Pop singer Shakira was given an appointment in the Obama Administration Wednesday.

¿Qué? What?

At first I thought this was a Hispanic Heritage Month joke. But seriously the Colombian-born singer was appointed to serve on the president's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, according a White House press release.

I first wondered what makes the pop singer qualified to serve on an educational commission. Her bio gives some details.

In 1995, Shakira founded the Barefoot Foundation, which operates schools and educational projects in Colombia, South Africa and Haiti that feed and educate around 6,000 children.

In 2003, she became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.

In 2008, Shakira served as the Honorary Chair of the Global Campaign for Education’s Global Action Week.

Clearly in addition to making Grammy-winning music she has donated her time to educational issues.

Now there are others with more experience in government and the educational system than Shakira. Many of those experts also are on the commission.

If Shakira can be a spokeswoman or a role model for Latino students and encourage them to stay in school, that is positive.

The high school drop out rate for Hispanics in the United States is around 18 percent. Just under 20 percent of Latinos in the United States have a college degree compared with 41 percent of the general population.

With statistics like that Shakira can help spread the word about the importance of earning a high school diploma or a college degree.

Source  Teresa Puente

Posted in Barefoot Foundation , Global Campaign for Education’s Global Action Week , Goodwill Ambassador , latin education commission , Obama administration , President Barack Obama , shakira