SI SE PUEDE! CIS At Cesar Chavez!

CIS at Cesar Chavez Elementary School Turning a downward academic spiral into an upward surge of success!

Children at Cesar Chavez Elementary School are surging upward because Communities In Schools knows how to inspire and guide them to new heights. Hilda Perez-Vargas, the CIS site coordinator at Cesar Chavez has implemented three amazing programs that forge trusting, inspiring relationships between students and tutor/mentors to mitigate impediments to their self confidence and their success in school. Because Hilda knows that mentoring and tutoring support her student’s social/emotional well-being and bolster their academic success, she first arranged for Capital High School students to tutor her elementary kids in reading, math, and learning English. Teachers know that when you teach, you also learn. So this win/win arrangement inspired the next group of young tutors from Desert Academy. These students work in pairs in classrooms to aid teachers by reading aloud and assisting with small groups of learners. Hilda then initiated FRESH, inc. which brings students from the Santa Fe Community College Masters Program into the school to mentor children after school. The FRESH, inc's “Architect’s Club” on Thursdays is open to girls, boys and parents. It teaches math by measuring, calculating, problem solving and working in teams while building fantastic, fun objects. Hands on projects that provide authentic uses of math have been proven to promote deep learning. FRESH, inc. mentors also work on other projects where sports and academics are the focus but in doing so offer these younger children an older “friend” to look up to as a role model – a high school student they can admire and follow on their path to high school graduation. (Top left photo features FRESH, inc. students participating in the Architect's Club at Cesar Chavez; top right, CIS site coordinator Hilda Perez-Vargas with a Cesar Chavez student and parent; and FRESH, inc. Cesar Chavez students with their mentors from the SFCC Masters Program). Thank you to Ms. Perez-Vargas for creating innovative and engaging opportunities for Cesar Chavez students and families!