Social Distancing with NGS
Through the community partner interview, I was able to understand that multiple factors make up NGS. Before this interview, I only knew about what I did, which was tutoring and a few other services that were provided. The program not only focuses on the students that are in their program now, but they also keep in touch with their former students. They are a huge family in a way, where students would come back home from grad schools or PhD programs. One story that Shawn mentioned to emphasize that they all have a close relationship with another was that a former NGS student asked the cofounder of NGS to officiate her wedding. By understanding the close knit bond that the employees can form with the students makes me feel that the transition to where we are today makes it easier for the students and family.
With the social isolation that we are facing right now, many of the families in the NGS program struggle to have enough food for their family, money for gas, and other factors. Through the transition, Shawn’s goal is to try to restart the academic program by mirroring classes and tutoring students by using zoom or google hangouts. For tutoring at this time, his priority is to help those who are in the C list, which means students who have a C in class. It is difficult to tutor all of the students at this moment because there are not enough people and too many outside factors that make it easy for the employees to help all of them. Families worry about whether they will be able to eat tonight. NGS has been given donations to disperse money to families. The way they disperse the money is by priority such as needing food and gas. By doing this, it helps the families lighten the stress. Shawn is also trying to reprogram the summer program, most likely through zoom and he is going to expand the sixth grade class to eighteen students, instead of eight. His goal is to help support the rising seniors because they are missing out on the core things to get into college. Shawn is trying to keep things as normal as possible, so the students will not have added stress to deal with.
NGS has been able to promote critical consciousness into the programs by reframing the academic curriculum to be more intentional. They do this by focusing on points that relate to them, so they will not lose themselves. Having educational equity results in life affecting education and education affecting one’s life. Many of the NGS students have English as their second language, impacting the way they structure a sentence or an essay. By giving them skills by teaching them the English language, they can reach full potential in their academics and careers within the United States. From intersectionality, it is seen that the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group creates overlapping and independent systems of discrimination. The marginalized experience disrupts injustices because they are not able to get the same opportunities as others. To transform the students, we must give students tools to understand the larger context by questioning the challenges and transforming them through the situations. NGS can condition the students and use critical consciousness by focusing on texts and their grades and incorporating what is taught in the community.
NGS’ call to action is education is the practice of freedom. Advocacy and change to NGS is to teach the students critical consciousness by addressing the structural issues. Although the educational system is a system of conforming and it molds us to think a certain way, we must think for ourselves. For my part as a service learner, I need to engage in the community to get things done. This would be tutoring the students and being hands on with them. If I did not talk to them and tutor them, then I would not be able to engage with them. Making a difference by helping the students not only get their education, but by supporting them in all other aspects is their goal for NGS. This is true because they include in house psych evaluations to intervene with families and students. Focusing on their priority problems is important before they can educate the student, which is why they offer many services and provide a food pantry. By tending to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the students can focus on critical consciousness. Right now, education is not the priority for the students because they are worried about when their next meal is and may not be able to follow the social distancing rules. By alleviating this problem that they are facing, the students will be able to use education as a practice of freedom. At this moment, it may seem that school may be the only stable thing because they still need to go to classes and do their assignments. With the help of NGS, the tutoring and trying to transition smoothly without trying to add stress, the students have something to lean on.
