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Latino TA Program: My intention is to use Spanish classes to improve the status of Latino students in the high school where I teach while simultaneously creating a language bridge between cultures. To do this, I place Latino students in the leadership role of Teachers Assistant (TA). I give them daily opportunities to hone their leadership skills. The Latino student, when dropped into this TA position is allowed a well-deserved edge--a sense of dignity about what she or he already knows and can do. He or she takes pride in modeling oral Spanish, which completes a very important educational circle. As the Latino leader helps the student who is learning to speak Spanish, he or she is personally affirmed. Simultaneously, the native English speaker is exposed to an individual and a culture he or she may never been privileged to know and he or she gains real-life practice in Spanish. In my teaching, this system is crucially important for three reasons. The first is the alienation of many Latino students from public schools, which is directly linked to poor grades and high dropout rates. There is great need for Latinos to have opportunities as this to step up into roles of leadership. The second is that this program gives native Spanish speakers an opportunity to sharpen their Spanish language skills-something that can be overlooked once immersed in the English speaking world. The final reason this work is so critical is that many English speaking students graduate from this school of 2200 students representing 89 countries, without ever having the experience of what it is like to communicate with people from another culture, in a language other than English.
Spanish for Spanish Speakers:
This course is a full year course designed for native speakers of Spnaish, who have varying degrees of formal exposure to Spanish. The course is designed to overcome the different language-learning problems of students who grew up speaking Spanish at home, but who have minimal formal study of the language. Course content emphasizes the transition from colloquial to a more formal command of Spanish while examining not only linguistic but also socio-cultural issues, to bring about a stronger appreciation of the student's Latino heritage. It includes a thorough review of grammar rules and the orthography of Spanish and a brief examination of the history of the Spanish language. Students will read literature by well-known Spanish and Latin-American authors, give oral presentations, write short and long essays with special emphasis given to certain grammatical forms that tend to present difficulties to native speakers, and to participate in discussions based on individual research and class topics.
African Centered Pedagogy Project:
The West High School African Centered Pedagogy Curriculum Project is designed to address the educational and social needs of African American students. This class, unlike many contemporary African American Studies classes, is grounded in the principles of African Centered Pedagogy: Umoja (unity in family, community, nation, and race); Kujichagulla (self-determination); Ujima (collective work and responsibility). This pedagogical approach aims to create a classroom environment in which the students are surrounded by positive examples of African Americans, including their peers, instructors, curriculum materials, and members of the larger community. On a daily basis, this class includes the involvement of the Black community and Black culture in the classroom and curriculum; Black women from the Madison community mentoring Black young women; outreach projects to the West High School community. In addition, this course provides students with credit towards graduation, unlike other projects which offer tutoring or counseling, but no academic credit.
Young Women's Mentor Group: 11th Grade African-American Females will serve in a mentoring role with 9th grade African-American females, twice per month during lunch beginning March 1st. The focus will be on developing relationships that support the academic and social needs of the 9th grade students, and guiding them towards healthy, positive choices. Activities will include discussion, problem-solving, homework assistance, guest speakers, and afterschool relationship-building opportunities.
Project Excel: The primary goal of Project Excel is to develop and sustain a cadre of college-bound students of color who can support and empower each other. Project Excel is designed to provide activities that support and enrich students' academic and social lives by facilitating increased enrollment of students of color in advanced academic classes to enhance college preparedness.
Project Education Expansion: The primary goal of Project Education Expansion is to increase exposure of students from underrepresented populations to a variety of career fields that they may not necessarily have been made aware of, exposed to, or had experience with.
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