Light in a Cave, Part 2

by Katie Cano

In case you didn’t catch part 1, Susquehanna Hall’s staff is currently starting their social justice project about equal opportunity in education. We are planning on educating the residents about educationally opportunities in the U.S. and then taking them to Digital Harbor High School and the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents–Baltimore (RICA), to help those students achieve their dreams of college. We are also planning on bringing many of these students to UMBC to show them what college is really like.

In my following blogs about this project, I will be addressing our process, struggles, achievements, and reflections about this project.

We’ve actually already had our first setback, but we’re continuing to move forward. Thurgood Marshall High School is a high school in Baltimore City that has many students that could use some help, and that’s who we wanted to work with. Unfortunately, we could never get in contact with them. So we continue to move forward.

Digital Harbor High School, another school in Baltimore City also has a large population of students who are struggling to make it through their education and into college. Students are plagued with cultural differences, language barriers, problems at home, drug use, and remedial skills that make it hard to keep up in their current classes. They also have many teachers, staff members, and parents who are very supportive of their students and are more likely to partner with us. So we have switched our efforts to Digital Harbor.

In addition, we had our first meeting with RICA this was extremely supportive and excited about working with us and helping their students. We decided that working with the seniors and juniors of the schools would be a great option. We could help them apply for community college, study for placement tests, practice note-taking skills, and talk about the reality of college.

Throughout this entire affair there may be setbacks. However, the important thing is to remain calm, keep pushing through, remember to be supportive of each other, and keep our goal in mind.