Emily is a creative, academically talented student involved in marching band. An inspirational motto on her bedroom wall reads, “Onward and Upward!” The words speak to the positive possibilities for one’s self where the goal is not simply to survive hardship, but to progress and rise in spirit. The Spanish word adelante is sometimes used by Hispanic and Latinx serving organizations, advocacy groups and community programs to speak to this same spirit of perseverance and empowerment. Continue reading
Category Archives: mentor
Lupe….and kittens!
The quietest people in the room are sometimes the ones that have the most to say. That’s our friend Lupe. Kind, artistic, family oriented, reflective, funny, fearless, observant, resilient, a fierce reader…and tiny. Plus kittens! Much thanks to Nicole Goldstein and Tyler Beatty in JMU’s School of Media Arts and Design for their work on this project.
Alienation
JMU School of Media Arts and Design students, Buddy Harlow and Dan Johnson, interviewed several SLI Scholars from Harrisonburg High School about their feelings of difference, to produce this poignant film of the alienation experienced by many high school Latinos in our communities. The short film was screened at Harrisonburg’s Court Square Theater as one entry in the Fall 2015 DocFest. Much thanks to JMU’s School of Media Arts and Design, School of Communication Studies, Court Square Theater, and Three Notch’d Brewing Company for sponsoring the event, and to Professor Shaun Wright for his commitment to engaged teaching and community betterment.
Happy Birthday, Kelly!
It’s Kelly’s birthday!! To celebrate, we thought we’d show this video made last fall when she was a junior. Last spring, Kelly enrolled in AP Biology and worked in a university biology lab with Dr. Morgan Steffen, an Assistant Professor of James Madison University’s Department of Biology. Now that Kelly’s a senior, she’s looking into college programs that will help her achieve her dreams of studying psychology and traveling the world. Continue reading
Meet Maria C – Class of 2016
Maria C. is a straight A student at Harrisonburg High School, who will also graduate with an Associate Arts degree from a local community college at the end of the year. Listen as she shares the tensions she sometimes feels from parents and teachers, and click to read more about Maria. Continue reading
Trail Clean Up!
SLI Scholars with JMU Dingledine Scholars
For the third consecutive year, SV-SLI high school scholars and mentors cleaned up a trailed nature area at Thomas Harrison Middle School as a service project for JMU’s Big Event. The day was spent clearing brush, and planting trees and shrubs donated by Rodamer’s Landscaping of Harrisonburg. With help from a team of JMU’s Dingledine Scholars (D-Unit!), the clean up project only took about 3 hours.
Shenandoah Valley Scholars Latino Initiative 