Alberto Botello of Windsor, left, chats with Meem Mohsin and Kundan Malik of Montgomery Elementary during the after-school homework club. Botello has volunteered his time for the past four years to work with students at Montgomery Elementary School in south Davis. (Karin Higgins/UC Davis photo)
Tutors dedicated to after-school clubs for low-income students
Something happened to Alberto Botello on his way to becoming a computer science engineer at UC Davis.
As a freshman, the son of a Sonoma County farmworker offered to tutor at a local school through Davis Bridge, a non-profit group dedicated to improving the academic achievement of low-income Davis students.
"Before I started tutoring," Botello says, "I would have never thought of being a teacher. It was the last thing on my mind, but now it has become a real possibility. I love working with kids."
And while Botello is still weighing whether he wants to be a teacher or a counselor, he is definite that somehow his career will be dedicated to working with students.
Botello, a sociology and Chicana/o studies major from Windsor, thanks his experiences with Davis Bridge for helping him cross that yawning divide that faces all college students: finding a direction for his career.
‘Before I started tutoring, I would have never thought of being a teacher. It was the last thing on my mind, but now it has become a real possibility. I love working with kids.’
Alberto Botello, Davis Bridge site coordinator
Seeing a need for students
Davis Bridge was first started in January 2004 by Janet Boulware, a school volunteer who saw a need for extra help among the low-income community in Davis.
She herself became involved years earlier by volunteering at Pioneer Elementary School in south Davis. Eventually Boulware found a job as reading aide working with Latino students who couldn't speak English.
Inspired by her interactions with the students, Boulware went on to learn Spanish and attend UC Davis where she broadened her cultural knowledge by majoring in Chicana/o studies.
Under the direction of Professor Yvette Flores, Boulware created a senior research project in 2003 that focused on the academic achievement of Latinos in the Davis Joint Unified School District. To help the struggling students, Boulware designed an after-school tutor program as a partnership among the district, university and a new non-profit foundation.
Now she runs that program, propelled by about a hundred UC Davis students. Two-thirds of the group take an internship class through the Chicana/o Studies Program, and the remainder participate through work-study.
The tutors work in two elementary schools, Valley Oak in east Davis and Marguerite Montgomery in south Davis. Totally self-supporting, Davis Bridge is funded by private grants, local businesses and individual donations, with a budget of more than $80,000 a year.
Ernesto Lopez, a fourth-year student from Pacoima, Calif., majoring in mechanical engineering and Spanish, volunteers several afternoons a week helping students like Brendy Patiño. Bridge tutors have helped raise the test scores in the Davis schools among low-income students. (Karin Higgins/UC Davis photo)
Identifying with the students
Botello, who has been working at the Montgomery school, says he got involved because he identifies with the students who attend the Davis Bridge homework clubs.
"As I was growing up, I was helped with a similar after-school program," he says. "I feel that I need to give back to the community since part of the reason I am here is because I was helped along the way."
Botello's own leadership skills have grown over his four years in the program.
"I am currently a site coordinator for the Davis Bridge program," Botello says. "I go in and set up the classrooms in which we tutor the students. I am in charge, along with my fellow site coordinator, Marianne Ceballos, of all the students and tutors, making sure that they are staying on task and finishing their homework."
Botello offers quantitative data as to Davis Bridge's success, since one of the ways the program is evaluated is through is through the annual Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR).
Increasing test scores significantly
"Davis Bridge has helped its students increase their test scores significantly and has drawn the attention of the district for doing so," Botello says.
Botello has another passion at college: his fraternity, Nu Alpha Kappa, where he is vice president and incoming president.
He has figured out how to combine the two extra-curricular activities by talking his buddies and their friends into joining him as tutors.
He offers himself as an example.
"The reason I first decided to start working with Davis Bridge four years ago is because I saw it as way to relieve stress and go out and help students who needed my help," Botello says. "It is a break from your everyday schedule of going to class, midterms and finals."
More than a homework club
Botello believes that Davis Bridge is more than just an after-school homework club.
On the home page: Mike Castillo, a senior from Los Angeles majoring in international relations and Chicana/o studies, works with Montgomery Elementary student Eduardo Arambulia. (Karin Higgins/UC Davis photo)
He says he and his fellow tutors offer themselves as models because the younger students are working with college students who speak their language and can relate to them.
"UC Davis students serve as mentors for the students," he says. "It is important for the students at Marguerite Montgomery and Valley Oak to see college as a real possibility."
Botello and Boulware are looking for students from all walks of life to volunteer for next fall.
Students who participate in the internship through Chicana/o studies can earn from one to three units. The tutoring sessions are from 2:30 to5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. For more information, contact in the Chicana/o Studies Program.