Study Guides

About the BookBreaking Through

Like the Joad family in the Steinbeck classic, Grapes of Wrath, the Jimenez’s came to California to escape poverty and find a better life. In a short story titled "Crossing la Frontera" (the border), told from a child's point of view, Jimenez describes his family's flight from their home in a small village north of Guadalajara across the border into the United States:

“On both sides of the fence were armed guards in green uniforms. Papa called them la migra and explained that they had to cross the fence to the other side, without being seen by these men. If they succeeded, they would enter los Estados Unidos....We continued walking along the wire wall, until Papa spotted a small hole underneath the fence. Papa got on his knees and, with his hands, made the opening larger. They all crawled through it like snakes."

“A few minutes later, they were picked up by a woman whom Papa had contacted in Mexicali. She had promised to pick us up in her car and drive us, for a fee, to a place where they would find work. As they traveled north through the night, I fell asleep for a long time on Mama's lap. I woke up at dawn and heard the woman say, we're entering the San Joaquin Valley. Here you'll find plenty of work. ‘This is the beginning of a new life,’ Mama said, taking a deep breath. ‘A good life,’ Papa answered.

As it turned out, many years would pass before anyone in the Jiménez family experienced that good life. Jiménez’s father, Francisco, his mother Joaquina, and his older brother Roberto, found work picking crops in the fields. So began the cycle of moving from camp to camp, following the harvest.

The family, which eventually grew to nine children, lived in one-room shacks and tents. In the summer, they picked strawberries in Santa Maria. Then they traveled to Fresno to pick grapes in early September and on to Corcoran and Bakersfield to pick cotton in the winter. In February, they moved back to Santa Maria to thin lettuce and top carrots.

Working from sunup to sundown, the entire family earned just $15 a day. Jiménez called this nomadic existence "the circuit" in a short story by that title that has been reproduced many times in textbooks and anthologies of American literature.

"It's a symbolic circuit," he says. "If you're a migrant worker, you're constantly living in poverty. It's very difficult to get out of it."

Yet Jiménez soon found relief from the hard life in the fields and a way to escape the circuit: school. "I came to realize that learning and knowledge were the only stable things in my life. Whatever I learned in school, that knowledge would stay with me no matter how many times they moved."

Because Jiménez could not start school until after the mid-November harvest and because he knew so little English, he struggled to keep up with his classmates. One teacher even labeled him mentally retarded.

"I would start school and find myself behind, especially in English," he remembers. "School for the first nine years was very sporadic."

Still, Jiménez was luckier than his brother Roberto, who was old enough to pick cotton and therefore could not start school until February. In "The Circuit," Jiménez describes the pain of leaving his brother behind on his first day back at school:

"I woke up early that morning and lay in bed, looking at the stars and savoring the thought of not going to work and starting sixth grade for the first time that year. Since I could not sleep, I decided to get up and join Papa and Roberto at breakfast. I sat at the table across from Roberto, but I kept my head down. I did not want to look up and face him. I knew he was sad. He was not going to school today. He was not going tomorrow, or next week, or next month."

Unlike many of his classmates, Jiménez looked forward to the days he spent in school. "I had many embarrassing moments; but in spite of those, I enjoyed the environment," he says. "School was a lot nicer than home. Many times, they lived in tents with dirt floors, no electricity or plumbing. In school they had electricity, plumbing, lighting. They even had toys."Although the physical environment was pleasant, interactions with classmates often were not. "Kids would call me spic, or greaser, tamale wrapper. They made fun of my thick accent and whenever I made grammatical mistakes. That really hurt. I withdrew and became quiet," Jiménez says.

Fortunately, Jiménez sometimes encountered a friendly teacher who recognized his desire to learn. His sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Lema, helped him with his English during lunch. Discovering that Jiménez enjoyed music, the universal language, Lema offered to teach him to play the trumpet.

But Jiménez never got his first lesson. When he went home to tell his mother and father the good news about his music lessons, he found the family's possessions neatly packed into cardboard boxes. They were moving again.

To compensate for his sporadic education, Jiménez began teaching himself. He would jot down words he was trying to memorize on a small note pad and carry it with him into the fields so he could study during his breaks.

Whenever his family visited the local public dump to collect discarded clothes, wood for a floor, and other necessities, Jiménez would pick up books. Once he found a single volume of an encyclopedia. Not realizing it was part of a 20-volume set, he leafed through its pages, figuring that if he could learn to read the whole thing, he'd know just about everything there was to know.

Wherever he was, Jiménez always knew to run and hide from la migra (Immigration and Naturalization Service agents), especially when they made their sweeps through the fields and camps.

Jiménez and his family lived in fear of being deported. His father had a visa, but the others did not; visas were too expensive. Jiménez remembers the INS officers interrogating people and sometimes beating them. When someone asked where he was born, he lied.When he was in junior high school, INS agents entered Jiménez's classroom and arrested him as an illegal immigrant. The family was deported to Mexico but returned after several weeks with visas obtained with the help of a Japanese sharecropper who sponsored them.Jiménez's life changed forever when he was about to enter high school. Because his father suffered from permanent back pain--probably from too many hours bent over the crops--he could no longer work in the fields. It was up to Roberto to support the family.

Roberto found a job as a janitor at a school in Santa Maria; Jiménez also worked for a janitorial company. Now the family did not have to follow the harvest. Now Jiménez could start school with the rest of the class and keep up with his studies."The work was indoors; and after I was done cleaning, I could study in an office," he says. "This was my chance."

With his newfound stability, Jiménez thrived. He became student-body president of his high school and earned a 3.7 GPA. A guidance counselor, disturbed that a gifted student was not going to college because the family could not afford to send him, managed to arrange for Jiménez to obtain scholarships and student loans so that he could enroll at Santa Clara University.

Before reading the BookBreaking Through

• Sometimes life takes an unexpected turn. With a partner, think about a dream you have for the future. Then, discuss this scenario: Imagine that your family has to relocate to another country. How would you cope with losing something – a person, a way of life, an experience? Make notes about how you would react to such a difficult situation. What plans would you make to fulfill your dreams? Discuss your revised vision of the future with your partner. As you read Breaking Through, pay attention to how Francisco deals with his own obstacles of moving to the United States and how he achieved his dreams.

Make a ConnectionBreaking Through

Have students remember a time when they have had to say goodbye to someone. What positive or negative emotions did they experience?

Have students recall a time when they conquered a fear or mastered a task that was difficult for them. Discuss how they felt when they succeeded.

Have students complete this sentence: I once had to start over _____________. They may recall a project they were building or a larger challenge in life. Discuss the hardships and rewards of starting over.

Have students remember a time when they made a new friend. Discuss how valuable a friend can be in a difficult situation.

Have students think of a time when they traveled to a new place. Were they excited or anxious? Discuss the emotions associated with experiencing an unfamiliar location or landscape.

As they read, have students keep notes about the external and internal conflicts that Francisco experiences and how he deals with each one.

Reflection and Discussion QuestionsBreaking Through

1. What did you learn about the experience of Mexican-American migrant farmworkers of the 1940s? What did you learn about the European-American landowners?

2. How different would this book be if it were about migrant farm workers of Mexican descent today?

3. How would these stories be different if they were told from the eyes of the father in the story? From one of Francisco’s teachers? From one of the landowners?

4. What stereotypes are there about Mexican-Americans? Mexico? Migrant farm workers?

5. What are some examples of racial prejudice in this story?

6. What are some examples of power in this story? How is it used?

7. There is great controversy in many communities about "English - only" education. What are the arguments about it? Who is making the arguments? Who has power in these arguments and how are they using this power? What do you think about the "English - only" debate?

8. What do you know of migrant farm workers in your community? Of Mexican-Americans? How could you find out more? What do the Mexican-Americans in your community express as their needs (if they are heard in your community)?

9. This book is for adults and children. If you were giving this book as a gift to a child what would you want the child to know about the book and how young a child would you give this book to?

10. In the section about the author, Jimenez talks about being given The Grapes of Wrath as a teenager and realizing it was the first book he had read to which he could relate. What are the stories of your cultural heritage and when did you read them? What stories are the children in your community being asked to read and does it relate to their cultural heritage? What values does this book share in its telling? How would you and folks from your congregation greet migrant farm workers such as Francisco’s family if they showed up in church? How is this book helpful in unlearning racism?

11. What questions do you still have that you would like the group to discuss?

12. What do you still wish to know more about and will explore on your own?

13. What did you like most and least about the book?

14. What did you feel and learn about yourself?

Things to DiscussBreaking Through

Overall Reaction1. How did the story impact you and what did you learn from the book?

2. What do you think contributed to the author Breaking Through successfully?

Comparing the Immigrant Experience1. If you are an immigrant to this country how was Professor Jiménez’s life story similar or different than your own story?

2. If you were born in this country, how has your life or your family’s been similar to or different from the Jiménez family?

3. Given that the story was written about events nearly 45 years ago, how do you think things are similar or different for immigrants in 2003?

4. Given the continuous controversies surrounding immigration laws in the state and country, are there any changes you think need to be made?

The Role of Their Community in Educating Their Children1. What teachers made an impact in your life and why?

2. Should the community play a role in supporting the education of ALL students?

3. What suggestions do you have for assisting and improving bilingual education?

Relating One's Own Personal Story1. What times have there been in your life when you have had a Breaking Through experience?

2. What helped you succeed?

Closing1. As a result of the Silicon Valley Reads-One Book One Community project, what impact do you think reading and discussing the book will make on you or the community as a whole?

2. Do you have any suggestions for future book selections for the community?

SymbolismBreaking Through

Authors often use symbols – people, places, or things that have their own meaning and also stand for something else to deepen a story’s message. Francisco Jiménez quotes Thomas Mann, Dr. Faustus in the beginning of the book – What is the symbolism Jiménez is trying to get across?

“There is at bottom only one problem in the world…How does one break through?How does one get into the open?How does one burst the cocoon and become a butterfly?”

ThemesBreaking Through

Students will see the following themes, or main ideas, developed in detail in Breaking Through.

• Breaking down barriers• Striving for a better way of life• Helping to support your family• Having a strong work ethic• The value of education• Being respectful to others• Encountering racism• Being proud of your heritage• Making friends and becoming a leader at school• Having your parents rely on you for many things• Trying to balance the traditions of your family with a new set of values and a different way of life• Working hard to fulfill your dreams• Writing a story about your life

Cisco Certification Guide: Overview and Career Paths

Cisco Systems Inc. specializes in networking and communications products and services. The company is probably best known for its business routing and switching products, which direct data, voice, and video traffic across networks around the world. However, Cisco also offers storage networking, applications for unified communications, telepresence and collaboration (WebEx), and an array of services from simple product support to complete solutions for data centers and cloud management.

To ensure that IT professionals have the skills and knowledge necessary to support Cisco products and solve customers’ technology problems on many fronts, the Cisco Career Certification program is all-embracing. That is, it begins at the entry level, then advances to associate, professional, and expert levels, and (in some certification areas) caps things off at the architect level.

Each level offers one or more credentials. Obtaining a credential usually involves passing one or more certification exams. Most Cisco exams are delivered by Pearson VUE. For higher-level credentials, candidates must also prove they meet necessary prerequisites. The higher the level of certification, the more credentials and prerequisites one needs to meet those requirements.

Certifications within Cisco’s portfolio include the following credentials:

There are many certifications and paths one can take in Cisco’s career program. That said, its two main paths cover network operation and network design. A typical Cisco networking certification ladder begins with the entry-level CCENT credential, moves up to the CCNA, onto the CCNP and culminates with the CCIE. The design-oriented might instead consider starting with the CCENT, moving up to the CCDA, then the professional-level CCDP, followed by the CCDE, and finish the program with the CCAr.

The Cisco Career Certification program also includes a number of specializations. These certifications acknowledge a professional’s skills in a specific Cisco technology, such as data center application services, voicemail and messaging or rich media. Cisco specializations are organized into two primary categories: one targeting technical specialists and another targeting digital transformation specialists. Between these two categories, there are currently 15 specializations among which IT pros can choose.

The Technical Specialist category includes specializations across six subcategories:

Digital Transformation specialists includes credentials geared to Business Architecture and Customer Success.

Achieving a specialist credential generally requires passing one or two exams. Some credentials also impose prerequisites.

Entry-, associate- and professional-level credentials are valid for three years, CCIE and specialist certifications are valid for two years and the CCAr is valid for five years. To keep certifications current, Cisco professionals need to recertify by passing a recertification exam or advancing to a higher level in Cisco’s certification hierarchy.

Cisco has two entry-level credentials: the Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) and the Cisco Certified Technician (CCT). No prerequisites are needed to obtain either the CCENT or CCT credential, and candidates must pass a single exam to earn each credential.

CCENT certified professionals install, maintain and troubleshoot small networks or a branch of an enterprise network, and implement basic network security. The CCENT credential is a prerequisite for some associate-level CCNA solution track credentials and the CCDA.

CCTs work onsite at customer locations, diagnosing issues and repairing or replacing network-related equipment. A CCT can choose one of several specialty tracks, which currently includes Data Center and Routing and Switching.

Certification Exams Number of Questions Time to Complete CCENT 100-105 ICND1 45-55 90 minutes CCT Data Center 010-151 DCTECH 65-75 90 minutes CCT Routing & Switching 640-692 RSTECH 60-70 90 minutes

Cisco’s associate-level certifications include the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and the Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA). One must pass one or two certification exams to achieve a CCNA or CCDA credential, depending on the track you choose.

The CCNA recognizes basic skills in installing, supporting, and troubleshooting wired and/or wireless networks. One can choose from several tracks, including Cloud, Collaboration, Cyber Ops, Data Center, Industrial, Routing and Switching, Security, Service Provider and Wireless. The CCNA is a prerequisite for the professional-level CCNP certification. Prerequisites for the CCNA vary depending on the solution track chosen as do the number of required exams. All solution tracks require either one or two exams.

Cisco created the CCDA to identify individuals who can design basic wired and wireless networks, and incorporate security and voice solutions. The CCDA is a prerequisite for the CCDP certification. To obtain the CCDA, candidates must possess either a valid CCENT, CCNA Routing and Switching (or any CCIE certification), and pass a single additional exam.

**Candidates for the CCNA Routing and Switching may take exam 200-125 OR exam 100-105 plus 200-105.

Cisco’s professional-level credentials include two main programs: the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and the Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP). To obtain the CCDP, one must pass three certification exams and possess both the CCDA and CCNA Routing and Switching credentials or any Cisco CCIE or CCDE certification.

All CCNP solution tracks, except Routing and Switching, require candidates to pass four exams. Only three exams are required for the CCNP: Routing and Switching credential. Prerequisites for all CCNP solution tracks include either the lower-level CCNA credential or any CCIE credential. The CCNP: Service Provider credential also accepts the Cisco Certified Internet Professional (CCIP) credential as a prerequisite (which retired in 2012).

The CCNP credential recognizes professionals who plan, deploy, and troubleshoot local networks and wide area networks. The CCNP tracks are the same as those for the CCNA, except for Industrial and Cyber Ops, which are not offered in the CCNP track. The CCNP is recommended to climb up to the next step on the cert ladder – the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert.

The CCDP identifies proficiency in designing and deploying scalable networks and multilayer-switched networks. From the CCDP, you can move on to the Cisco Certified Design Expert.

**CCNP Data Center may take either the 300-160 or 300-180 exam.

Cisco’s expert-level credentials embrace two primary certifications: the coveted Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) and the Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE). Neither certification imposes prerequisites, but one must pass a written exam and a rigorous practical exam to earn either of these credentials.

Beginning in July 2016, Cisco updated its expert-level exams to include an evolving technologies domain. This new domain targets cloud, network programmability and the IoT, and it accounts for 10 percent of the total exam score. Cisco may change the subjects included in this domain to reflect emerging technologies as they reach strong enough commercial interest, potential and presence to make them examworthy. The company describes this mechanism as a way to help future-proof its certifications so that employers may assume that those who hold current credentials are also up to speed on important new networking technologies.

For many network-track professionals, achieving the CCIE is the highlight of their careers. A CCIE has expert technical skills and knowledge of Cisco network products and solutions in one of the CCIE technical tracks, which currently include Collaboration, Data Center, Routing and Switching, Security, Service Provider, and Wireless.

The CCDE identifies experts who design infrastructure solutions for large enterprise environments, which include technological, operational, business and budget aspects of a project.

For persons seeking positions such as network architect or data center architect, a smart move is to acquire the Cisco Certified Architect (CCAr) certification. The CCAr is like the Ph.D. of the Cisco Career Certification program – it’s the highest level of certification that Cisco offers. This credential validates the skills of a senior network infrastructure architect, someone who can plan and design IT infrastructures based on business strategies. Many people consider the CCAr the most difficult tech certification to achieve.

To earn the CCDE certification, you must design a network solution to implement an assigned strategy; then, you must appear before a Cisco-appointed panel to explain and defend that solution.

Whether you’re following a network operations or network design career path, Cisco certifications are uniquely positioned to assist IT professionals as they prepare to fulfill various Cisco-related career roles. Regardless of your chosen career path, job opportunities are plentiful for skilled Cisco professionals. A simple search for Cisco CCNA professionals on two popular job boards – SimplyHired and Indeed – yielded between 7,500 and 9,500 job postings each.

Job opportunities vary by factors, such as experience and whether you’re focused on network operations or network design. While certainly not exhaustive, the following list identifies some common job opportunities by certification:

Cisco maintains a comprehensive list of training and self-study resources. These resources include various forms of online learning, practice exams, learning labs, links to which appear on each certification’s web page. The Cisco Learning Network offers candidates a free basic membership that includes access to exam topics, live seminars, IT training videos, study groups, forums, study materials and much more. The subscription-based Cisco Platinum Learning Library provides professionals with on-demand learning and access to more than 400 courses, hands-on vLabs, the support library, and more. Additional training materials are also available from Cisco Press.

A MOSAIC Study Guide

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on ByDanJohnson.com.

FAA proposed regulation has powerfully captured the attention of many pilots. Pilots have tons of questions. They have some answers. Everyone has a lot to read.

Overall, FAA’s Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) regulation proposal has been warmly received as it opens the door to more capable aircraft that a sport pilot can fly. That’s good, but the document has problems, too. Following are four examples.

MOSAIC’s language invigorated many readers when the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) expressed support for a sport pilot certificate holder to fly at night, with proper training and a logbook endorsement. Yet the proposal refers to other FAA regulations requiring BasicMed or an AvMed. If you must have a medical, you are not exercising the central privilege of a sport pilot certificate. Why suggest that a sport pilot can do things that are blocked by other regulations? This conflict should be resolved.

Another opportunity gap involves aerial work. We’re pleased the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA’s) request was included, but it requires a commercial certificate to fly for compensation, and this requirement eliminates powered parachutes and weight shift trikes, for which no commercial certificate is available. This is discriminatory and should be fixed.

Maintenance experts have lots of questions; see the video at bottom.

ASTM standards writers raised questions about the value of noise regulations included for no present gain, “requiring solutions before the problem exists.” This appears to have political motivations.

You may find other aspects of MOSAIC that urge you to comment. If so, you may find the following helpful.

I can’t imagine anyone genuinely enjoys reading MOSAIC. The NPRM encompasses many pages in dense language; it’s tedious to review.

It just got a lot easier, thanks to Roy Beisswenger. [Beisswenger is founder and proprietor of Easy Flight]

Beginning in 2014—well before MOSAIC existed—Beisswenger and I spent years advocating on behalf of the LSA industry and the pilots that fly those light aircraft to the FAA. Beisswenger was the lead author on several white papers LAMA submitted to support each of its requests. They went over so well with the FAA that they are mentioned in the footnotes.

As you will see in the attached PDF study guide, Beisswenger has done a monster amount of work in reformatting the documents so that you can walk through it and find what you want much easier.

Beisswenger also addressed specific comments I had, whereupon reading one section, the FAA refers to another, and then to another. Before long, you forget where you started and struggle to retrace your steps. You also need internet access to study the FARs published outside the NPRM. The continuous back-and-forth makes studying the document slow, yet the clock is ticking on public comments. At this writing they have just over 60 days left.

Reviewing the NPRM is far easier with this PDF study guide because of the bookmarks, links, and backlinks, plus already-highlighted text which shows what current FARs could be changed plus some lightly-colored text that illustrates where the FAA will insert new language.

MOSAIC will still take a significant effort to review carefully, but Beisswenger made the task much easier and faster.

If you open the study guide with Adobe Acrobat on almost any device or computer—or if you use Preview on Apple laptops/desktops—you will gain access to the bookmarks (look for a small icon in the upper right of a tablet or a smart phone; in Preview, show the Table of Contents. On both, use the triangles to drop down further and further). Bookmarks are your navigation friend, helping you jump to places of interest or study.

Beisswenger even embedded back buttons on some pages when reviewing the FARs. This helps readers not get lost in their investigations.

Of course, within Acrobat (or Preview), you can search for specific text.

I observe for you that such ease of review was not possible when the SP/LSA regulation was released in 2004 (three years before the iPhone was introduced).

When reviewing MOSAIC I recommend you follow aspects of particular interest to you rather than try to absorb the whole thing.

However deep you go, Beisswenger made it much easier. 

When you are ready to comment to FAA, use this link. We’ll have more advice on commenting as soon as possible but here’s some basic tips:

To see MOSAIC comments already made, use this link.

John Zimmerman, president of Sporty’s, thought their conversation in this edition of the “Pilot’s Discretion” podcast conveyed a lot of good information (audio—42 minutes). John was an excellent interviewer.