The most valuable lesson I've learned during this volunteer experience is the importance of being aware of available resources. Part of my service was to create the website for the ESL program at the elementary school. The website targets the mostly Spanish-speaking parents of the ESL students. My goal was to make government, job, childcare, extracurricular and health resources in Orange County as accurate and accessible as possible. For example, for each listing, I included if the business "se habla espanol" so the parent would know what to expect when he/she calls. (It can be intimidating to blindly dial a number without knowing if the person on the other end will understand you.) Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the mother of one of our students was in critical need of one of those resources, and for the first time, knew exactly where to go.

I chose to volunteer at Frank Porter Graham Elementary because I wanted to remain in tune with how our public school system runs. Working with the ESL specialist in particular has shown me what is done to help the "English language learning" students and their parents become acclimated to the school. I've seen that to best help others Public education for Latinos has become an issue I am increasingly interested in, and working at FPG has offered me a unique perspective from administrators, teachers and parents as well.

Frank Porter Graham Elementary
101 Smith Level Rd. Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Service Link

http://www2.chccs.k12.nc.us/education/staff/staff.php?