Domain 11 - Lesson 10: Faith Florez.

Faith Florez:

Fighting for Farm Workers

Check for Understanding

Multiple Choice

What does it mean to fight for a cause?

• Fighting for a cause means working hard to reach a goal.

• Fighting for a cause means physical attack in a battle.

Open Ended

What causes did some of the extraordinary people we learned about fight for?

Multiple Choice

Who is the person in this image?

• Martin Luther King Jr.

• Cesar Chavez

• Jackie Robinson

• Abraham Lincohn

Multiple Choice

What cause did he fight for?

• Civil rights of farm workers

• Voting rights of farm workers

• Human rights of farm workers

• Freedom of farm workers

Multiple Choice

How did he do it?

• He organized violent protests against the employers.

• He created a union and organized nonviolent protests.

Multiple Select

Why did he fight for farm workers?

(choose 2)

• He came from a family of migrant workers and experienced through them the unfair treatment given to farm workers.

• He believed that all farm workers deserve respect, higher wages, and proper medical care.

• He came from a family of migrant workers and he wanted to the leader of all of the farm workers.

Faith Florez

​Today we will learn about another person, a teenage girl, who also wanted to protect the rights of farm workers.

Core Vocabulary

descent, n.

​the people in your family who lived before you were born

Example: Many people in this area are of Mexican descent.

foundation, n.

​an organization started with gifts of money

Example: They created a foundation to help children in need.

harsh, adj.

​unpleasant, difficult and sometimes harmful because of how bad it is.

Example: The harsh music hurts my ears.

peril, n.

​something that creates danger or risk

Example: The fire put the city in peril.

notify, v.

​to tell about or give notice of something that creates danger or risk.

Example: The teacher reminded the students to notify their parents about tomorrow’s class field trip.

​Seventeen year old Faith Florez [FLORR-EZ] comes from a family of farm workers and grew up in a small farming community in California. She is of Mexican-American descent. Her parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents all worked on farms, planting, picking, and harvesting crops in California. Her grandmother, Guadalupe Ochoa, [O-CHO-AH] picked roses, cotton, and almonds. Then her father went to pick the same things again. She grew up watching and hearing stories of what her family went through as they worked. From the age of four, her mother picked cotton and different types of fruit and vegetables. Sometimes she was harmed by the pesticides used on the farm for the plants. She had no medical help to take care of her if she was sick or injured, and she always worked no matter how hot or cold it was.

​Many of her family members were migrant workers like Cesar Chavez’s family. They went between seasons from farm to farm planting and harvesting crops. Like farm workers in the past, many farm workers today still work under harsh conditions. They work for long hours in very high heat, sometimes without enough access to water, shade, and safety. Sometimes they have to endure aches and pains while working and sometimes they are not given proper medical care. The temperature on could get so intense that it would reach over 100 degrees! Being under high heat could make you sick, feel tired, dizzy, dehydrated, and light headed. This is sadly what happened to Faith’s grandmother who died working in the farm from heat illness. Faith was unhappy about this, and many other farm workers who suffered from working under harsh conditions. She believed that farm workers should be taken care of, and appreciated for the work they do for us.

​Faith wanted farm workers to be safe, happy, and healthy. She also wanted them to be treated fairly. To help with this, she created a special computer program that can be used with watches that farmers wear while at work. This will help keep them safe from peril. She did not want what happened to her grandmother to happen again to others. Faith named her program “Calor”[KA-LOR] which means hot or heat in Spanish. Her program will protect farm workers by warning them when it gets too hot. This may seem simple but the program does much more. Calor will provide weather updates and tips on what to wear, eat, and drink helping farm workers be better prepared for work. Next, it will measure the body heat of the worker and let them know when it is time for them to take a break for water, shade, and rest. Calor will also notify 911 if there is an emergency. In addition, Calor will have articles and videos that farm workers can read and watch to help them learn new ways to stay healthy and safe.

​The Calor program is free for farm workers. To use the program, the farm worker would need to add the program to a special kind of watch that is like a small computer and wear it while at work. Faith believes that this is a good step in protecting their rights and lives. Her goal is for every farmer to give their workers these watches. But she knows that this will cost a lot of money. Faith created a foundation to raise money to support farmers. Foundations give money and help to those in need. With the money, farmers can buy the watches they need to use the Calor program. So far she has raised over $60,000! This is just the beginning. She hopes to grow her project and expand to new neighborhoods, cities and states.

Faith believes that anyone can make a positive change by improving the lives of others with our actions. She says, “We can all create change in the world. We just need to recognize the problems in our community and utilize the resources around us to make the world a better place.”

Check for Understanding

Multiple Choice

Farm workers are important to society because they help grow and pick the food we eat. Without them there will be no food in our stores and markets.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

In what way is Faith protecting the rights of farm workers?

• Faith created a union and organized nonviolent protests.

• Faith created a special program called Calor which will help keep farm workers safe and healthy.

Multiple Choice

How does Calor work?

• Calor works through a special kind of watch that farm workers wear while working.

• Calor works through a special kind of radio program that farm workers listen while working.

• Calor works through a special kind of television program that farm workers watch while working.

Multiple Select

In what ways can it protect farm workers?

(multiple choices)

• The program will warn the farmers whenever it gets too hot, and can tell them when to take breaks.

• If there is an emergency, it will let 911 know.

• It has articles and videos that teach workers how to be safe, healthy, and ready for work.

Multiple Select

Why does Faith care about protecting the rights of farm workers?

(multiple choices)

• Faith came from a family of migrant farm workers, and she heard stories and watched the struggles they went through which she thought was not fair.

• She believed that the workers needed protection, and didn’t want what happened to her grandmother to happen again to another person.

• She saw that no one spoke up for them and chose to do something about it.