For Santa Monica High School students, nerves are at a high as
finals week approaches. Jose Vasquez, a site coordinator for a UCLA
outreach program, soon relieves their worries as he stands in the
middle of the classroom assuring students that he and his
colleagues are here to help them get the grades they need to get
into UCLA.
The student staff of the outreach program, Xinachtli, greeted 40
eager students Tuesday, offering tutoring and peer counseling.
Xinachtli is one of the seven outreach projects UCLA offers the
greater Los Angeles community through the Student Initiated
Outreach Committee.
Past and proposed state budget cuts are now posing a threat to
outreach programs such as Xinachtli, making it more difficult to
provide such services to underprivileged students.
The 50 percent cut issued last year and the possibility of a 100
percent cut in outreach this year has already taken a toll on
Xinachtli as they have been forced to cut staff members and limit
their visit sites.
“The cuts are horrific … We can’t hire as much
staff and now (we are) having hundreds of students and you
can’t do that with five tutors and that’s not fair
because these students are counting on these tutors,” said
Allende Palma/Saracho, a Xinachtli volunteer and internal vice
president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
Along with a cut in staff, transportation has now also become an
issue as staff and volunteers need to provide their own cars for
the programs. A lack of transportation can also limit the amount of
volunteers able to participate.
Proposition 209, which was passed in 1996 and banned the
state’s use of affirmative action in hiring and admissions
policies, prompted students to take the initiative to create the
office to offer outreach to inner-city kids, whether it be in
academic or personal areas.
The program’s mission is clearly stated in its name.
Xinachtli is an indigenous term from the Aztec language Nahuatl,
meaning “˜”the seed that germinates.”
“It’s an analogy that goes along with what we are
doing. We are planting a seed in these students that will grow in
the years to come,” said Stephanie Zelaya, a second-year math
student.
Kimberly Bolanos, an 11th-grader at Santa Monica High School,
values the services Xinachtli provides and understands the impact
budget cuts can have on such outreach activities.
“Cutting programs is wrong … we don’t have anyone
to go to. There are teachers, but they aren’t always there
and you can’t always learn from a teacher, sometimes you just
need more help … a different perspective,” Bolanos
said.
Another student, Erendira Gracida, now a senior, has been
attending this program since her freshman year. Her face lights up
when describing Xinachtli and college. She said she soon hopes to
attend a university and study political science.
“Coming from a low-income family, it’s crowded in my
house and I don’t have the resources to hire a tutor, but
here I can get the help that I need,” Gracida said.
One major goal of the project is to get students thinking about
college as a possible option for the future. They hold workshops
which focus on filling out applications and financial aid
forms.
Parent involvement is also encouraged through parent dinners
where students and parents spend time with one another discussing
everyday issues.
“My parents didn’t know the pathway to college but
Xinachtli helps break the language barrier and teaches parents
about college,” Gracida added.
Twice a week, Xinachtli staff members walk through these
classroom doors and go beyond tutoring as they foster lasting
friendships with the students.
The organization not only stresses excellence in academics
through tutoring, it also focuses on the students’
well-being, said Vanessa Gonzalez, a fourth-year Chicana/o studies
student and peer adviser for Xinachtli.
“We work with students closely and reflect on what they
are doing, and what they are having difficulties with … we stress
a holistic approach and encourage the students to make goals both
in academics and their personal lives,” Gonzalez said.
Though budget cuts have greatly impacted Xinachtli and other
similar outreach programs, they continue to offer their
services.
Their genuine passion for reaching out to underprivileged
students reminds them of their difficulties in high school and the
impact of outreach programs in their lives, Zelaya said.
“I come from a single-parent, low- income home … in high
school I was in the outreach program Upward Bound and it helped me
with my self esteem and it motivates you … it makes you think,
“˜I want to go to college, I want to better my
life,'” said Zelaya, who serves as a math tutor for
Xinachtli.
Xinachtli receives funding from two major sources.
The Care Referendum, a bill proposed and voted on by students on
campus, allows for $1.50 per student of quarterly fees to fund
student-initiated outreach programs. In the past, the University of
California Office of the President matched the amount of money SIOC
received. However, since the budget cuts, the matching fees have
decreased.
Because of the budget cuts Xinachtli was forced to fund raise
through bake sales, a Shakey’s Pizza night and a raffle.
“Student (outreach workers) will still find ways to come
out to these communities even if there is a 100 percent cut because
they are so dedicated but it should be supplemented by the
state,” Palma/Saracho said.
The benefits of outreach programs such as Xinachtli go beyond
helping students with academics as the program impacts the workers
and volunteers as well.
Gilda De La Cruz, an English teacher at Santa Monica High, said
she repeatedly sees the positive effect of such programs on both
students and outreach workers.
“(Xinachtli) also helps the peer advisers and tutors
develop their own skills maybe to decide their own mission, maybe
to teach or to serve young people … (budget cuts) would hurt both
our students and college students,” said De La Cruz, who is
also a liaison for Xinachtli.
Xinachtli’s services are also being demanded at other
local middle schools.
“Middle schools call and want Xinachtli at their schools,
but I don’t know what to tell them,” De La Cruz
said.
With the possibility of a 100 percent cut in outreach, programs
like Xinachtli may quickly disappear.
“Through outreach we are empowering two sets of students
and it can only work for the better. We are replicating a system
where people can go about helping one another … that should be
the goal of the university,” Palma/Saracho said.
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, after several hours of tutoring and
counseling, the students talk among themselves and with the staff
about their plans for the weekend. One by one they leave the room
saying, “See you next week.”