WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT ACTIVISM FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KIDS
My name is Leticia Alvarado (she/her). I am a first generation college student and in my last year at PSU! I am majoring in Public Health and minoring in Child, Youth & Family Studies, and Women's Studies. During my time at PSU I have joined a group called Student Leaders For Service (SLS) and have been able to partner with the amazing organization Greater Than. In partnering with this organization, I am based at Alder Elementary school working with elementary aged children and their families to navigate life against systems of poverty, oppression, and injustices. |
GREATER THAN'S MISSION & HISTORY
The Greater Than organization is a non-profit organization that shifted to a whole school model in 2010 that served at Alder elementary students in their educational paths. In 2018, they changed their name from I Have A Dream to Greater Than to better reflect their new model that values education, community, and equity.
Along with these three pillars of work, Greater Than aims to empower and support students affected by adverse rates of poverty to prosper in school starting at early learning ages K-12, and into college readiness and long term career support. They are primarily based in the Reynolds School District, and have expanded to a second site at Lincoln Street Elementary School in Hillsboro in 2020. |
ABOUT MY WORK AT ALDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
WHY I CHOSE ALDER |
In being in SLS at PSU, I was asked to choose a community partner and my heart instantly gravitated toward Greater Than which is based at Alder Elementary School. This was because of my own passions and desires to work with youth and their families in achieving health justice in a multitude of ways. Whether it be environmental or social working with Alder has allowed me to do just that. Supporting students on the educational level in order to help them and their families get resources they need to thrive.
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During my time at Alder, I have been working closely in room 215 with a kindergarten class every Monday for six hours. I work more closely with the students that my supervisor ( Joy, who is the lead of Greater Than) brings to light and who may need more support in the classroom due to external factors. My goal is to get to know the students on a deeper level during the fall term, and come winter term be able to meet with their parents outside of school and ask what kind of supports they need, and by the spring doing more hands on work with both the student and their families to promote educational and social support to fight against their adverse lived experiences of poverty, oppression, and overall health discrimination. These may come across as big goals, however, with the support of my team and falling back on our plan of action, we believe that we can achieve educational and health justice for these students and their families.
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PLAN OF ACTION IN ALLIANCE WITH UNST GOALS
R E F L E C T I O N
Overall, I have been very grateful to be in partnership with Greater Than and do work at Alder Elementary. On a personal level I have really pushed myself to be involved in spaces I want to be in, to be more consistent, and challenge my previous fears of communication. I am more confident than I have ever been before in my career choice, and my ability to speak to individuals at all levels and positions to make sure the work I am apart of prioritizes a racial equity lens that is also culturally sensitive and aware of the various life experiences of students and their families. In regards to my community partner, Greater Than, they have expressed great appreciation for the work I have decided to take on and my ability to take on new roles when needed in order to achieve and provide quality support to different students and situations. Doing this work has really shown me how hard it actually is to implement programs like this one even though it is extremely beneficial and has ethically moral values, there still isn't enough programs like this across Oregon schools/districts. I can see a need for a program like Greater Than in my own community, and am now doing work with community leaders to see how something like this can be implemented here in the Woodburn School District. I am hoping this will start a chain reaction where all schools can have programs like this that helps each student in their journey for educational justice. I have this desire because I see the impact that Greater Than and I have on the community there, the parents are less worried about their children's success rates in school, they feel supported, and are made a part of their child's educational journey. Greater Than acknowledges that it is more than just a school setting that may alter a child's ability to learn, but works with their families and takes the time to learn about social injustices and adverse determinants of health in order to promote not only educational justice for these children, but also wellbeing and health justice.