By Cat Holmes
University of Georgia
Hot chocolate, a pinata full of candy and children’s videos in
Spanish about the life of Martin Luther King Jr. will highlight
the MLK celebration Jan. 19 at Pinewood Estates North, a
trailer park north of Athens.
The celebration is funded by a $5,000 grant from the
Corporation for National and Community Service. The grant pays
for a community meal, catered by women who live in the largely
Hispanic community, and MLK books and videos in Spanish for
both children and adults.
Most of the money will also pay for supplies to support an
ongoing service project. The project enables University of
Georgia students to tutor children after school in Pinewood
Estates North.
“We’re looking forward to a great celebration of Dr. King’s
life this year, one that will reflect his commitment to service
and bring his teachings to life,” said David Knauft, associate
dean of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.
“Our celebration at the Oasis Catolico highlights both African-
American and Hispanic cultures,” Knauft said. “We hope it
encourages even more UGA students to tutor.”
Oasis Catolico is a convent established to minister to the
community needs in Pinewood Estates by three sisters in the
order of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Sister Margarita Martin, one of the three who started the
convent, contacted Knauft and Glenn Ames of the UGA Office of
International Public Service and Outreach more than a year
ago.
She saw that a number of Pinewood Estates children were
struggling with a double work load: learning a new language and
advancing in their schoolwork.
“Many of the kids may have been very advanced in their
schoolwork in Mexico. But because of the language barrier, they
can’t communicate that,” said Anna Scott, a UGA graduate
student who administers the program. “They get frustrated and
fall behind.”
Another barrier is a very different cultural attitude toward
teachers, Scott said.
“In their culture, teachers are revered. To challenge a teacher
or question them in any way is unheard of,” Scott said. “Here,
if parents don’t talk to the teachers regularly, they’re
considered inattentive.”
Sister Margarita knew the children needed help. She thought it
only natural to turn to a nearby university to get it.
Knauft and Ames put together the program. UGA students began
after-school tutoring. And the program was successful from the
beginning, both for the children and the college students.
“The UGA students really saw what a difference a few hours of
attention could make for many of the children,” Scott said. “We
had many children go from F’s and D’s to A’s and B’s. We even
had one kid who moved up a grade.”
For the UGA students, the experience is both rewarding and eye-
opening. “A lot of them never realized the kinds of barriers
minority children face,” Scott said.
The program began a year ago with roughly a dozen UGA students
participating. Now more than 50 are mentoring elementary school
children each week. About a dozen now are doing it for course
credit.
Cat Holmes is a news editor for the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
