Copiague Students Flourish Under Empowerment Program
June 16th, 2008, 5:45 pm Hobbies And Interests
In her sophomore year, Jasmin Rodriguez considered dropping out. She wasn’t doing well in her classes, and school never had been a priority. There were bills her family needed to pay, and she had a younger sister at home to care for. Then, she met Jaime Suarez.
Suarez, a social studies teacher at Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School, actively recruits students such as Rodriguez to participate in the Student Organization of Unified Leaders, referred to by its members as SOUL. The students might not be at the top of their class academically, Suarez said, but could be with focus and guidance. Now in its seventh year, the program works to enable students to help themselves and one another to achieve success, with 180 of the high school’s approximately 1,500 students participating.
In SOUL, small groups of students with similar interests meet in sections called “academic brigades.” The brigades are based on common cultural backgrounds, desired career paths or hobbies. At weekly meetings, teachers mentor the students, going over report cards and progress reports, and discussing anything that is troubling them.
“A lot of them have problems at home, aside from difficulties in school,” said Yoleidys Swerdeloff, a bilingual social studies teacher who mentors Conciencia Latina, a consciousness academic brigade that recently translated and performed “Romeo and Juliet” in modern Dominican Spanish.
“We’re not psychologists, we’re not guidance counselors, but we are human beings who are here and able to interact and talk with them,” said Swerdeloff, 31. “Sometimes, just talking to them can eliminate that obstacle and let them go on without something bothering them.”
Tags: brigades, career paths, connell, consciousness, copiague high school, desire, guidance, guidance counselors, Hobbies, human beings, mentors, obstacle, problems at home, progress reports, psychologist, psychologists, report cards, romeo and juliet, small groups, sophomore year, student organization, suarezRelated posts
