The Hispanic Business Student Association and Big Brothers-Big Sisters have partnered together to help students of Westland High School with their academics and become mentors.
The groups met each other for the first time Friday. They did some icebreaker activities so the students could get to learn more about each other and find a compatible match.
Jane Ensign, principal of Westland, said, “This is a great opportunity for all involved. Ohio State students can offer their academic knowledge and give attention to the students of Westland. The students can communicate with one another and establish a friendship.”
Ensign said there was a great need to give attention to the Hispanic students at Westland.
“The match is perfect. The students from OSU have the abilities to help students here at Westland reach a greater potential,” Ensign said. “Communication is the most important. Many members of the staff cannot speak Spanish, and some students do not speak English, making communication very difficult,” Ensign said.
Forty Hispanic Westland students are involved in the program. More than 120 Hispanic students are enrolled at Westland.
“There is a long waiting list to get into this program,” Ensign said. “The 40 students that are in the program were selected by their teachers on need-basis to help academic challenges and overcome language barriers.”
Ensign said many of the students at Westland are new to the area or country. Many of the Hispanic students speak little English, and learning English as a second language can be difficult.
“It is really nice to see how we can help these students out,” said Manuel Castillo, president of HBSA. “We have all been students before. We can understand what many of them are going through and help make it a little easier on them.”
“I would really like to see more OSU students get involved. There are still some Hispanic students on the waiting list, as well as other minority students struggling with some of the same issues,” Castillo said. “Everyone can bring their strengths – whether it is math, science or writing – and can help these students out in some way.”
Victor Miranda, a spokesman for HBSA, said, “We can help students in many ways culturally too. We offer a multicultural perspective with all our cultures. We can help them understand things in this culture, as well as share our own.”
Ensign said they are trying to meet the needs of all their students so everyone can take part in all-school activities and have a successful high school experience.
Westland has a full-time bilingual staff member to act as a liaison between the students and the administrators. Another full-time bilingual staff member will join Westland today. Ensign said the new staff member will be helping prepare students for the proficiency test and hold one-on-one tutoring.
