Si Se Puede program offers homework time, snacks and access to
computers
The National Farm Workers Service Center this month is opening a
learning center at the low-income Villa Luna Apartments to help
students and parents gain access to greater educational
opportunities.
Available to residents of the 116-unit property at 850 Hillcrest
Ave., the Si Se Puede! (Yes We Can) Learning Center will provide
children in kindergarten through fifth grade with homework
assistance and other activities for three hours after school each
day.
Si Se Puede program offers homework time, snacks and access to computers
The National Farm Workers Service Center this month is opening a learning center at the low-income Villa Luna Apartments to help students and parents gain access to greater educational opportunities.
Available to residents of the 116-unit property at 850 Hillcrest Ave., the Si Se Puede! (Yes We Can) Learning Center will provide children in kindergarten through fifth grade with homework assistance and other activities for three hours after school each day.
Jeanette Acosta, the resident services coordinator for the program, said it offers an “amazing opportunity to serve the residents, a majority of whom are low-income, working class people” who speak Spanish as their primary language.
Si Se Puede! is designed to empower students to learn in a safe, interactive, and fun environment that includes structured homework time, snacks, and access to 10 laptop computers.
“It’s really important to have a consistent program like ours,” said Acosta, 23, who graduated from the University of Southern California in May as a political science and psychology major. “We are collaborating with the Hollister Youth Alliance to add to what has already been there,” a two-day-a-week Kids Club program. “They’ve done a great job providing mentorship for a lot of students on that property. With our program, three hours every day, we really hope to see some grade improvement and character building.”
The program, which has room for 30 students and will have a waiting list if needed, will kick off registration during the week of Sept. 22.
“Day to day, there will be a very structured curriculum for consistency,” Acosta said. “It’s proven that you need to be consistent, especially with kids in that age range.”
Staff and volunteers at the center plan to group students according to their grade level during a set homework time. Students will receive points for every completed assignment and be recognized for their achievement at the end of each week. They will also receive special recognition for improved test scores or grades.
Children without homework will be given grade-specific worksheets, do independent reading, or work on current event reports.
“We want to enhance what the kids have learned throughout the day at school,” Acosta said.
The National Farm Workers’ Service Center owns and operates approximately 30 apartment complexes like Villa Luna in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
“We are under the umbrella of the United Farm Workers’ Union and we are affiliated with the Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta foundations,” Acosta said. “There’s a lot of history with the organization and we’re trying to continue that legacy and create something sustainable here in Hollister. We’re providing housing, but we also want to provide something more.”
Acosta is in the process of hiring two resident activity leaders that will implement and drive the curriculum. She is also accepting applications from volunteers who want to help at the learning center.
The Pasadena native said the plight of farm workers has always interested her because her grandfather picked strawberries in Oxnard after coming to the United States from Mexico as part of the bracero program, a contract labor program prompted by a need for manual labor during World War II . After doing activism and outreach while at USC, Acosta during her senior year chaired the Norman Topping Student Aid Fund, which was designed to increase the diversity of students at the school through tuition assistance.
“Following the farm workers’ movement through my studies, and knowing what my grandfather went through and my mom’s upbringing had a big impact on me,” said Acosta, who received a Cesar Chavez Fellowship that led to her involvement in the Si Se Puede! Learning Center in Hollister.
“This experience is proving to be challenging, but in a good way,” Acosta said. “I was very excited about the idea of creating a new program.”
According to Acosta, residents of Villa Luna have responded well to the idea of the program, which begins on Sept. 29.
“They can rest assured that their child is going to do something productive for three hours every day after school,” she said, mentioning that families involved in the program are asked to either volunteer 10 hours a month with the program; pay $10 per month to help purchase snacks for the students; or provide snacks themselves.
Every Thursday and Friday, Si Se Puede! will offer leadership and character-building activities, Acosta said.
“That’s when I hope to implement historical, civil rights pieces so they are aware of where they come from,” she said. “Especially for the children of immigrants, it will get them more self-aware and make them conscious of current events.”
AmeriCorps, a network of national service programs, provides the funding for the program, with grants awarded to each learning center site to fund staffing.
The grant money supporting the Hollister program will not last forever, Acosta said, so she hopes its success will lead to other funding sources, either through grants or donations.
“We’re really trying to create something that will last,” she said.
Registration for the Si Se Puede! program will take place from 6-7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 22 and 23. Parent orientation will be held Wednesday, Sept. 24 at noon and 6 p.m., and the program will begin at 2:45 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 29. For more information about the Si Se Puede! program, visit the Villa Luna Apartments Recreation Center at 850 Hillcrest Road; call Jeanette Acosta at 637-9097, or e-mail her at
nf************@gm***.com
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