Michael Rigert -NORTH COUNTY STAFF | Posted: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:00 pm
A pioneering program started by Mountain View High School assistant principal Jos Enriquez is not only enabling students to tutor young Latinos at Orem schools, for some it's changing the way they think about Latino Americans.
Enriquez began Latinos in Action while he was a teacher and administrator at Timpview and Provo high schools. The program takes 25 to 30 bilingual Latino students and trains them as para educators, Enriquez said. Every other day, the students, wearing maroon Latinos in Action shirts, spend an hour at five elementary and two junior high schools in Orem to work with kids in groups and one-on-one.
Julieta Lattanzio, a Bruin senior originally from Argentina with a 3.7 GPA and a member of the National Honor Society, is planning to pursue a career as an accountant. She loves working with children and is tutoring a sixth-grader at Cherry Hill Elementary with his essay on Thomas Jefferson. Lattanzio said she has benefited as much from Latinos in Action as the children she tutors.
"It's just made me want to help people and make me a better person," she said.
Students must have a minimum 2.5 GPA and meet other requirements. Through community donations and grants acquired by Brigham Young University education professor Betty Ashbaker, Enriquez has been able to secure $2,500 for expenses to run the program, most of which goes toward busing costs and the shirts.
A native of El Salvador, Enriquez emigrated to Los Angeles and later attended BYU on a wrestling scholarship. He wants other young Hispanic students to have the same opportunities to have influential role models that he did growing up.
"The best part is these students grow immensely, not only academically, but they begin to see themselves in a new light," Enriquez said. "They see the importance of who they are and how important it is to be bilingual."
Latino students, he said, particularly those who have emigrated from abroad, often struggle with their Hispanic identity in an environment that in Utah is white and English-speaking. Often their parents don't speak English and they have to pick up their new language at school.
"There's some loss of identity," Enriquez said. "Should I shun my friends, should I become 'white,' am I too 'white ... It's kind of like they're fighting it."
As much as it is a program for Hispanic para educators to connect academically and socially with young kids, Latinos in Action is also aimed at spotlighting successful, typically college-bound Latinos to the Caucasian students, teachers and administrators they assist, he said.
John Patten, principal at Suncrest Elementary in Orem, said Latinos in Action is helping break down some of students' misconceptions about racial and ethnic stereotypes. He remembers an administrators meeting at which Enriquez introduced the program and then surprised everyone by presenting the professionally dressed para educators, who each gave their name, GPA, their family's native land, and always ended with the phrase "and I'm bilingual."
"It was very powerful," he said. "I was like 'We'll take them all.'"
Alex Delafuente, a senior in the program whose family came from Mexico, is putting the finishing touches on earning his Eagle Scout rank and plans to attend dental school. He remembers struggling in elementary school to learn English and assimilate to American culture. He doesn't want other Latino kids to get left behind.
Delafuente tutors fifth-graders at Vineyard Elementary in Orem and said he's seen the progress they've made in mathematics.
"It proves to me that if you serve someone, your rewards are so much greater," he said.
Alexandra Parra, a junior at Mountain View who goes by "Lexi," is a member of the school's art, financial, and French clubs, teaches dance and aspires to be a business entrepreneur. Born and raised in New York City, Parra's family is originally from Colombia.
She tutors Latino students at Orem Junior High School who have a difficult time learning English. She calls them at home nightly to make sure they've done their homework.
"I try to pump them and give them pep talks," Parra said.
As an extra incentive for her students, she's decided to hold a drawing at the end of the year for her new 80 GB Apple iPod for her students who earn a 4.0 GPA.
"It's not worth (a lot) to me, but for them it's a big deal," Parra said. "They're really excited."