\ The Chicano Theatre Touring Company at West Hills Community College in Coalinga allows students to polish their English and conquer their fear of public speaking while they educate the community. More than a million children who are not proficient in English attend schools in California. Most speak Spanish, but more than 50 languages were identified in California schools, according to a 2005 report by the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit research organization in San Francisco.

The play is about two families who are connected through their children. One of the teens becomes pregnant by the son of the other family. She’s encouraged to pursue college even though she’s expecting a child. Another teen chooses to join the military and dies in Iraq. Actor Juan Ruvalcaba,who is 18, said he wanted to improve his Spanish because he speaks English more often than Spanish. Ruvalcaba, who lives in Firebaugh, said he enjoys being in the play because he believes it helps guide young people who are facing issues such as teen pregnancy and graduating from high school. “I have a friend who got his girlfriend pregnant,” he said. “He wanted to finish high school. She graduated. He never finished high school. He is working now, and he wished he would have finished high school.”

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