Presenter: Oge Odidika, Psychology, Global Public Health Scholars
For my practicum project, I was a mentor for Maryland Mentor Corps (MMC),
specifically for the Latino Student Fund K-5 Tutoring Program. MMC provides high quality mentoring for elementary and middle school students, assisting them with reading, homework, critical thinking, reflective writing, and hands-on group activities. As a mentor, I tutored Latino middle school students in reading and math and helped them improve their reading ability and comprehension skills, as well as helping to increase their knowledge of foundational math topics. I also assisted the students with any problems they had with their homework. This organization and program aid in reducing educational disparities, primarily among Latino Students, and by investing in children’s education in low-income communities, we are working towards breaking a generational cycle of poverty across the world. Two important things I learned from the work I did for my practicum is that patience is very significant when working with kids, as everyone has a different learning curve. I also learned how to communicate with students of all ages and from different cultural backgrounds.