Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Jonbennett Cervantes is a determined young woman. Raised in Mexico with her mother’s family, she had always thought a lot about moving to the United States, the country of her birth, to learn English and get to know her American father. When she turned 16, she took the leap and left her home country to pursue opportunity in Wautoma, Wisconsin. “I was scared but excited, too,” says Jonbennett. It has been a challenging journey for the now rising senior.
When she first arrived in spring 2021, she did not know English. Born in North Carolina, her parents separated before she was even a year old. She and her mom moved back to Mexico. Now she came to a whole world she didn’t know. She lived with her father, who she didn’t know. She didn’t know anyone and didn’t know the language.
“I cried a lot,” says Jonbennett.
She also worked very hard to make her way academically. She had arrived at the end of the school year, which turns out to have been a good thing. When Jonbennett let her father know that she was bored, he contacted the school, and she was given the option to enter summer school. It was her introduction not only to English, but also to cooking, and she was able to earn some credits.
She worked with Mrs. Beth Lindenmeyer, the English as a second language (ESL) teacher that summer. Mrs. Lindenmeyer introduced Jonbennett to Alyssa Morris, the family consumer sciences (FCS) teacher.
“I love to cook,” says Jonbennett. So when Mrs. Morris gave her the chance to cook with the little kids, Jonbennett was enthusiastic. This is not something she would have been able to study in Mexico. School was fun in Mexico but, she explained, you don’t get a lot of help from teachers. Plus, Wauwatosa issued her a computer and an iPad, items that were not available at her Mexican school.
“This is heaven,” says Jonbennett, describing the assistance she received.
At the same time, it was a real challenge. In her first year, she took baking and pastries with Mrs. Morris. And while she enjoyed the subject and knew the names of equipment and foods in Spanish, she often did not know the corresponding words in English. In other words, she was a regular on her tablet’s translator.
Mrs. Morris was impressed with Jonbennett’s industriousness. The need to translate meant she was doing twice the work of any other student. Mrs. Morris invited Jonbennett to join the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).
“I thought, ‘Why not?’” says Jonbennett, who went on to make a Bucky Badger-shaped butter cake for the competition.
This past year, her junior year, she sewed a white cotton sheath dress for the FCCLA competition, and she embroidered it using stitching she learned via YouTube videos. Her dress earned her a place at this year’s FCCLA National Conference.
As she enters her senior year, she’s using her translator less often and dreaming of a better life more often. “It’s really hard,” Jonbennett admits, but she also tells herself, “Just take your time and everything is good.”