2008 Woodie Awards
Young: Scaling the walls
Jenn Young
Issue date: 5/7/08 Section: Opinion
The convenience of having all our necessities within walking distance makes it easy to forget that our campus is part of the surrounding city. While we stay inside the confines of the campus, we are neglecting our neighbors and overlooking serious issues affecting both our campus and our community.
Langley Park-McCormick Elementary School, within a mile of our campus, is a contrast to our university in demographics and lifestyle. Out of the 508 students this year, 82 percent are Hispanic, and only 40 percent of these students and 10 percent of their parents are English proficient. 87 percent of the families live below the poverty line and many of them are dependent on community outreach for food, clothing and other essentials.
Several students from the university have recognized the growing need surrounding our campus and have developed organizations to address the problems. One such organization, Beyond These Walls, was developed in 1999 by two previous students of the university. The current art program at Langley Park-McCormick consists of one teacher who comes to the school for one month out of each year. In recognition of the need for art education, BTW developed an after-school art program to enhance creative learning. In addition to this program, BTW also provides reading programs, Little Terps Soccer and English as a Second Language evening classes.
Steph Murphy, one of the leaders of BTW, reflects on the mutual benefit of BTW outreach programs: "One can see by the nature of both the soccer program and the arts and reading program that they truly extend the learning for university students beyond the campus boundaries, putting them in touch with real life experiences and needs of underprivileged children and giving the university students an opportunity to actively participate in making a difference in their lives."
Dan Espinoza worked with BTW during his freshman year. He was inspired to develop an organization that would provide an opportunity for the students on the campus to discuss serious social issues affecting the community. Espinoza and fellow student Dan Lewkowicz founded Community Roots, an organization that Espinoza explains "is really trying to build a community on campus and bridge cultural and ethnic groups. We meet once a week and have dialogue about socio-political issues, and once people feel strongly enough about an issue, they take action."
When students in Community Roots feel passionately about the concerns discussed in meetings, they become active with SEEDS, a branch of Community Roots that goes out into the community to begin hands-on problem solving. One of SEEDS services is a mentorship program in which students from the university work with students from Langley Park-McCormick several times a week, tutoring them in their classes and encouraging them to fulfill their potential.
Steve Jackson, an active member of Community Roots, explains that teaching students from Langley Park-McCormick to think critically is his top priority. This idea is shared by Espinoza, who says, "When the students start to show eagerness to learn we know we're making some sort of difference." In encouraging critical thinking, Community Roots mentors are inspiring a new generation of students to examine the status quo and to recognize what changes must be made in the future.
I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to shadow the activities of Community Roots and BTW on Friday as I was able to witness firsthand the strong bonds that have been created between the students of the university and the students of Langley Park-McCormick.
These organizations strive to give back in a way that will perpetuate continued giving. We all have a role to play in developing an atmosphere of social responsibility across our campus and throughout our community. Decide what matters most to you and find a way incorporate that into the way you live your life. To get involved visit www.beyondthesewalls.org and the Community Roots Facebook group.
Jenn Young is a sophomore history major. She can be reached at jyoung22@umd.edu.
Langley Park-McCormick Elementary School, within a mile of our campus, is a contrast to our university in demographics and lifestyle. Out of the 508 students this year, 82 percent are Hispanic, and only 40 percent of these students and 10 percent of their parents are English proficient. 87 percent of the families live below the poverty line and many of them are dependent on community outreach for food, clothing and other essentials.
Several students from the university have recognized the growing need surrounding our campus and have developed organizations to address the problems. One such organization, Beyond These Walls, was developed in 1999 by two previous students of the university. The current art program at Langley Park-McCormick consists of one teacher who comes to the school for one month out of each year. In recognition of the need for art education, BTW developed an after-school art program to enhance creative learning. In addition to this program, BTW also provides reading programs, Little Terps Soccer and English as a Second Language evening classes.
Steph Murphy, one of the leaders of BTW, reflects on the mutual benefit of BTW outreach programs: "One can see by the nature of both the soccer program and the arts and reading program that they truly extend the learning for university students beyond the campus boundaries, putting them in touch with real life experiences and needs of underprivileged children and giving the university students an opportunity to actively participate in making a difference in their lives."
Dan Espinoza worked with BTW during his freshman year. He was inspired to develop an organization that would provide an opportunity for the students on the campus to discuss serious social issues affecting the community. Espinoza and fellow student Dan Lewkowicz founded Community Roots, an organization that Espinoza explains "is really trying to build a community on campus and bridge cultural and ethnic groups. We meet once a week and have dialogue about socio-political issues, and once people feel strongly enough about an issue, they take action."
When students in Community Roots feel passionately about the concerns discussed in meetings, they become active with SEEDS, a branch of Community Roots that goes out into the community to begin hands-on problem solving. One of SEEDS services is a mentorship program in which students from the university work with students from Langley Park-McCormick several times a week, tutoring them in their classes and encouraging them to fulfill their potential.
Steve Jackson, an active member of Community Roots, explains that teaching students from Langley Park-McCormick to think critically is his top priority. This idea is shared by Espinoza, who says, "When the students start to show eagerness to learn we know we're making some sort of difference." In encouraging critical thinking, Community Roots mentors are inspiring a new generation of students to examine the status quo and to recognize what changes must be made in the future.
I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to shadow the activities of Community Roots and BTW on Friday as I was able to witness firsthand the strong bonds that have been created between the students of the university and the students of Langley Park-McCormick.
These organizations strive to give back in a way that will perpetuate continued giving. We all have a role to play in developing an atmosphere of social responsibility across our campus and throughout our community. Decide what matters most to you and find a way incorporate that into the way you live your life. To get involved visit www.beyondthesewalls.org and the Community Roots Facebook group.
Jenn Young is a sophomore history major. She can be reached at jyoung22@umd.edu.
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