Lasallian Volunteers serve as teachers, coordinators of after-school and evening activities, and coordinators of support programs for graduates. Betty Marquez serves on the graduate support staff and the family outreach program. Megan Luna co-teaches the 6th grade. Both are first year volunteers.
The San Miguel School is a community of compassion that provides an innovative, Lasallian middle school for low income, at-risk students in one of Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods. The school seeks to provide an education that liberates and empowers children and families emotionally, psychologically, socially, academically, and spirituality, so that they are able to break out of the cycle of poverty, gangs, and violence.
The primarily Hispanic neighborhood faces many challenges: 80% of adults over age 25 do not have a high school diploma or equivalency; 44% do not have a ninth grade education; the median household income is nearly half the national average; 85% of the children come from low-income families, qualifying for free or reduced lunch; most children entering San Miguel in sixth grade read at a second or third grade level; children walk with fear on the streets and cannot cross certain blocks because of gang boundaries.
Lasallian Volunteers serve San Miguel as co-teachers and teachers’ aides, coordinators of after-school and evening activities, and providers of other supplemental services. Second year volunteer Joel Kreitzberg teaches 5th and 6th grade math and science. Second year volunteer Annie Harala, who served her first year in Yakima, WA, teaches 8th grade language arts. Second year volunteer Mary Broderick, who served her first year in Newburgh, NY, teaches 5th and 6th grade language arts. First year volunteer Nathan Czaia serves on the graduate support staff and as a tutor, teacher, and coach.
San Miguel, Comer Campus is located on the West Side of Chicago in the Austin neighborhood, which is one of the poorest in the city. The local public schools have some of the worst academic records in the city. San Miguel deliberately serves educationally and economically disadvantaged children who live in Austin. 95% of the students come from low-income families. African Americans make up 90% of the school community, with the remainder being Anglo and Latino families. The average parent in the area has less than a ninth grade education. Most of the children entering San Miguel in the fifth grade read at a second grade level.
