Latino Professionals Association (LPA) member Silvia Gómez de Soriano serves Madison East High School as a bilingual bicultural resource specialist. As an alum of East High, she is personally invested in fostering a supportive environment for Xican@ students through her voluntary program coordinator role with the Xican@ Institute for Education and Self-Determination Program.
After endless community dialogue around closing of the achievement gap, Gómez and other Latin@ graduates of Madison’s East High School have stepped up to give back to their alma mater and the Latin@ youth in attendance. They have teamed up with Jorge F. Rodriguez, a doctoral student in UW-Madison’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, to lead a summer program that focused on the complexities of identity within a U.S. context and self-empowerment of Latin@ students through cultural exploration, critical reflection, leadership building and community engagement.
Students that participated in this first-ever project at East High taught by Rodriguez will be presenting a special art project that reflects what they learned during the one week class focused on identity and immigration.
This program was graciously sponsored by Summit Credit Union.
