About SOAR
In 2006, a need was discovered in the community and UIUC reached out to start a collaborative program to meet it. A large part of the community was made up of latinx immigrants who wanted to help their children excel in school, however since a lot of them didn’t speak English they were not able to provide literacy support at home. SOAR was created to be able to help these children develop their literacy skills as well as get homework help with an individual tutor. We asked a program administrator what her experience has been like at SOAR. She mentioned that the most rewarding part of SOAR was also its purpose - seeing the kids improving in their skills and having fun doing it. The organization makes a huge impact on the lives of the students as well as the surrounding community. It boosts the students’ self-confidence, while also giving them the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with a university student. To make the best of the experience at SOAR, consistency, patience, and remembering to have fun are key!
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Facutly Spotlight with Dr. Cris Mayo
“Experiencing diverse community placements and getting right there with kids, understanding of how issues we talk about in class impact kids’ experiences of schools, impact the kids’ families and impact their communities is a better approach to teacher education.”Dr. Mayo served as the professor of EDUC 201 in the fall of 2015. Dr. Mayo’s research interests include philosophy of education, gender and sexuality studies, environmental education, and multicultural theory. Her first book, Disputing the Subject of Sex (Rowman and Littlefield, 2004, reprinted in paperback, 2007) details clashes over AIDS education and gay inclusive multicultural education in New York State in the 1980s and 1990s. Her second book “LGBTQ Youth and Education: Policies and Practices” (Teachers College Press, 2013) examines laws, school policies, curricular approaches and student organizing related to LGBTQ issues.
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Student Voices with Claire Follis
On Why She Returned to SOAR
I decided to go back to SOAR because when I walked into the classroom every week I felt pure joy. Having the opportunity to make a difference in these kids lives, even as small of a difference as I made, was an incredible feeling. However, as much as I thought I was impacting the kids’ lives, I knew that they were making an even greater change in me. I think as a future teacher it’s important to develop the skills to communicate with all types of people. When I first started at SOAR, I realized there were times when I was lacking in that area. As the semester progressed I was able to better communicate, be open minded, and learn how to help others. It helped me realize that not everyone had the opportunities I had as a kid, and that there was life going on around me off campus. It was very eye opening, and really put me in my place. As much of a hassle it was to go all the way out to IPA, the 20 minute bus ride out there was worth being able to interact with the kids. I knew from the first week at SOAR that I wanted to continue the program long after EDUC 201 ended. Getting out into the community and being able to get a taste of what my future career will be like was so fulfilling. Every day that I go to SOAR, I am given more confidence in the idea that I am going into the right profession. Serving the community around me has given me so much fulfillment and joy. I’m so happy to be able to make a difference in these children’s lives, as well as grow with them.
Information
International Prep Academy (IPA)
1605 W. Kirby Ave., Champaign www.education.illinois.edu/smallurban/soar Lila Moore Program Coordinator [email protected] | [email protected] Phone: (217) - 265 - 4705 SOAR Tutoring Tuesday — Thursday 2:00 p.m. — 3:15 p.m. To provide literacy support and homework help to Latina/o emergent bilingual/biliterate students in grades 2-5 by pairing them one-on-one with students from the University of Illinois. - from SOAR's Mission Statement |