LYDC Latinx youth meet weekly to learn about their rights and responsibilities as young adults. Middle and high school students meet to explore topics about civic participation, finding and choosing a career, and how to plan for and make decisions for the future according to their strengths and dreams. Participants will be empowered to plan for their futures, know their strengths, set goals, explore career options, and find their place in society. Furthermore, youth will learn about the systems of the city, parks, schools, and other aspects of the communities where they live. Youth come to understand how decisions are made in their communities, and will be encouraged to join or volunteer at advisory committees across a variety of institutions, such as their schools, parks and the city. Youth and families attend college and university Field Trips.
Parents and their youth will attend four (4) field trips to four (4) Minnesota universities and colleges. These trips are carefully planned by the families and their youth. During these visits, the attendees receive information about scholarships, financial aid, on-campus job opportunities, on-campus housing, as well as activities and clubs that the universities offer. These field trips will help to minimize concerns and fears families have for the first generation of higher education students.
LYDC Latinx youth will learn personal narrative techniques, and share a highly-developed personal narrative to present online to their community. Examining their own cultural history gives youth insights into what they find meaningful and why. Stories help examine and integrate the events of our lives, and reflect upon our actions in the context of our roots, broader life and sense of community. This grassroots project curriculum develops both literacy and technology skills. LYDC youth will then take their crafted narratives, and share them in a final zoom presentation with their community of friends and family. Our youth stories help to develop empathy, maturity, a sense of connection, as well as leadership skills relating to communication and self-expression.
These presentations are offered to Latinx families and cover a variety of topics related to the development of children and youth, their needs, and how families can support them and accompany them in their academic life. Nevertheless, we are aware that in order to fully support these youth and their families and to be informed, we should also provide information about topics of social importance. For example, information about finances and health, all with the objective that the parents, and families, obtain the necessary information to be able to be better integrated into the communities where they live, where the rules are often different from their countries of origin. During these presentations participants from the community are empowered to create new presentation topics; LYDC then seeks resources in the community to meet these needs. Presentations have included the Mexican consulate, school crisis line and pandemic resources and assistance. This generates a constant environment of learning and by providing the Latinx community the tools they name and need to overcome the adversities we are facing in real time.
The LYDC will sponsor training to prepare committed volunteers to be Education Promoters to reach out to Latino families who are disconnected from the education system in their communities. Participants will develop an action plan and learn about leadership, communication skills, data privacy, school structure, Parent Portal/School View, and the LYDC’s work.
Education Promoters will promote LYDC programing, encourage families to join various parent associations, attend school board meetings, promote library visits and connect families with community resources.
This class is designed to be taught in Spanish, for adults, with the interest to learn to use the computer, in order to improve your skills to help your children at school, enter portals, send emails, create documents, and generally help their children with the help of technology. In this way we can ensure that young people. They can have support at home in essential things, such as being in communication with schools and teachers, making appropriate use of media such as the Internet. This class contributes to the Latin community in a very positive way since it will be taught in its majority in Spanish, a language they understand more, they will learn from the most basic, how. They are the parts of the computer and what their function is, they will learn to use internet browsers, how to access the parent portals of their children’s schools, access the portals of the libraries, how to use Google Drive storage and the benefits of using it, and finally, they will learn how to create documents and how to format them.
ESL Classes
English as a Second Language course to support families and students, so they can acquire the communication skills they will need in their daily life, help with academic life, and become empowered participants in society.
This Spanish/English bilingual course is a collaboration with the University of Minnesota and the Latino Immigration and Community Engagement class. The focus of the course is to promote community participation and study the 100 question Civics test and prepare for the Naturalization application and interview to become U.S. Citizens. The course integrates ESL instruction, history of U.S. social movements, and hands-on knowledge about U.S. government structures and its current contexts. U of MN students provide weekly tutoring and mentoring to families as they continue to interact with the course material and prepare for the writing and reading portion of the Citizenship test and interview. Connection and consultation for the Naturalization process with an immigration attorney is provided as part of this course. People go on to become U.S. citizens and to participate in the democracy by voting, joining civic groups, contacting legislators, joining a political party, and some participants express interest in increasing their political participation.
Summer Art Camp “RAÍCES”
This summer camp engages Latinx youth with their roots by learning about Latinx art, interacting with well-known artists, and being exposed to the basic vocabulary and symbolism of various indigenous Latin American languages. Youth can connect with theater artists, musicians, muralists, dancers, poets, and other young artists, and engage in culturally relevant art activities and projects.
Family Workshops
Series of activities and workshops aimed at engaging Latino parents, families and their children in fun activities as we learn about the culture and tradition. Parents and Latinx community members vote and work together on designing each activity, promoting leadership and cultural awareness.
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5247 Girard Ave S, Minneapolis MN 55419
