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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.