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By Paola Rodriguez-Martinez, Justice and Legal Thought Scholar
I think that the work that I have done is important because it goes to show how beneficial it is for students to have an individualized approach to learning, one in which the teachers are actually aware of these kids' academic struggles and how they can go about solving it.
This semester, I worked with the Latino Student Fund, a non-profit organization that aims to enrich the early education of students in public schools both in D.C. and Maryland. My work there was all online and it consisted of me meeting with an assigned student for an hour long one on one session where we focused on reading and math skills as well as practicing any other languages they spoke. Throughout the few months that I’ve been working with this organization, I have seen real growth in the students that I regularly tutor and learning has become less of a hassle to them. I think that the work that I have done is important because it goes to show how beneficial it is for students to have an individualized approach to learning, one in which the teachers are actually aware of these kids' academic struggles and how they can go about solving it. What I’ve learned through my experience is that no student is “unteachable,” rather, every student has a different learning pace and it takes more time for some to grasp certain concepts than others. As a Criminology and Criminal Justice major, I can’t help but think of what the benefit of programs, such as the one the Latino Student Fund provides, can do for the country in terms of lowering juvenile delinquency. I think that this type of work is important because if we can address it and spend more money on education, we could lower juvenile delinquency, and in the long run, crime rates as a whole in the nation. But first, it’ll take providing these students a strong foundational education, through organizations like the Latino Student Fund, before we can ensure and guarantee these students anything.
Hi Paola,
As a fellow tutor to young students, I was drawn to your project! I have worked with underprivileged students before, and I absolutely agree that it's very important to serve those communities and help the students where they are actually struggling, not just follow the curriculum. I think it's cool that you spend time addressing the students' other languages, because I have heard of a lot of other tutoring organizations simply focusing on english literacy, but it is especially important in multilingual communities to retain that other language literacy, because it gives those students a sense of understanding and belonging and that their culture still matters in the public school system.
Hi Paola,
I was drawn to your poster simply by the fact that it was a service relating to aiding children. I've done a lot of service relating to helping children and so I know first hand how important it is that one takes that job seriously. I really like your motive for doing it as well. Every child should have the opportunity to be educated no matter their status. Was the tutoring one-on-one or were you tutoring a group of kids?
Hi, Paola!
I noticed that you said you worked there in the past- and that's an interesting factor, to see how in-person mentoring compares to online mentoring. The achievement gap has no doubt widened during the pandemic- as students have to learn from home, those with less healthy home environments will suffer more than their better-off counterparts. How did you make sure that these concerns did not bear fruition with your mentees?
Hey Paola,
Your poster stood out to me because having equal education amongst all ethnicities especially the Latino community is a big issue. I not only learned that there is a great organization that helps elementary students foster early learning but also establish foundational skills for them. My question is whether this Latino Student Fund helps middle to high school students as well or does it stop at elementary kids?
Hey Paola,
Multi-ethnic outreach is an ongoing problem. That being said, your project caught my attention with the fact that it actively involves financially funding Latinx students who less fortunate for higher education. If I learned anything from your project, it shows that the initiatives pursued by these sorts of projects involve corroborating the community, in several ways. A question regarding your future plans following this service-learning project: how might students seeking to contribute to such student funds want to branch out and consider unique ways to raise funds? Fantastic project!