KayleighKornher

Mr.Gilbert
SocialJustice
June3,2016
ServiceLearningPaper
InaplacelikeNorthCountySanDiego,itiseasytoforgetthatpartofthepopulationis
underserved.ThemedianincomeofSanDiegowas
$60,797in2011,afull$10,000morethan
thenationalmedianincome.
Theschoolsaretopnotch.Mostadultshavegonetocollegefor
sometime.However,goodeducationisnotequallyaccessibleforallinNorthCounty.Race,
sadly,seemstoplayaroleinthelevelandqualityofeducationonereaches.Astudyfromthe
NationalLatinoResearchCenterfoundthatwhilehalfofthechildreninNorthCounty
elementaryschoolsareLatino,only75%ofLatinoseniorsgraduatefromhighschool.Thisisthe
lowestrateamongseniorsofdifferentracesinNorthCountySanDiego.Inotherwords,halfof
thechildreninNorthCountyelementaryschoolsrightnowhaveaoneinfourchanceofnot
completinghighschool.Ontopofthat,thestudyshowsthathispanicstudentsoverallhavea
lowerAcademicPerformanceIndex(API)thanotherstudentsinNorthCounty.Thereareas
manyreasonsforthisastherearestudents,butitisclearthatsomethingisnotquiteright.David
LopezarguesinhisarticleStopTalkingAbouttheAchievementGapthattherealissueisone
oflackofopportunity,notacademicachievement.Whileitisunjustthatsomechildrendont
reachthesamelevelofeducationasothers,itismoreunjustiftheissueisalackofopportunity
foracertaingroup.Article26oftheUniversalDeclarationofHumanRightsstatesthathigher
educationshallbeequallyaccessibletoallonthebasisofmerit,andthatisnotthecasein

NorthCountySanDiego.Nearly40%ofLatinoadultsinNorthCountydidnotevenstarthigh
school,andabout10%percenthaveacollegedegree.OfadultsofotherracesinNorthCounty,
91%havegraduatedhighschool,andnearly30%haveacollegedegree.Fortunately,thereisa
waytodiminishtheinequality.Afterschoolprogramsandschoolsthattargetkidswhomay
otherwisenothaveasmanyopportunitieshavebeenfoundtohelptremendouslyinhelping
childrenrealizetheirfullpotential.
CasadeAmistadisanorganizationthatworkstoensuresuccessbothinschoolandinlife
forHispanicchildrenthroughoutNorthCounty,mostofwhomcomefromlowincomefamilies.
Throughtheirstudycompanionsprogram,whichtakesplacetwotimesaweek,studentsfrom
kindergartento12thgradearepairedwithatutor/mentortohelpthemwithhomeworkor
anythingelse.Itisrunlargelybytheparentsaswellasvolunteersandleaders.Theprogram
focusesnotonlyongradesandtests,butonstudyskillsandcharacterdevelopment.Mentorsare
assignedtoonestudentforthewholeschoolyear,sotheyareabletoreallygettoknowtheir
students.Thisallowsmentorstohaveanimportantroleinstudentslives.Thevolunteerpacketa
mentorreceivesontheirfirstdaymentionsthatthementormaybetheonlypersonwhosefull
attentionthestudentgetsduringtheweek.SomeoftheparentsdontspeakEnglishwellenough
tohelptheirchildrenwithhomework,sothementormaybetheonlypersontheyhaveforthis,
too.CasadeAmistadaddressesthisspecificissuebyofferingEnglishlessonsforparentsof
childrenintheprogram.Sinceitbeganin1997,CasadeAmistadhasgrownalotandprovedto
beverysuccessful.Therearenowover200kidsintheStudyCompanionsprogram,andthey
havereportedbettergrades,highertestscores,andparticipationinclassafterjoiningthe

program.SeveralstudentswhoattendedCasadeAmistadhavegoneontosomeofthebest
collegesanduniversitiesinthecountry.
CasadeAmistadaddressestheissueonaverypersonallevel,andIbelievethisconcept
isworkingwell.Kidswhoaretutoredhavenotonlytheirmentor,butpeers,parents,andother
mentorstosupportthem.CasadeAmistadfostersanentirecommunitythatisinvestedinthe
childrenseducation.ThroughmyvolunteerworkasatutorforCasadeAmistad,Ilearnedalot
aboutworkingwithchildren,andIamextremelygratefulforthis.Iwasalsoreallygladto
experiencefirsthandtheimpactithasonthesekids.Noneofthemseemlikelytodropoutof
school.AttendingtheStudyCompanionssessionencouragesthestudenttoworkhardandwork
well.
Moreover,involvementintheCasadeAmistadcommunitycanbeongoing.According
tothevolunteercoordinator,someofthestudentswhocomeinasmenteesbecomementorslater
on.Overthesummer,thereareclassesandbookclubsforstudentswhowanttojointhem.This
waythelearningneverstops.
Inconclusion,NorthCountySanDiegohasaregrettableinequalitywhenitcomesto
education.CasadeAmistadaddressestheissuebyencouraginggrowththroughan
interconnectedcommunityofparents,students,andmentors,allofwhomdesiresuccessforthe
children.Theworkdonebyallthoseinvolvedteachesaveryvaluablelesson:empowermentand
supportarekeytosuccess.

WorksCited

"AboutUs."Casadeamistad.org.CasaDeAmistadCentroDeEnsenanza.Web.26May2016.

EthnicDisparitiesinEducation:NorthCountySanDiego
.SanMarcos:NationalLatino
ResearchCenter,2005.PDF.

Lopez,David."StopTalkingAbouttheAchievementGap."VoiceofSanDiego.12Feb.14.
Web.26May2016.

"SanDiegoCounty,CAMedianHouseholdIncome."
UnitedStatesCensusBureau
.Web.25
May2016.<http://www.census.gov/searchresults.html?q=sandiego
income&search.x=0&search.y=0&page=1&stateGeo=none&searchtype=web>

UniversalDeclarationofHumanRights.UnitedNations.PDF.