Logo Cambio de colores 2004

Cambio de Colores 2004
Latinos in Missouri:
Gateway to a New Community

March 10-12, 2004
University of Missouri-St. Louis

Last updated:
May 19, 2004

Best Practices:
Latino Youth Development Programs

A report contributed by

Theme: Youth, Families, and Communities
Moderator: Anne Dannerbeck, School of Social Work, MU

Presenters:

  • Janette García, Girl Scouts-Heart of Missouri Council: "uniquely ME!" A Girl Scout Self-Esteem Program for the Latino Community, made possible through grants from Unilever Corporation
  • Linda Manning, "Developing Responsive Programs for Latino Youth," El Centro Latino, Columbia, MO

Girl Scouts:
Janette Garcia, 573-893-5505; 1-800-707-1917; gsjgarcia@msn.com; jgarcia@gshomc.org

Girl Scouts is helping young Latino girls deal with the difficult issues of adolescence.� Uniquely ME! is a new program based around three bilingual workbooks for different age groups.� The program deals with issues of identity, self-esteem, their changing bodies, dieting, peer pressure, and the effects of media.� There is also a bilingual guide for adults that provides tips on how to work with girls.

This program is as response to studies that show there is a significant drop in self-esteem in Latino girls in adolescence.�� This can lead to stress, depression, and eating disorders.� In one study 75% of third-grade girls agreed with the statement, �I like the way I look,� but only 56% of 7th graders agreed.� Girls in this study also expressed that their parents are unwilling or unable to talk with them about sex and dating.� Often girls are just told that they are too young and shouldn�t think about boys.� Uniquely ME! tries to help Latino girls make good decisions about these difficult issues. �

The U.S. is the 5th largest Spanish speaking country in the world.� By 2005, Hispanics will become the largest teen minority and by 2115 one in five teens will be Hispanic.� In 2001, Girl Scouts were only serving 6.9% of the Hispanic girl population nationally while serving 11% of total population of girls.� The bilingual Uniquely ME! Program with Latino girls is part of Girl Scouts national mission to serve every girl everywhere and assure that Girl Scouts is truly reflecting the face of each community.� Currently, there are troops working with this program in California, Columbia, Jefferson City, Marshall, and Sedalia.

Janette Garcia says that the Uniquely ME! Program celebrates Latino culture by supporting �the girls to continue to speak Spanish as it will be an advantage in their future lives, to embrace their culture, to be proud to be Latinas.�� The program seems to be working.� One Uniquely ME! participant said that she didn�t feel embarrassed anymore to be the only Latina in her class.� Another girl said, �Uniquely ME! has taught me that I�m going to face problems and my life, and you have to deal with them. ��

If you would like to work with the Uniquely ME! Program in collaboration with Girl Scouts or if you would like the workbooks, contact Janette Garcia at gsjgarcia@msn.com.

 

Linda Manning: Volunteer at Centro Latino de Salud, Education y Cultura
Eduardo Crespi, Director and founder of Centro
Centrolatino.Missouri.org
Edc2fe@hotmail.com
573-449-9442

Linda Manning became a volunteer at Centro Latino because she was angry, depressed and frustrated with discrimination in Columbia.� But she decided to �channel it into a positive way, making steps in a direction you want the world to be like.�� And she has.� As a volunteer working with education programs, she really is making a difference.

Centro Latino has an after-school K-5 kids' homework assistance program serving 35 to 40 students, Spanish and ESL classes, and a walk-in teen tutoring program for grades 6-12 serving 4-6 students per day.� These educational programs are supplemented by a summer program emphasizing literacy, where children read for the first 45 minutes in Spanish or English, and then they have a recreation event.� There is even Latino Parents and Teachers or LPAT where everything is bilingual and computer/Internet classes once a week.

The After School Program is simple, but innovative.� Volunteers pick up the kids from school and go with the child to talk to the teacher about what homework is due.� They return to Centro Latino, work on homework and play educational computer games.� At the end of the day, volunteers return home with the child and explain to the parents what homework was completed and what is still needs to be done.� If volunteer doesn �t speak Spanish, then a translator will go with them.�

When the program started, parents were so excited because they would go to parent/teacher conferences repeatedly hearing that their child isn�t turning in their homework, only to hear about it weeks later. �The parents do try,� says Manning. But because of language skills, a lower level of education and an inability to understand directions, some parents can�t be of much help. The After School Program (ASP) has greatly improved communication between parents, students and teachers.� A volunteer meets with the child and teacher about homework, and reports back to the parents, with a translator if necessary, at the end of each day of the program.

Often these kids were the only ones in class not turning in homework because they didn�t always understand the teacher.� There are explicit rules in school that are culturally different from what they are familiar with. �Now the kids feel good because they are turning in their homework.� Children slowly are feeling more a part of the school. �It�s not something wrong with them.� It has nothing to do with whether they or their parents speak Spanish; it has to do with them having the proper support,� says Manning.

The After School Program can boast success.� Five months after the start of the program, children in the program had a 76-98% improvement in school subjects and fewer behavior problems, and Centro Latino needed more space to serve all the kids in the program.� Luckily, a generous donor provided $10,000 so Centro Latino could rent additional space.

Eduardo Crespi, Director of Centro Latino, argued that kids know the route to success in the U.S. is through higher education, but when they don�t have access to it, they often give up on education altogether.� �We can help [the kids] with self-esteem, etc. but it has a limit.� Our bright kids, when they finish high school, if not documented, cannot proceed with higher education.� That�s where we as adults must fight and help our representatives pass bills. ��


Day 2: Thursday, March 11th, 2004.

Reporter: Diane Kuschel
(573)875-1395
(573)881-4041
kuscheldg@missouri.edu