March 5, 2020

Heroines Week Dolores Huerta (3-5-2020)

by Chompers

Background show artwork for Chompers

Dolores Huerta helped fight for the rights of farm workers, and that's why she is today's Chompers heroine!

Where to Listen

Transcript

Rise and Shine its time for Chompers! Your morning and night toothbrushing show. 

Start brushing on the top of your mouth on one side, and brush in little circles around each tooth 


3, 2, 1 brush! 


It's Heroines week, where every day we tell you the story of a heroic woman from history. 


Dolores Huerta grew up in California in a family with Mexican heritage. Dolores’ father worked on a farm helping to pick the fruits and vegetables. Their family didn't have much money, but Dolores was a smart, hard working student, and grew up to be a schoolteacher. 


Switch to the other side of the top of your mouth, and brush all the way to the molars in the back.


[Switch Bell]


Dolores taught school in California, near the place where she grew up, soon she noticed that the kids in her class were too hungry to pay attention....


Many of the children were sick, and some of them didn't even have shoes to wear. These were the children of farm workers. And the children were hungry and sick because the farm workers weren’t being paid enough to take care of their families. 


Switch to the bottom of your mouth, and keep brushing.


[Switch Bell]


Dolores found out that the farm workers were not being treated fairly by the owners of the farms. She decided to help the farm workers organize a UNION. A union is when people come together to demand to be treated fairly by the people they work for. Dolores helped the farm workers organize a STRIKE  That means they refused to work until the farm owners agreed to treat the workers better. 


Switch to the other side of the bottom of your mouth, and brush your front teeth too. 


Dolores and the farm workers marched in the streets chanting  “Si Se Puede,” which means “Yes we can!” in Spanish. With the workers on strike, the farm owners had no one to work their farms and pick the fruits and vegetables. 


Finally, the farm owners HAD to give in, and agreed to pay the farm workers fairly, and treat them with respect. 


And Because of her courage and compassion, Dolores Huerta is today's Chompers Heroine. 


That’s it for Chompers today, but come back tonight for more heroines from history. Until then, 3, 2, 1 spit!