GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The pandemic has taken a toll on students across the country. In Gwinnett County schools, some Latino students who were already falling behind, are now struggling even more.
According to Director of Academic Support for the district, Nury Castillo-Crawford, Hispanic students account for the lowest graduation rate in the district and the highest dropout rate compared to the rest of the student population. The gap, shown in the graphics below, has only widened due to COVID-19.
In the nearly 180,000 student-district, 1/3 of the student population identifies as Latino / Hispanic, as shown in the graphic below, followed by African American and Caucasian.
"Those types of disparity have been amplified tenfold," explained Castillo-Crawford. "As a Latina and Latina educator, I knew those inequities were already in place, but when COVID hit, nationally, statewide and locally, those statistics were amplified and everybody got to see what some of us had already known for years."
A national survey done by SOMOS in the midst of the pandemic revealed that nearly 40% of Latinos did not have internet access at home and 32% did not have a computer.
Those are added barriers to the struggles Latino students in Gwinnett County have been facing even before the pandemic.
"Language barrier, new culture and structure of the educational system are the top three barriers families have to overcome," she listed.
That's why Castillo-Crawford, who is a first-generation immigrant, set up a mentorship program two years ago to change those statistics. The need for more mentors right now, however, is greater than ever.
"Sometimes, kids don't have that one person in their lives - and not because their parents don't care - but parents many times are working and are trying to survive as well," she explained. "With all this additional stress about the pandemic, that makes it tenfold."
The program, which got started with 65 students, has grown to currently help about 190. Castillo-Crawford is looking for at least 90 mentors to help the remaining middle- and high-schoolers - like 8th grader Karian Fuentes - participating in the program.
Fuentes was enrolled in the program when it got started.
"Sometimes I don't have anyone to help me achieve what I want in life," said the 16-year-old.
The program matches mentors and students to help encourage them to stay in school and graduate. That's a problem on the forefront of educators' minds during the pandemic.
"It's for them to know they have someone there to mentor them and help them achieve their goals in life," explained Fuentes.
Right now, training and mentoring activities are being done virtually. You don't have to be bilingual to be a mentor.
If you're interested, reach out to Castillo-Crawford by calling 404-308-7542 or emailing nury.crawford@gcpsk12.org.
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