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Volume 16   Issue 1 

2022  

AMAE Open Issue 
 
Editors  
Patricia Sánchez 
The University of Texas at San Antonio 
 

Antonio J. Camacho 
AMAE, Inc.  
 
Associate Editors  
Julie L. Figueroa  
Sacramento State  
 

Lucila D. Ek  
The University of Texas at San Antonio 
 
 
 

http://amaejournal.utsa.edu     ISSN: 2377-9187  
 
         

Association of Mexican American Educators Journal 
A peer-reviewed, open access journal 

 



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Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2022, Volume 16, Issue I  103 

"La Excelencia Son Los Valores": Using the Lotería Game to Understand the 

Foundations of Latina/o/x Excellence Cultivated at Home 

 

Lorena Gutiérrez 

University of California, Riverside  

 

Yajaira Calderon 

University of California, Riverside  

 

Louie F. Rodriguez 

University of California, Riverside  

 

Enrique Espinoza 

California State University, Long Beach 

 

cindy macias 

Hip Hop Association of Advancement and Education 

 

Elisa Chang 

Abstract 

This article examines the foundations of Latina/o/x excellence as a culturally-embedded practice 

born, taught, and cultivated in the home by the family members of Latina/o/x high school students. 

The research team conducted a phenomenological study on excellence in the home, school and 

community of Latina/o/x youth in Southern California. In this study, we examined the definition 

and source of excellence in the homes of Latina/o/x high school students through a Lotería Card 

Project inspired by artist, teacher, and professor, Dr. Luis-Genaro Garcia. Findings demonstrate 

that excellence involves meeting and excelling expectations in the home, is learned through 

intergenerational knowledge and lived experience, and is grounded in reciprocity. We offer 

suggestions to educators on how to learn about excellence in the lives of Latina/o/x students and 

their families.  

Keywords: Excellence, K-12, Latina/o/x, Funds of Knowledge, Lotería, Familismo 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24974/16.1.456 



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Since at least the year 2000, there has been significant attention on the demographic 

revolution among Latina/o/xs in the United States (Krogstad, 2020; Trueba, 1999; Garcia, 

2001). Emphasis has been placed on their rising (potential) political power, the social and 

economic needs and contributions of the population, and the rising presence of Latina/o/xs 

within educational institutions across the pipeline (The Campaign for College Opportunity, 

2021). For example, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (2020), 

Latinas/os/xs comprised of 6 million K-12 students in 1995 but grew to 13.6 million by 2017.  In 

other words, Latinas/os/xs went from 13.5% of the total public school population to 26.8% by 

2017, and are expected to reach nearly 30% of the total public school enrollment by 2030 

(NCES, 2020). However, a rise in numbers has not necessarily brought comparable evidence of 

educational success (The Campaign for College Opportunity, 2021). In fact, research suggests 

that there are growing gaps by race/ethnicity and gender in academic achievement and 

attainment within the Latina/o/x population (The Campaign for College Opportunity, 2021). 

According to The Campaign for College Opportunity (2021), Latinos are attending and 

completing college at lower rates than Latinas. Racism, mismatched policy, deficit thinking, and 

other structural inequalities have resulted in low academic achievement and attainment, the 

school-to-prison pipeline, high dropout/pushout rates, and disparities in high school and college 

completion, to name a few (Rios & Galicia, 2013; Rodriguez, 2015; Valenzuela, 1999; Yosso, 

2005). This context requires scholars, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners concerned 

with the Latina/o/x1 population to not only recognize the inequalities and injustices facing this 

population, but intentionally respond with additive research, policy, and practice.  

 In an attempt to draw attention to the needs, challenges, and possibilities of Latina/o/xs 

in education, it is vital that we not only recognize the injustices facing the various groups of 

Latina/o/xs but also highlight the strengths, possibilities, and examples of excellence. That is, in 

spite of historical and pervasive social injustices and inequalities in education, Latina/o/xs have 

demonstrated a level of resistance, persistence, and existence (Conchas & Acevedo, 2020; 

Gutiérrez, 2022; San Miguel Jr., 2003). The East Los Angeles Walkouts of 1968 are examples of 

resistance by Chicana/o/x students who organized and walked-out in protest of an inferior 

 
1 We are conscious of the evolving debate and definitions of “Latino”, “Latina”, “Latin@” and “Latinx”. These 
terms are often used in ways that treat Latinxs as a monolithic group, ignoring the rich, intersectional diversity of 
national origin, race, ethnicity, language, and culture of people. We use the term “Latina/o/x” in this study to be 
inclusive of the diverse intersectional identities of our student participants and their families.  



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Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2022, Volume 16, Issue I  105 

quality of education and educational inequalities faced in their East Los Angeles high schools. 

Students demanded a change in the curriculum, to hire Mexican-American educators, and 

access to bilingual education (Library of Congress, 2022). Solorzano and Delgado Bernal (2001) 

identify the resistance and action of Chicana/o/x students in the East LA Walkouts as 

Transformational Resistance, student behavior that reflects a critical awareness of oppressive 

conditions and a motivation or desire for social justice. The transformational resistance that 

took place at the East LA Walkouts is Latina/o/x excellence. Latina/o/x migrant and seasonal 

farmworker youth pursuing a General Education Development degree (GED) in a High School 

Equivalency Program as a means of survivance from the inequitable conditions of high schools is 

another example of youth resistance and existence (Gutiérrez, 2022). The fight for Deferred 

Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)2 and the California DREAM Act3 are contemporary 

examples of the constant resistance and persistence of undocumented Latina/o/xs. Although 

undocumented students who have DACA have access to employment authorization and 

greater protections against deportation and students who qualify for the California DREAM act 

can apply for financial aid, the fight to sustain such policies especially DACA is ongoing. One 

way to counter injustice is to intentionally focus on examples of excellence, particularly in 

education (Rodriguez, 2015).   

For approximately 30 years, scholars in education have conceptualized more additive 

frameworks that help reframe understandings of the Latina/o/x condition in education. Funds of 

Knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992), Pedagogies of the Home (Delgado Bernal, 

2001), Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005), the Third Space (Gutierrez, 2008) and 

Sentipensante Pedagogy (Rendon, 2011) have been among the most influential perspectives to 

move from a deficit framing of Latinas/os/xs in education to more additive perspectives. One 

aspect of this framing has been Latina/o/x excellence in education (Rodriguez, 2015). That is, 

rather than focusing on the gaps plaguing Latina/o/x education, an excellence lens repositions 

 
2 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a policy that was signed into effect June 15, 2012. DACA is a 
federal policy that provides undocumented youth who immigrated as children who meet eligibility requirements the 
opportunity to apply for deferred action, to defer removal against an individual, and for employment authorization 
(U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2022). 
3 The California DREAM Act allows students who live in California and who cannot receive financial aid from the 
federal government along with other requirements (related to AB 540 eligibility) to apply for state financial aid in 
order to attend colleges and universities in California. The California DREAM Act was signed into law in 2011 and 
makes it possible for undocumented students who meet eligibility requirements, especially youth who immigrated to 
the U.S. as children, to receive state financial aid to attend college (California Student Aid Commission, 2022).  



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the conceptual, pedagogical, and methodological framing to more additive framing by asking: In 

what ways are Latinas/os/xs thriving in education?  How? Why? What are the policy, practice, 

and pedagogical conditions that produce Latina/o/x excellence in education? What is Latina/o/x 

excellence in comparison to standard ways of framing excellence as academic achievement and 

high test scores? And what is the source of Latina/o/x excellence? In other words, from whom 

are Latinas/os/xs learning about excellence? Excellence, therefore, becomes a tool that 

reimagines, reframes, and redefines what excellence is and can be, particularly for the purposes 

of improving the schooling, community, and societal conditions Latinas/os/xs in US schools. To 

help answer these questions, family strengths are centered in this research. 

This paper situates Latina/o/x excellence as identified by high school youth, as a 

culturally-embedded practice born, taught, and cultivated through the eyes of family members in 

students’ homes.  First, we provide an overview of Latinas/os/xs in education and review the 

literature on funds of knowledge (Moll et al., 1992). This literature highlights the assets of 

Latina/o/x families and communities. Then we describe a project aimed at understanding the 

power of excellence in the lives of Latina/o/x students using the Loteria card game.  Key 

findings are discussed followed by an exploration of implications for policy and practice.  

Literature Review 

Latinas/os/xs in the U.S. are one of the fastest growing populations, growing by 23% and 

encompassing 51% of total U.S. population growth between 2010 and 2020 (U.S. Census 

Bureau, 2021). Latinas/os/xs account for 27% of the student population in K-12 public schools 

in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Education, 2021a). While status dropout rates, the percentage 

of students 16 to 24 years old who are not enrolled in high school and who do not have a high 

school credential, for Latina/o/x students have decreased in recent years, they still continue to 

lag behind white students (U.S. Department of Education, 2021b). In 2020, the status dropout 

rate for Hispanic students was 7.4% while the rate for white students was significantly lower at 

4.8% (U.S. Department of Education, 2021b). Given the rapid growth and presence of 

Latina/o/x students in K-12 schools and the need to support them along the K-12 education 

pipeline, it is necessary that educators find ways to best support students. Focusing on student 

assets, what students bring with them to classrooms, has been shown to be effective in K-12 

schools (Irizarry & Raible, 2019; Ladson-Billings, 1995) and higher education (Araujo, 2012; 

Rendon, 2011). Assets may include but are not limited to linguistic, literate, and cultural 



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practices (Paris & Alim, 2014). Values that are assets in education include the importance of 

respeto and educación (Valenzuela, 1999).  

Asset based research on Latina/o/x students and families highlight the cultural assets, 

practices, values, and beliefs cultivated in the homes of Latina/o/x families (Kiyama & Rios-

Aguilar, 2017; Moll et al., 1992; Rodriguez, 2015; Yosso, 2005). Moll et al. (1992) identified 

funds of knowledge, the “historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge 

and skills essential for household activities or individual functioning and well-being” in the 

households of working-class, Mexican families in Tucson, Arizona (p. 133). Funds of knowledge 

include the productive activities of the household, including its involvement in the formal and 

informal economies, as well as its domestic labor, and the maintenance of social networks that 

tie the household to other households (and other settings) in the community and facilitate the 

exchange of resources (especially labor and knowledge) (Moll et al., 1992). Examples of funds of 

knowledge in the home include learning about household management by observing parents 

cook or take care of children, while knowledge about science could be learned via 

construction, carpentry, and painting of the home. This knowledge may be derived from 

parents and elders, and the values and beliefs learned through one’s role and responsibilities in 

the home and everyday life. Understanding students’ funds of knowledge helps educators 

capitalize on the wealth of knowledge and resources students bring from home to organize 

classroom instruction, curriculum, and enhance learning (Moll et al., 1992).  

Hogg (2011) suggests that a key component of funds of knowledge that makes it unique 

in comparison to other asset-based theories is its emphasis on involving teachers “…in 

conducting and applying research, to link theory and practice” (p. 667). Moll et al. (1992) 

trained teachers in qualitative research methods and had them conduct observations and 

interviews with parents in the homes of the students they serve. This resulted in teachers 

assuming the role of the learner, learning to see beyond stereotypes, and establishing 

symmetrical relationships with the family of the student. Upon identifying the funds of 

knowledge of students and their families, teachers can incorporate and build on student funds 

of knowledge to engage students in learning (Moll et al., 1992). Although funds of knowledge 

make it possible to name the household activities communities of color engage in, researchers 

have sought to bridge a connection between funds of knowledge and theories of capital because 

funds of knowledge and cultural capital are often fused together or assumed to be synonymous 



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of each other, and a discussion about social class is needed to understand the school and home 

dynamics that impact their relationship to each other and the production of knowledge (Rios-

Aguilar et al., 2011).   

Researchers have built upon funds of knowledge to focus on specific types of funds of 

knowledge such as dark funds of knowledge (Zipin, 2009) and funds of gang knowledge (Huerta & 

Rios Aguilar, 2021). Zipin (2009) extended upon funds of knowledge to include the “dark” 

funds of knowledge that people experience such as racism, poverty, abuse and other negative 

experiences. While dark funds of knowledge may be negative in nature, such experiences can 

still be assets (Zipin, 2009). Huerta & Rios-Aguilar (2021) account for the specific knowledge 

and information gang members have relied on to survive as funds of gang knowledge. Funds of 

knowledge has also inspired what Esteban-Guitart & Moll (2014) identify as funds of identity, 

artifacts (i.e. visuals, music, etc.) that people use to define themselves from their household 

funds of knowledge. Funds of identity are funds of knowledge with a focus on one’s identity, 

voice and individuality (Franquiz et al., 2021).  

Although asset-based research and pedagogies have been on the rise in efforts to 

support Latina/o/x students, few studies have focused on Latina/o/x excellence from the eye of 

the beholder, students, and their families. Our study is an exploration of excellence through the 

perspective of Latina/o/x youth and their families. The purpose of this study is to highlight who 

Latina/o/x students consider to be examples of excellence and how excellence is defined in the 

home.  

Theoretical Framework  

 This article highlights excellence as a culturally-embedded practice in the lives and 

homes of Latinas/os/xs by drawing from Funds of Knowledge (Moll, et al., 1992) and familismo 

(Calzada et al., 2012; Valenzuela, 1999). Funds of Knowledge acknowledges the wealth of 

knowledge and experiences in the homes of students of color, specifically in Latina/o/x families. 

The forms of/types of knowledge learned in the home are often associated with particular roles 

in the family (i.e. parental, siblings) and types of labor (i.e. gardening, cooking, care taking). In 

this study, funds of knowledge not only makes it possible to explore the richness of excellence 

that is learned in the home, but it also allows us to delve into the ways excellence is connected 

to household activities and roles in the home. In conjunction with funds of knowledge, we 



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needed a way to identify the characteristics, values, and beliefs that are the fabric of the funds of 

knowledge. Familismo is that fabric.   

 Familismo is a multi-faceted cultural value and collectivist expression of family (Calzada et 

al., 2012; López et al., 2019; Valenzuela, 1999). Familismo emerged from the concept of familism 

- a reciprocal in-group connectedness that emphasizes the goals of the family (Calzada et al., 

2012; López et al., 2019; Valenzuela, 1999). Loyalty, reciprocity, responsibility, and solidarity to 

the family are key characteristics of familismo (Marin & Marin, 1991; Saenz & Ponjuan, 2008). 

Familismo has been found to be one of the most salient cultural values in Latina/o/x 

communities (Sanchez et al., 2019; Villareal et al., 2005) that is fluid and in constant negotiation 

(López et al., 2019). It is a collectivist expression among Latina/o/x communities that prioritizes 

family, including one’s immediate family as well as chosen family, close confidants, networks, and 

kin (Ayón, Marsiglia, & Bermudez-Parsai, 2010; López et al., 2019). Friends, neighbors, teachers, 

coaches, mentors, and community members are a few examples of people who could be a part 

of one’s family. One’s beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, outlook on life, and academic success can be 

influenced and impacted by familismo (Posada Rodriguez, 2019; Valdivieso-Mora, 2016).  

Familismo is multifaceted and can manifest itself as attitudinal and behavioral (Keefe, 

1984; Calzada et al., 2012). Attitudinal familismo refers to the feelings that individuals feel 

relating to loyalty and reciprocity between family members (i.e. the belief that family comes 

before the individual, familial interconnectedness, etc.) (Calzada et al., 2012; Lugo Steidel & 

Contreras, 2003). Behavioral familismo includes the behaviors, or actions taken, that reflect the 

beliefs of attitudinal familismo (i.e. financially contributing to support the family, living near or 

with kin, childrearing, etc.) (Calzada et al., 2012). Understanding attitudinal and behavioral 

familismo as educators is important because it differentiates between the feelings and priorities 

our students have to their families and the behaviors and actions that students engage in both in 

and out of school contexts- all of which impact their relationship to schools and their academic 

achievement. In schools, the shared aspirations and understandings of success between students 

and their families are reflective of attitudinal familismo. The ways that families encourage 

students in the home and the importance of education passed down from generation to 

generation is also familismo (Garriott et al., 2016).  

 In education, familismo has been found to promote the persistence, resilience, and 

overall academic success and well-being of Latina/o/x college students (Lopez et al., 2019; 



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Witkowsky et al., 2020). Familismo has been incorporated as a guiding value of higher education 

programming, such as Spanish language parent and family member orientation programs 

(PFMO) to promote parent involvement (Witkowsky et al., 2020). Witkowsky et al. (2020) 

researched the impact of a PFMO program that is offered in Spanish as a bridge between 

students’ families and the institution and found that the use of Spanish generated trust in the 

institution among families. Additionally, families developed an understanding of their students’ 

strengths and motivations to pursue higher education for the improvement of the family 

(Witkowsky et al., 2020). Familismo has also been the foundation of what Yemin Sanchez 

designed and conceptualized as Familismo Teaching, “an asset based pedagogy that fully embraces 

the attitudinal and behavioral attributes of familismo” (Sanchez et al., 2019, p. 111). While 

strides have been made to foster familismo in higher education, Latinx undergraduates 

experience a lack of familismo in science and engineering due to the culture of hyper-

competition and individualism in large courses and professor interactions with students (Lopez 

et al., 2019). When researching Latinx students’ sense of familismo in undergraduate science 

and engineering, Lopez et al. (2019) found that Latinx students found familismo in spaces 

outside of their respective departments. Such spaces affirmed students’ life experiences and 

cultural practices, fostered reciprocity, care, community, and a sense of value. Latinx 

undergraduates in science and engineering felt a sense of belonging and ease at being themselves 

in those spaces.  

However, researchers have also identified ways that familismo can produce tensions and 

negative outcomes for Latinas/os/xs (Hernández, 2015; Patron, 2021). Familismo may cause 

challenges such as also placing a financial burden on family members when children may be 

expected to contribute their own income, even in adulthood, causing a strain on their finances 

and elevating levels of stress and depression (Calzada et al., 2012), or influencing college choice 

among high school students trying to navigate their family obligations and personal pursuits 

(Hernández, 2015).   

Interestingly, the way in which familismo affects individuals differs by gender (Piña-

Watson et al., 2013; Posada Rodriguez; 2019; Valenzuela Jr., 1999), immigrant generation 

(Azpeitia & Bacio, 2022), and by sexual identities that do not align with family values or cultural 

expectations in Latina/o/x families (Patron, 2021). Valenzuela Jr. (1999) found that Latinas were 

disproportionately asked to partake in familial tasks such as translating during medical visits and 



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school conferences, and even more so around home-related activities such as caring for siblings. 

Piña-Watson et al. (2013) studied how familismo and ethnic identity worked as a protective 

factor against bicultural stress and found that females who reported having a deeper connection 

with these two concepts were better equipped to process bicultural stress. Females in that 

study were likely to have stronger ties to familismo and ethnic identity because of the 

Latina/o/x gender role of marianismo, the Latina gender role that “traditionally assumes women 

the responsibility of cultural bearers” (Piña-Watson et al., 2013, p. 212). Not only can familismo 

be experienced differently across gender, but also by sexual orientation. Patron (2021) studied 

precarious familismo, “the instances of uncertainty queer Latinos do not know if values of 

familismo will persist”, among queer Latino men in college and found they encountered adverse, 

disparate, and supportive experiences with their families when identifying as gay and queer.  

 In this study, we specifically draw upon attitudinal familismo to understand the 

reciprocity, family interconnectedness, and beliefs about putting the family first in the homes 

and lives of students and the family members they chose to interview. Understanding interview 

responses through an attitudinal familismo perspective allows us to ground the definitions of 

excellence in the home in the values and beliefs of the participants who were interviewed. Also, 

familismo helps us frame the environment and relationship(s) between the interviewee (family 

member) and interviewer (student).  

Methodology 

Background of Study   

This study uses data from the Collaborative Research for Equity and Excellence in Our 

Schools (CREER) research project. The CREER research project was a participatory action 

research project where students, their teacher, and researchers worked collaboratively and in 

tandem to collect and analyze data. This research project was launched in Fall 2017. At the time 

of data collection, the research team was composed of a faculty member who was the primary 

investigator, a postdoctoral scholar, three graduate students, and three undergraduate students. 

Three major student projects compose the CREER data set, including educational journeys, 

photovoice projects, and the Loteria card project. The student projects of approximately 30 

students were discussed and shared with the larger class. In this paper, we use the Loteria 

Project as our primary data.  

Inspiration for the Loteria Card Project  



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The Loteria card game is often known as “Mexican bingo.” It was first introduced by 

Don Clemente Gallo in the early 19th century (Villegas, 2018). The objective of the game is to 

complete a game board using markers (i.e., beans, coins) when that specific card is called out, 

much like the traditional bingo played in the United States. The cards that are used in the game 

depict people, places or things that are prominent in Latina/o/x culture. For example, there is a 

card that depicts la dama (a woman of high esteem), el catrín (the gentleman), and el músico (the 

musician). Loteria is often played as a pastime among family and friends at gatherings and 

celebrations. Families typically play for fun or for prizes including money. An underlying 

outcome of playing Loteria is the strengthening of familismo as it brings family together and can 

be played intergenerationally. Additionally, Loteria can be passed down from generation to 

generation even as new generations create new versions of Loteria that best reflect their 

reality.  

 The concept of using Loteria as a project was inspired by the work that Dr. Luis-Genaro 

Garcia engaged in with his own students in South Central Los Angeles. Dr. Garcia is an artist, 

teacher, and professor that has used Loteria to depict his high school students' lived 

experiences (Garcia, 2017). He encourages them to tell their family’s story through a Loteria 

card that they themselves create. Some of his students have used the Loteria card project as a 

way to pay homage to the type of work that their parents do or have done, while others use 

iconic symbols of Latina/o/x culture as a way to stay connected to their culture and traditions. 

Either way, using something as simple as Loteria has increased the engagement levels of his 

students. We wanted to try something similar with our students, being that they would be able 

to relate to the game of Loteria. Thus, the CREER research team used the Loteria card game as 

a strategy to identify the source of excellence in the lives of Latina/o/x youth.   

School Site  

Data was collected at a Southern California public high school we call El Bosque High 

School (EBHS).4 EBHS is located in one of the most populated counties in California and is part 

of a school district that encompasses 23 schools, five of which are high schools or institutions 

that provide a high school equivalency program. Out of the 2.4 million residents in this county, 

about 49% of those residents are Latina/o/x. Though the numbers are lower for the district, in 

 
4 All names in this study are pseudonyms. Pseudonyms are used to protect the identity of our participants and the 
school site. 



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comparison to numbers in other districts, EBHS mirrors its district’s demographics. The school 

district served 79% Hispanic/Latino during the 2017-2018 school year when the data was 

collected. EBHS served 2,189 students of which 94% were students of color and 90% of those 

students identified as “Hispanic/Latino”. 

EBHS has various academies, specialized groups where students receive specific 

instruction in a field or topic in a more personalized setting (Leithwood, 2003), within the 

school including the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, Green Construction Academy, 

and Agriculture Academy to name a few. Programs such as Advancement Via Academic 

Determination (AVID) and Upward Bound are offered at EBHS. AVID prepares students for 

college eligibility and success while Upward Bound seeks to increase the rate at which high 

school students from low-income families and whose parents do not have a bachelor’s degree 

complete secondary education to pursue higher education.  

Participants  

Upon meeting with the principal at EBHS and explaining to her that our study intended 

to explore excellence in the Latina/o/x community, she introduced us to four teachers who she 

believed would be interested in working with our team. Although all four teachers were 

interested in working with us, we chose to partner with Ms. Lopez because she expressed a 

desire to receive feedback on her teaching and to continue to develop her pedagogical skills as 

an educator. Ms. Lopez self-identifies as a Latina who had been teaching for eight years and 

taught English and AVID. Although Ms. Lopez is not originally from the city where the school is 

located, she considers it home and contributes greatly to the community in and out of her role 

as a teacher. Ms. Lopez’s classroom was colorful and had student work displayed around the 

room including Instagram profiles that each student created and an affirmation of the week on 

the whiteboard. Flags of different colleges and universities that her students had been accepted 

to were displayed on the walls of the classroom. Throughout her room she had various pieces 

of Chicana/o/x art and colorful papel picado hung across the classroom walls. She had a bulletin 

board titled “the Chisme Corner” where she posted all community happenings for students to 

stay informed and involved. Participants in our study included Ms. Lopez’s thirty 9th grade 

AVID students, who were predominantly Latina/o/x and children of immigrants from Mexico 

and Central America. Of the thirty students, one student is white, one is Asian American, and 

the rest are Latina/o/x. All student participants were fluent in English while most Latina/o/x 



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students were bilingual in Spanish and English. Ms. Lopez was instrumental in bringing us into 

the classroom and making the research team feel welcomed among the students.  

Data and Data Collection  

Data collection in Ms. Lopez’s classroom took place over a 6-month period during the 

2017-2018 school year. Ms. Lopez gave us full permission to lead brief class lectures and assign 

specific assignments to students designed by our research team. Student assignments became 

our data, including the Loteria Project that was collected towards the latter half of the school 

year in 2017.   

Loteria projects are composed of four parts: 1) Latina/o/x students identifying a person 

who reflects excellence in the home, 2) students interviewed the person who they identified as 

reflecting excellence, 3) students created a Loteria card of the person who was interviewed, 

and 4) students presented their Loteria card to fellow classmates and researchers. First, we 

gave students a post-it note and had them write down the name of someone who they believed 

reflected excellence in their home.  Students were then instructed to interview the person they 

believed reflected excellence in their home using an interview worksheet. The interview 

worksheet included four pre-selected questions developed by our research team including: 1) 

How do you define excellence? Where did you learn it? 2) How do you define excellence in the 

home? 3) How do you define excellence in education? 4) How do you define excellence in the 

community? Students also had the opportunity to develop two additional questions of their 

own for a total of six interview questions. Students then conducted semi-structured interviews 

with the person they identified as an example of excellence in the home and captured their 

responses in writing in the interview worksheet. The majority of people who were interviewed 

for the Loteria project were family members. Student-conducted interviews included 17 

parents (9 fathers and 8 mothers) while the rest were extended family members such as 

siblings, uncles or cousins. Some students took the initiative to translate the interview questions 

into the interviewee’s preferred language while others translated the interviewees responses to 

English onto the worksheet. All data is presented in the form in which students provided it. 

After interviewing the people who they believed reflected excellence in the home, students 

were introduced to the Loteria card game and asked to create a Loteria card representing the 

person they interviewed. Students were encouraged to get creative and have fun with the 

Loteria card. The majority of students were familiar with the Loteria card game, especially 



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Latina/o/x students. Some students drew their person whereas others drew symbols to reflect 

that person’s excellence. Lastly, students presented their Loteria cards to their teacher, 

classmates, and our research team during class. Each student introduced the person who they 

chose to interview and shared the significance of the colors, images, and text in the Loteria card 

they created.  

Although we had 30 student participants, only 26 students interviewed someone who 

they believe reflects excellence in the home and submitted the interview worksheet (with 

responses from the interviewee). Of the 26 students who submitted their interview worksheet, 

only 17 of those students completed all four components of the Loteria projects. The data for 

this paper includes 26 student-conducted interview worksheets and 17 complete Loteria 

projects which include the interview worksheet, Loteria card, and the student presentation of 

their Loteria card. Students submitted their interview worksheet and Loteria card to their 

teacher for course credit and she passed them on to our research team for data analysis. Our 

research team wrote notes about individual student presentations. These notes and 

observations of student participation in class were used to add context to our understanding of 

the Loteria projects. In this paper we examine the definition and source of excellence in the 

homes of Latina/o/x high school youth via the Loteria projects.  

Data Analysis 

Our research team engaged in collaborative data analysis to analyze the data in this 

study. Collaborative data analysis is the process by which multiple researchers analyze data 

through dialogue and joint efforts to produce a consensus of interpretation (Cornish et al., 

2013). Through the collaborative data analysis each member of the research team was given the 

opportunity to review the data, contribute to data analysis, and collectively discuss the findings 

during weekly team meetings. As a group, each member of the research team received copies 

of Loteria Project components including the completed interview protocol, Loteria card, and 

notes taken during student presentations. Collaborative data analysis made it possible to include 

the diverse perspectives and interpretations of all researchers, improved inter-coder reliability, 

and allowed us to engage in critical reflexivity (Cornish et al., 2013). Ms. Lopez, the teacher, and 

student participants were not a part of the collaborative data analysis because the end of their 

academic year conflicted with the time when we analyze data. However, the feedback, 



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questions, and analysis of data provided throughout the overall CREER project was taken into 

account in tandem with data collection and written into fieldnotes and analyzed by our team.  

To triangulate the data each Loteria Project was analyzed as a standalone data source, 

followed by a within and cross-case data analysis method to explorer thematic patterns across 

participants (Yin, 2014). Each member of our research team individually reviewed the Loteria 

Projects and identified codes and themes through line-by-line coding. Next, the research team 

collectively discussed their findings and jointly identified themes that were organized in 

Bloomberg and Volpe’s (2018) thematic chart. Organizing the themes in Bloomberg and Volpe’s 

(2018) thematic chart allowed us to enumerate and identify the most salient themes across all 

participants. The main themes were supported by participant data (the semi-structured 

interviews students conducted and images of each Loteria card they created) and analyzed in 

reference to the research question. Once the themes were compiled, they were compared and 

contrasted to build a larger narrative of excellence from the perspective of someone at the 

students’ home.  Fieldnotes taken during student presentations of their Loteria Project were 

used to corroborate the codes and themes that the team developed. Additionally, we took into 

consideration the student participant, their experience and participation in the classroom and 

other data sources from previous class projects that were collected prior to the Loteria Project 

for our larger research project5 to contextualize the findings in this study.  

Findings 

 To understand the source of excellence in the homes of Latina/o/x youth we must first 

understand how they defined excellence leading up to the Loteria Project. As a part of the 

larger research project that we engaged with participants, our team had Latina/o/x youth define 

excellence through a photovoice project prior to the Loteria Project. In the photovoice 

project, participants defined excellence across three different spaces: home, school, and 

community6. In the home, Latina/o/x youth defined excellence as a family affirmation, unity and 

 
5 Data sources include Educational Journeys and Photovoice Projects. Details about the Photovoice Project we 
conducted can be found in [Insert Citation].  
6 Our research team has published an article, "…You'll Still Make it to the Top": Using Photovoice to Explore 
Latina/o/x Excellence from the Perspectives of Latina/o/x Youth, regarding the ways Latina/o/x youth in this study 
define excellence in their homes, school, and community. See the following reference for this article: Rodriguez, 
L.F., Espinoza, E., Gutierrez, L., Calderon, Y., Chang, E., & macias, cindy (2021). "…You'll Still Make it to the 
Top": Using Photovoice to Explore Latina/o/x Excellence from the Perspectives of Latina/o/x Youth. The High 
School Journal 104(2), 104-124. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/803608. 
  



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support. While excellence in the community was defined as being of service to the community 

and excellence in school was defined as academic performance and earning good grades. To 

identify the source of excellence in the homes of Latina/o/x youth, we developed the Loteria 

Projects where upon in-depth data analysis we found that: 1) excellence is learned and passed 

down intergenerationally, 2) excellence in the home is exhibited by meeting or exceeding 

expectations associated with one’s role in the family, and 3) excellence in the home is grounded 

in reciprocity. These findings emerged from the Loteria cards and the semi-structured 

interviews participants carried out with a person whom they identified as a reflection of 

excellence in the home, of which the majority of participants chose to interview a parent. In the 

sections that follow, we describe the three aforementioned findings and provide examples from 

the data to support each theme.  

Meeting and Exceeding Expectations  

During semi-structured interviews participants asked the people they believe reflect 

excellence in their home about their definition of excellence. Interviewees defined excellence as 

meeting or exceeding expectations, specifically in their roles as family members (i.e. mother, 

father, son, daughter, etc.). Keywords that interviewees used to define excellence include: 

overachieving, exceeding expectations, setting and accomplishing goals, doing your best, and 

working hard and/or engaging in hard work. A common theme across these keywords is that 

excellence is grounded in effort, action, and hard work. Excellence is not something that just is, 

it is enacted. Interviewees mentioned having expectations of themselves or their family 

members in the home such as: contributing to the home by way of completing chores, pursuing 

an education, and being a good role model for others. Though we did not set out to explore 

gendered definitions of excellence or gendered expectations in the home, the way interviewees 

describe excellence and what it looks like in the home as it relates to ones role in the home is 

gendered in nature. This is not surprising given that research on familismo, the 

interconnectedness and importance of the family in Latina/o/x culture, has been found to impact 

one’s values and beliefs and affects individuals differently by gender (Piña-Watson et al., 2013; 

Posada Rodriguez, 2019).   



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When asked to identify a family member who 

demonstrated excellence in her home, Lupita, a 9th 

grade daughter of Guatemalan parents, did not think 

twice about her choice to interview her mother, 

Sandra. Lupita always remarked about how much her 

mother had sacrificed and worked hard for her and her 

family to have a better future. Figure 1 is the Loteria 

card, El Ojo (The Eye), that Lupita drew of her mother’s 

eye. During the presentation of her Loteria Card, 

Lupita spoke about how much she liked her mother’s 

eye because the color was unique to the rest of the 

family. Lupita chose to draw her mother’s eye and 

specifically chose the colors green and brown to reflect 

her hazel eyes. For the interview assignment we had the opportunity to hear directly from her 

mother about her definition of excellence. When asked about her definition of excellence, 

Sandra explained that “Excellence in the family is exceeding your goal” (Sandra, Lupita’s mother, 

Interview).  For Sandra, excellence at home, in the family, is not simply meeting your goal. She 

expects family to exceed their goals.  This sentiment was felt across most responses, 

particularly when parents were the ones being interviewed.  Many parents attributed excellence 

to fulfilling their role as provider. One father stated that to him, excellence in the home meant 

“giving [their] kid [their] all”. Another parent stated: “yo defino excelencia como nos esforzamos 

y trabajamos duro con sacrificios para alcanzar nuestras metas”. Both examples reflect the 

funds of knowledge in the home that are associated with specific roles in the family and the 

labor and economy of the home. The parents in the aforementioned examples describe what 

excellence looks like as a fund of knowledge where they engage in a productive activity of the 

household.  Similarly, students interpreted their parents' definitions of excellence in the home 

as excelling or exceeding expectations by “helping around even though nobody tells you to” (Lola, 

student). Rather than wait for someone to instruct a person to do something, Lola, a 9th grade 

AVID student interpreted her father’s definition of excellence in the home as helping or being 

of service in the home. Her definition of excellence is in line with a value often found in 

Latina/o/x homes, to acomedirse, to be of help or service. Part of being helpful around the home 

Figure 1 
 
“El Ojo”  



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without anybody instructing you to do so involves knowing your role in the home and valuing 

being of service to others. This type of excellence often goes unnoticed by teachers and 

administrators because it is part of the educación that occurs in the home (Moreno & Valencia, 

2011). Educación “refers to the family’s role of inculcating in children a sense of moral, social, 

and personal responsibility and serves as the foundation of all other learning” (Valenzuela, 1999, 

p. 23). Moreover, educación is about developing competence in the world as well as respect and 

dignity (Valenzuela, 1999). Values such as acomedir, respeto, and dignidad are a part of the 

educación that occurs in the home that educators are often unaware of. To acomedirse 

encourages a culture of reciprocity in the homes of these families. Because all family members 

see the mutual benefit of these actions, they are more inclined to act. This fully encapsulates 

the principles of familismo where all members of the family are striving towards a common 

goal, that being the best for the family unit.  

When it came to the roles that each family member played in the home, we began to 

understand how these families were seeing excellence in their own homes through the things 

they do for each other. Those interviewed understood excellence to be everyone working 

together for the good of the collective. Essentially, what this meant was that each person had to 

do their part in order for the home to function as the “safe” and “peaceful” place that parents 

aimed for it to be. In doing so, they created and maintained the funds of knowledge that are 

necessary for the functioning and well-being of the home. There was special emphasis on the 

role of parents as the “providers” of the home. Rosita, a 9th grade AVID student, interviewed 

her father, Juan. In Figure 2, Rosita drew a Loteria card of her father as El Conductor (The 

Driver/Conductor). Rosita drew the truck Juan drives on a daily basis because he gets to travel 

and see new places as a driver. When asked to describe what excellence in the home meant to 

him, Juan stated the following: “Un hogar tranquilo y especial por mi familia y por mis niños que son 

todo en la vida” (Juan, Rosita’s Father, Interview). Here, Juan, speaks from his role as a father and 

as a provider. He believes excellence in the home happens when his home is peaceful for his 

family, especially his children, who mean everything to him. 

Intergenerational Knowledge of Excellence 

 When asked who and where they learned excellence from, family members who were 

interviewed identified having learned it through knowledge and lessons collected 

intergenerationally and through personal experience. The collection of influences from their 



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family members, relationships, past and present 

experiences helped them learn important 

themes/lessons such as excellence through lived 

experience, hard work, having a positive outlook on 

life, and believing in and/or knowing oneself.   

The majority of interviewees learned about 

excellence through their parents and family 

members. This finding is in line with Harro’s (2000) 

argument that parents, relatives, teachers and other 

people we trust are our first sources of socialization 

that shape our norms, values, beliefs, expectations, 

and dreams. Similarly, excellence was taught by 

parents to their children through the sharing of past 

lived experiences. The legacy of intergenerational 

knowledge being passed down from parents to their 

children is visible in Rosita’s father, Juan. When 

asked where he learned about excellence, Juan stated the following:  

“La excelencia son los valores que aprendí de mis papas de luchar y obtener lo que uno 

quiere.”  

“Excellence are the values that I learned from my parents, to fight for and obtain what 

one wants.”  

Juan explicitly identifies his parents as the source of his own ideas about excellence. He learned 

about excellence from his parents and passed it on to Rosita. Other students explicitly 

mentioned that their interviewee had learned about excellence through experiences involving 

their parents both directly and indirectly. Excellence was something they learned from the 

people and environment they grew up in.  

Cynthia, a 9th grade AVID student who interviewed her mother, recapped how her 

mother, Maria, learned about excellence by stating that she “Learned from people in her life and 

put their stories together to make one positive definition”. This quote exemplifies the ways the 

people who surrounded Maria influenced the way she thinks about and embodies excellence. 

The people who she surrounded herself with shared stories and experiences with her to piece 

Note. This figure is Rosita’s Loteria 
card of her father who is a conductor, 
driver, for a living.  

Figure 2 
 
”El Conductor”   
 



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together her own “positive” definition of excellence. In this instance, we learn about excellence 

as a trait or practice that has been passed down through people in their lives- including people 

of diverse backgrounds, generations, values, and beliefs. Cynthia’s mother learned about 

excellence through people in her life. While participants in this study define excellence as 

meeting or exceeding expectations, excellence is learned from the people they surround 

themselves with. Furthermore, lived experience is also a source of excellence.  

Lived Experience 

 According to family members who were interviewed, they also learned about excellence 

through lived experience. Lived experience includes first-hand, day-to-day, past and current 

trials and triumphs in life in general, specifically in spaces such as home, place of employment, 

and country of origin. After his interview with his father Arturo, Andrew, a 9th grade soccer 

player, states “Excellence is  . . . learning through experience, doing what needs to be done - 

everyone’s life is one’s teacher” (Andrew, Interview). Here, Andrew notes how excellence is 

learned through experience and “doing what needs to be done.” Andrew’s father, Arturo, 

reminds us that “life is one’s teacher.”  

Similarly, as the protagonist and leading force in one’s life, oneself in conjunction with 

life can be a source of excellence. Jane, a 9th grade AVID student, interviewed her older sister, 

Stephanie. Stephanie defines herself as excellent. When asked about where her sister learned 

about excellence, Jane states: “Excellence was learned from herself, her success and failure, doing it 

to help the family.” Stephanie centers herself as not only being excellent, but also being the 

source of excellence in her life. Ultimately, the self and lived experience are inextricable from 

one another.   

Perceptions about excellence varied among parents and family members who were 

interviewed because of different life experiences, values, beliefs, and intergenerational 

knowledge. The benefit of having students present their Loteria card, was that after hearing 

from each student individually, we compared how their definition of excellence matched up to 

that of the person they interviewed. This provided insight as to where they were learning these 

definitions of excellence. We were able to see how these definitions were being passed down 

through generations as valuable knowledge. For example, after observing and working with 

Lupita we noticed that for her, generational and familial knowledge played an important role. 

Through work she presented in class we saw how sports, like soccer, was an intergenerational 



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tradition in her family. The discipline she learned while playing soccer could be translated to her 

academics. 

Reciprocity and Collective Good   

 Latina/o/x families function on a system of interdependence as opposed to the 

independent and individualistic nature that is most common in American society (Leyendecker 

et al., 1998).  Because of this, it is important to acknowledge the close relationships that these 

families showed through the interviews. We were able to see how their relationships with 

family cultivate this practice of reciprocity. After close analysis we conclude that excellence in 

the home is founded on the principles of reciprocity and the collective good.  

Reciprocity is a mutual respect and exchange within families, collectives, or groups. This 

is most apparent in the daily interactions between family and extended family members. The 

collective good refers to the status of the family as a whole, including ensuring the well-being of 

family members and creating harmony in the home. For most of these families, the reasons they 

work so hard and go above and beyond for each other is because they understand the 

importance of giving back to their families as a way to keep them united and functioning. 

Reciprocity looked different among the student-conducted interviews, but ultimately the 

overarching theme was the importance of the dependence on each other through the things 

they do for each other on a daily basis. For Mary, a consistent participant in the classroom 

discussion, reciprocity is represented through mutual care for family members. She stated: “in 

our home, excellence is to make sure each family member is well taken care of” (Mary, Interview). 

Mary interviewed her mother where we learned about the importance of looking after one 

another in the home. Throughout her interview, Mary’s mother mentioned the value of 

reciprocity multiple times.  Both Mary and her mother convey the importance of family and 

after losing one of their family members to an illness, they hold each other closer than ever. 

They know that excellence to them is maintaining a strong family that is always there for one 

another.  

For some of the family members interviewed, reciprocity also presents itself in the form 

of giving back to the community. Interviewees spoke on the importance of giving back to those 

that surround you and being grateful for all the work being done. For example, Martha, 

recounts her mother Maria, telling her that being excellent in the home meant to “have a good 

profession to help people (community)”. Similarly, Martha shared the same definition of excellence 



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as her mother in a previous course assignment that asked students where they saw excellence 

in their home, school, and community.  

In the Latina/o/x community, family often extends beyond those that are living in the 

home to include community members. Familism, as a value in Latina/o/x families, “addresses 

multigenerational households or extended family systems” (Cauce & Domenech-Rodriguez, 

2002, p. 13). Even though the community is not part of their immediate family, to interviewees, 

reciprocating love, and hard work is also visible in the community as it is in their home. Using 

data from the other questions asked in this study, we see that involvement and close ties to the 

community is vital for these families. We see more of this in Laura’s interview. Being 

considerate neighbors in her community is a way in which her family sees excellence 

reciprocated. Laura’s mother, Grecia, described excellence as “son buenos vecinos, ayudan 

cuando los necesitan, somos muy respetuosos hacia lo ajeno” (Laura’s Interview). According to 

Grecia, excellence involves being good neighbors, helping others when needed, and being 

respectful towards other people and material items that are not your own. Here we see a 

similar collective effort extend into the community that the student has experienced in their 

home environment. Being kind to one another and the willingness to lend a helping hand was 

Laura’s mother’s example of excellence in the community.  

The idea of reciprocity being the driving force behind the practice of excellence in a 

Latina/o/x home makes sense. When we fully understand the dynamic of a home that depends 

on the collective to thrive, we understand how reciprocity becomes their form of daily 

interaction. This daily interaction was visible in Ms. Lopez’s classroom. Ms. Lopez understood 

the importance of reciprocity and familia in the lives of her students and intentionally created a 

learning environment grounded in these essential elements. During an activity about Community 

Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005), students were asked to identify examples of familial capital and 

they quickly identified Ms. Lopez’s classroom as family- with all confidence and certainty. 

Furthermore, students treat each other with respect and support one another in daily 

interactions, including during presentations- which can be intimidating and difficult for some 

students. Ultimately, reciprocity and familia is cultivated in the home and harvested in the 

classroom.  

Discussion  



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Findings from this study provide insight to the definitions, sources, and foundations of 

excellence in the home from the voices of family members who exemplify excellence in the 

home of Latina/o/x youth in Southern California. The parents, siblings and relatives that 

Latina/o/x youth identified as excellent not only talk about excellence, they live it in their 

everyday lives according to the youth. This is key in the social and political context we live in 

today where racist and deficit messages about Latina/o/x youth and their families are repeatedly 

conveyed in educational policies, practice, and the media.   

To a large extent, the students’ interviewees attributed the lessons learned about 

excellence to experiences acquired through life and/or acquired by observing people, such as 

family members and loved ones. This adds another dimension to the definition of “excellence” 

because their parents and family members place significant value on their experiences, family, 

and past challenges to inform their conceptualizations of excellence, which in turn influences 

the students. While this paper explored general understandings of excellence, it gleaned 

important insight about the source of excellence and how excellence is largely observed from 

and through the lives, actions, and perhaps missteps of others, especially family members.  

The majority of students interviewed their parents as a form of excellence and 

described them as being “hard working” and “dedicated” to their work and families. While 

students quickly identified their parents with these characteristics, students saw their parents as 

being excellent only within the realm of the home prior to engaging in the interview assignment. 

By asking parents and relatives about their definition of excellence and where they learned it 

from, students create new definitions of excellence, hard work, and success that are 

fundamentally different from what schools define, promote, and expect excellence in education 

to be which helps realize and affirm their funds of knowledge. Parents who were interviewed 

defined excellence as “excelling in your goal.” This definition of excellence is not limited to 

education. Rather, their definition is applicable across all walks of life. Moreover, as excellence 

is defined by parents and relatives, students can consider their parents, relatives, and 

themselves as excellent beyond the home and in the community and school. Not only do the 

findings inform our understanding of what is excellence, they also challenge us to consider who 

can be a source of excellence. The findings of this study position families as excellence in the 

lives of Latina/o/x high school youth. This decenters traditional forms of excellence in schools 

that are measured individually with letter grades, high grade point averages, passing test scores, 



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high school graduation, and college degrees. These forms of school approved and expected 

forms of excellence reflect Bourdieu’s (1986) perspective of cultural capital that inherently 

values the capital of the dominant culture which in turn marginalizes the excellence, funds of 

knowledge and community cultural wealth of historically marginalized communities of color. 

Contrary to school expectations, Latina/o/x youth and their families are excellence.  

Not only are parents and family members sources of excellence in students’ homes, 

they are also sources of intergenerational knowledge. Findings reveal that excellence was often 

passed down and learned from parents and family members in the home, specifically through 

lived experience. Learning through lived experience is important to highlight when considering 

the ways K-12 schools do or do not provide students with opportunities to learn through real 

life experiences and welcome the real-life experiences of youth and their families as vital 

sources of education. While students identified family members as examples of excellence and 

through interviews we learned that excellence is passed down from generation to generation, 

they too reflect excellence as recipients and benefactors of the intergenerational knowledge in 

their families. Nava (2017) encourages educators to use interviews as a means for students to 

explore the intergenerational knowledge, histories, struggles, and successes in their families and 

communities. Furthermore, he affirms that an understanding of one’s familial histories and 

intergenerational knowledge can impact aspirations for higher education and life trajectories 

(Nava, 2017). As we consider the positive impact that intergenerational knowledge can have on 

the aspirations and life trajectories of students, we must consider how we can transform 

attitudinal familismo, the values, beliefs and perceptions related to the collective good of the 

family, that is reflected in this study into behavioral familismo, the behavior and actions taken 

for the collective good of the family. While most scholarship on familismo in education tends to 

focus on the student perspective and takes place in institutions of higher education, our study 

contributes to literature on familismo and excellence from the perspective of students and 

family members within K-12 schools.  

Implications for Practice 

Findings from this study challenge educators to consider the ways we can engage the 

rich sources of excellence students bring from their homes for learning in the classroom. Upon 

conducting the Loteria Project, specifically asking students to identify and interview someone in 

their home that reflected excellence, it became clear that youth are rarely asked about 



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excellence in the home, let alone to engage in inquiry and art-based work, and they have few 

opportunities to ask their parents deeply important questions about the cultural and historical 

legacy of their family and life experiences. Thus, we suggest ways that educators can use to 

draw upon our students’ intergenerational legacy of excellence in the classroom.  

First and foremost, educators must be intentional about engaging students with their 

home and community in ways that decenter normalized examples and definitions of excellence. 

Normalized forms of excellence include a focus on academics, specifically grades, grade point 

averages, as well as material and socio-economic wealth. Rather, educators can design and 

implement age-appropriate curriculum and activities that provide students with opportunities to 

understand how their experiences and background contribute to the conversation of 

excellence. The Loteria Card project is a practical way for students to portray some of those 

forms of excellence that have been instilled in them through their home life. Conducting 

interviews with family members and drawing their findings as a Loteria Card allows students to 

develop ownership of their learning, affirms their funds of knowledge, and provides students an 

opportunity to engage in qualitative research inquiry. Furthermore, conducting a Loteria Card 

Project provides students the opportunity to identify and learn about the organic intellectuals in 

their homes and in turn, inform teachers about the role models their students have at home. 

However, it is important to note that interviewees did not perceive their role in the lives of 

Latina/o/x students as excellence. It was not until Latina/o/x youth engaged in the interview 

component of the Loteria project that someone identified them as excellent.   

To start, teachers can ask students and their families to talk about what makes them 

excellent. Students can be asked to reflect on what makes them excellent individually or in pairs 

and to consider how they practice excellence in their daily lives. Parents could be asked to 

identify what makes their child excellent during parent-teacher conferences as a way for 

teachers to learn about the funds of knowledge of their students. Consequently, this allows for 

parent-teacher conferences to focus on student assets rather than deficits and failures. In this 

study, many students pointed out that the work and responsibilities assumed by their parents 

are examples of excellence.  However, excellence has become so normalized that when these 

parents were told that they exemplified excellence, they denied it and claimed they were simply 

meeting and doing their “duty”. This project encourages families to see simple gestures like 

having dinner as a family, providing for the family, or excelling the expectations in the home as 



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forms of excellence. This will affirm a culture of excellence among communities that are often 

excluded from these definitions (Rodriguez, 2015).  

 Bringing conversations about excellence into the classroom can help teachers at any 

grade level begin to cultivate a sense of excellence in their classrooms by encouraging a family-

centered relationship dynamic among their students. In other words, teachers can begin to 

foster excellence in their classroom by developing a sense of familismo in the classroom. In Ms. 

Lopez’s classroom, students often expressed that they felt like they were a part of a family. 

They showed support for each other when it came to classroom assignments, they looked out 

for each other when necessary, and trusted each other enough to share their dreams for the 

future and their present struggles. For example, during our time working with EBHS students, 

we witnessed numerous student presentations in the classroom. At these times, we saw how 

respectful and conscious students were of one another. This was something we later learned 

had been fostered and expected of them by their teacher. Ms. Lopez helped her students 

understand the importance of a supportive classroom environment and ensured that her 

classroom was a safe and welcoming space for all. She also encouraged students to share their 

lived experiences and to apply academic content to the real world. As the findings of this study 

have shown, lived experiences are sources of excellence that can be passed on 

intergenerationally and that all can learn from. Teachers can help build a classroom 

environment where students feel en familia and where excellence is an expectation by creating 

community guidelines and expectations as a class. This is a simple yet uniform way of 

establishing guidelines and expectations that all students help create and hold each other 

accountable.  

 When we first met Ms. Lopez she was excited to work with us because she expressed 

the need for feedback on her teaching. Even though we were not there to evaluate her teaching 

we gave her feedback in the spirit of reciprocity. The feedback consisted of praise for the 

family-oriented environment she created in the classroom and ideas for assignments focused on 

excellence that she could adapt for her AVID students. Her use of the Loteria Card Project 

generated excitement on behalf of students that spread across campus. One of her colleagues 

asked if he could do the Loteria Card Project with his students too without the interview 

component and organized a gallery walk of his students’ loteria cards at an end of the year 

family night. The Loteria Card Project also culminated in five of Ms. Lopez’s students planning 



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and leading a Loteria Card workshop to youth and families at the University of California 

Riverside’s Chicano Youth Conference.  

Final Thoughts 

 It is important to note that the definition and practices of excellence will vary by 

individuals, families, communities, and overall context. Understanding how youth, their families 

and communities define excellence and how it is learned and cultivated within and beyond the 

home takes time, confianza, and an open mind. If we are genuinely interested in understanding 

the excellence that fuels them to thrive, as educators we must be willing to invest the time and 

be open to learning with students, their families, and communities.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Gutiérrez, et al. 
 

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