Empowering Families with Latino Studies

Born in McAllen, Texas and raised in Chicago, Belinda Cervantes is a Mexican-American homeschool mother and educator who has been homeschooling her children for the past 10 years.  Belinda has a BA in Theatre and English from Carthage College and worked as an actor, musician, and teaching artist in Chicago for over 10 years before taking a step back from acting to raise and homeschool her children.  

Recently, Belinda launched LiTTLE LUNAS, a library program she started with her sister Maritza and co-founder of the band The Luna Blues Machine (2001).  This interactive and bilingual concert experience for children has had the pleasure of being at various libraries in the Chicago-land area.    

Storytime with Ms. Belinda will have children hearing stories by Latinos paired with an activity related to the picture book.  Some themes will include cultural identity, activism, family, and community.

Maricela has served in education for over 18 years as a teacher, tutor, and assessment writer. She earned her B.A. in Chicana/o Studies and M.Ed. in Math Teaching from Stanford University and holds a Montessori certification in Early Childhood. Throughout her career, Maricela has worked with Pre-K through 12th-grade students in math, reading, and science. As a Montessori teacher, she designed a Spanish curriculum for young learners and has developed training for tutors on math instructional strategies, social-emotional learning, and literacy guidance. She also wrote community educator courses on how students learn math and how to build equity in math learning environments.

Maricela is a proud mother of two lifelong homeschoolers. She has homeschooled her children for the past 11 years in the United States and Mexico.

Nellie Escalante is  a Puerto Rican art historian, museum/art educator, artist, and creative entrepreneur born and raised in the Bronx. 

An experienced museum educator, Nellie has taught at El Museo del Barrio, the Museum of the Moving Image, and is currently a member of the teaching team at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Jewish Museum, and Arts & Minds.   She holds an MA in Anthropology, and a BA in Art History with a minor in Latin American Studies. 

As a creative entrepreneur, Nellie’s work features her art teaching resources, printable art, DIY sewing tutorials inspired by clothing reconstruction, as well as t-shirts celebrating cultural heroes, art, and natural hair.  

Nellie has written two books about raising a child with a disability drawing from her experiences as an artist, educator, and person of faith.  These are Peek-a-boo, I See Me: 35 Lessons inSelf/Soul Care for the Special Needs Mom and Girl Reconstructed: Crafting a Creative Business as a Special Needs Mom. You can purchase them on Amazon.