“I went to pick up my kids, but the alarms were going off, so I stayed there,” says Juana Hernandez, whose two younger children are students at Plaza Towers Elementary School — the second school to get hit. “The lights went off, and everything started to fall on top of us.”

She says she stayed huddled in the school hallway with her 6-year-old daughter with down syndrome, while her 8-year-old son was in another nearby building with the second graders.

“All of the children were screaming and crying,” says the 44-year-old mother in Spanish. “I started to sing to calm the children’s fears.”

What impacted her most, she says, was when a car flew inside and fell about a meter from them. A few kids got caught underneath, but they were rescued.

“We were all helping each other,” says Hernandez. “Hail fell on us for about two minutes while we were looking for more kids, and then about 10 minutes after the tornado stopped, the ambulances arrived.”

Moore, Okla. after the tornado on May 20. (Photo/Pastor Johan Torres)

She says when they finally were able to leave the school, nothing was recognizable. Hernandez says she grabbed her two children, and her 18-year-old who also joined them, and started walking among the rubble until they found a house where she could call her husband who had been waiting for them at the church before the tornado hit.

“My children were asking for their backpacks and my daughter only had one shoe — she wanted to return to get it,” says Hernandez. “All of my children were bleeding from the glass that fell on them.”

She says her husband and the pastor took her son to get stitches in the hospital. She still can’t believe the damage that took place in such a short time.

“It felt so long, but I think it was only 8 or 10 minutes,” says Hernandez about the tornado, which took the lives of 51 people. “I believe in God and I’m thankful for the opportunity to live.”

Although she calmed her kids nerves and explained a tornado like this shouldn’t happen again, she says her son has been saying he wants to move to Texas now, just in case. He also told her that he was praying during the entire time so that God would protect them.

For now, she says they are staying with Pastor Torres, because although their house only has some exterior damage, her truck is destroyed and they have no water, gas or electricity.

Seven students at Plaza Towers Elementary have been reported dead, and there are many injured in the hospital. Hernandez says all of the families at the church are in good condition, however.

“There are no more classes,” she says still in disbelief. “There is nothing — only rubble.”

Pastor Torres says his church looks like a big trash can was dumped on top of it, with insulation all over the place, but he is amazed it is still standing.

“We had the debris flying all over the place,” he says. “All you can see in the near blocks is trees that are tumbled down. Businesses and 7-Elevens are torn to pieces.”

He is grateful to agencies like Convoy of Hope and World Vision who are in the process of setting up a stations near their church which will provide water, food and goods that people need — including counseling and first responders.

“We will need things like that for support,” says Pastor Torres.

RELATED: In Oklahoma tornado’s aftermath, sandwich shop gives free food, volunteers mobilize

“It’s tough to encapsulate in words how difficult is to see your child slipping away from you,” says Mojica, the executive director for Family and Community Engagement in the city Department of Education in New York City. “You feel like you don’t have the power to hold on to them, he was slipping into a world you could not reach him,” he adds.

After 6 months of  tests, and switching doctors, Jesse and Ana Mojica finally found out the truth — their son Adam was autistic.  That’s why Mojica is supporting Austism Speaks new ad campaign “Maybe” aimed at helping Latino and African American families recognize the signs their child may be autistic.

“We went through a lot of the maybes, may be Adam is loosing his hearing, may be Adam is shy like me, we went through all the maybes and never thought he had autism,” explains Mojica.

Liz Feld, president of Autism Speaks, says the reason they are aiming to reach Hispanic and African American parents with the campaign is because the age of diagnosis is higher among these groups than anyone else.

“Earlier diagnosis are so important because if we can get a child by 2-years-old, in most cases, with help that child can go to regular kindergarten,” says Feld, “the window between 2-5 years-old is the most important time to deal with treatment.”

Besides partnering up with the Ad Council to create English and Spanish ads, Autism Speaks will also work with churches, local community groups and federal and local partners to spread the message to parents.  The group is also using text-messaging by having parents text “may be” so parents can answer 6 questions about their child privately to see if there are any signs of autism.

Most importantly, says Feld, they want to make sure to erase cultural barriers with this campaign and eradicate the sense of shame and stigma some parents may feel about having an autistic child.

“Sometimes mothers feel such blame if something is wrong and might not want to speak to their husbands about it, so the text message campaign not only saves having to spend $90 on a check up but also allows the parent to ask questions privately,” describes Feld.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 88 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder, being most common among boys (1 in 54).  A recent CDC study pointed to the largest increase in the number of  children diagnosed with autism to be Hispanic and African American children.

RELATED: Study: More Hispanic children with autism remain undiagnosed

For Mojica talking about the campaign brings back memories of what he went through with his son before being diagnosed with severely impacted autism, and hopes these ads will empower other families to take charge and seek help sooner than he could.

“A parent’s heart is always right, if you have any questions ask,” says Mojica. “Our journey with Adam is glorious, and autism will never change that. Autism will never rob you of the love for your children.”

His son is now 14-years, and while he still does not speak, his smile has come back. He wants more than anything to make sure Latino and African American families know early intervention can make such a huge impact.  His son smiles at school all the time, so much that if he is not smiling the teacher knows he must be sick and takes his temperature.  And while he loves to be around people, he still needs help every day.  Mojica and his wife are still trying to figure out what will happen to Adam when they are no longer around but hope for better services for autistic adults.

“My son is a blessing to me, he has taught me more than anyone on this earth, I am just a better person because of him.” he adds.

“Do you know how hard it is to say a 28-year story in a few minutes?” said McGuire-Maniau, describing how everyone went around the room telling the President their story. “But I told him my husband applied and tried to do it the right way, but regardless, the system is broken and it doesn’t work,” she said.

McGuire-Maniau’s husband, Hector, arrived from Mexico when he was 17 on a B2 visa.  His mother became a naturalized citizen and petitioned him, and he was approved in 1998.  He was told to wait and then apply for adjustment of status.  But according to Melissa, an attorney told Hector’s family he could legally expedite his case, which was not true. “Then immigration took the application and money, but placed him in removal proceedings, which happens all the time – so many people are in deportation proceedings because of someone else, meddling in their case,” says McGuire-Maniau.  She describes ICE coming to her house three times until they finally found her husband home and put him at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Melissa McGuire-Maniau, a U.S. citizen by birth, told President Obama why her husband almost got deported.

The couple fought his situation successfully with help from the community, and Hector now has a green card. But Melissa’s sister was deported, and is still in Mexico, with her children in the U.S.  ”It  makes me sad; we fought back, but others are so paralyzed with fear and they don’t fight back.”

The President listened to Melissa’s story, as well as to Miguel Leal, a U.S. citizen originally from Cuba. Leal told Telemundo’s Lori Montenegro that he was there for his Uruguayan wife, who is undocumented, and who has several family members in detention.  Other immigrants from South Korea and Morocco shared their stories with Obama, and DREAMers shared how their lives had changed with deferred action, while emphasizing many of their family members were still facing uncertain futures under current laws.

“He was very moved,” says McGuire-Maniau. “He says his commitment is unwavering and he wants to get immigration reform done.”  Others said the President said it would be hard work, but that he was committed.

The White House sent out a statement after the meeting.  ”At the meeting, the President reiterated his commitment to passing a bipartisan, commonsense immigration reform bill this year.  He made clear that while the current bill is not perfect, it does represent an important step towards the broad principles that need to be part of any immigration reform package,” according to the White House.

For her part, McGuire-Maniu says there was another reason why she wanted to talk to Obama.

“He was a community organizer, like me,” she says. “There are so many issues he has to manage – sometimes you get worn down, but hearing people’s stories grounds you,” the Florida resident states.