YOUTH VIEWS
Children and undergraduates participating in the Barrios Unidos/UC Santa Cruz Links program work together on a variety of educational and recreational activities during the school year at both the UCSC campus and the Barrios Unidos central office. During the summer months, project leaders Cindy Pease-Alvarez and Cathy Angelillo ask children to provide their views about the program, including ideas for future activities. Last summer, Pease-Alvarez and Angelillo met with two thirteen-year-old participants, Mayra and Christian, to discuss the future of the program. After hearing about the serious economic situation in California, Christian and Mayra wanted to make sure that their views about their experiences in the program reached a broader audience. With that in mind, they crafted the following paragraphs.
Mayra and Christian: Kids Speak Out
BU/UCSC Links is not like school. It teaches us how to respect the meaning of working together as a team and family. We think that by going to this program we get an understanding of what it means to get into college.
We know what you are probably thinking. "What is it we do in the BU/UCSC Links program that will help us get into college?" Well, first of all, it prepares us to think about things in different ways. We learn hands-on about things we like and care about with UCSC undergraduates who are interested in helping us out. We learn important skills, like reading and writing, in fun ways. We use the computers to search for information that helps us learn about different things. The computer games that we play help us learn about educational subjects, and the kids that don't know how to speak English have a chance to learn English. The games and other activities that we do in the program let us express ourselves and use our imaginations which, we think, helps our minds grow.
We've been attending BU/UCSC Links for three years and we think that it is helping us achieve our #1 goal, which is to go to college and study a career. Mayra wants to study a foreign language at UCSC to be able to help out international students. Christian wants to be an architect. His dream is to design and build his own house that he will give to his parents in the future.
We hope that in reading this article you will remember that BU/UCSC Links and programs like it need your support because we kids are very important for the next generation.
If you have any questions or comments, you can contact Christian and Mayra care of Cindy Pease-Alvarez at the University of California, Education Department, Crown College Faculty Services, Santa Cruz, CA 95064. Tel: 831-459-3369.
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