COSTA MESA : New TV Show Uses Spanish and English

A new public television show that airs tonight is intended to spark Latino community involvement by discussing education, youth employment, gangs and other issues in Spanish and in English.

“ Charlas de la Comunidad “ or “Living Room Dialogue” will air at 7:30 on Copley Colony’s Channel 3 and will replay Thursday night at the same time.

Host of the weekly show is Oscar Santoyo, director of the Save Our Youth (SOY) community center.

Producer Debbie Boyer, also a member of the Harbor Council PTA, said her hope is that the half-hour show will reach Spanish-speaking parents who cannot read English.

Tonight’s show features a school principal, a school board member and district educators.

“We need our parents involved with our kids because of all the violence,” Boyer said.

The Harbor Council, an organization of all the PTAs in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, has given $200 toward the new show, Boyer said. She said the first 12 shows will focus on education issues. After that, the show may become a forum for other concerns, she said.

Santoyo said the show will use both English and Spanish. “Spanglish, I guess you could say.”

“It’s not going to be a stuffy show,” Santoyo said. “We’re just sitting back, dressed comfortable.”

Santoyo said he grew up in west Costa Mesa and graduated from Estancia High School. He spent 10 years in radio broadcasting before becoming SOY director, he said.

Copley Colony recently gave SOY a television and cable subscription, Santoyo said. Many people will watch “Charlas de la Comunidad” at the SOY center, he said. It is at 661 Hamilton Ave.

“It’s something that will develop some sort of voice in the community,” Santoyo said. The show is broadcast as a public access service, and the only costs are for the videotape, Boyer said.

Future shows include an interview with Mac Bernd, district superintendent; discussion of drug and alcohol prevention, and a parenting series, Boyer said.

Boyer said it has been a learning experience for her. “Basically, I just aim the camera and give the hand signals,” she said. A Copley Colony employee masters the tape, she said.

The group uses two moving cameras and one stationary one, she said.

Boyer, who lives in Newport Beach, said she wants to have Comcast Cable, which covers her city, pick up the new show as well.