Enlighten to Make a Difference
Selena and Gregoria
Our mission:
Enlighten to Make a Difference was created by Selena Garcia, and Gregoria Uroza. Their focus is to help as many preschools and elementary schools as possible, to close the gap in education. They became passionate about finding ways to promote effective communication among schools and students when they physically saw students feeling isolated. These types of students could not find a comfortable connection with their school. By creating the enlighten library and bench they are promoting active literacy during recess time and eliminating barriers within the environment, they are associated with. They believe that adding a different activity during recess such as the access to read a book will be a benefit to students such as a fun activity and an educational tool to improve their literacy skills. The benches will also help strengthen relationships between students and their school staff. They want the students to feel comfortable sharing the good and bad times of their days.
By creating these projects, they know they cannot change the whole world, but they can create a change for Houston, TX school districts. Join them on September 8, 2018 as they enlighten the way to making a difference for future generations!
Project Descriptions:
Enlighten Library
(Promoting literacy during recess time):
"If you don't feel like playing today, play with your mind"
-Enlighten to make a difference.
The goal of this project is to connect with the students who at times do not want to run around but would rather sit down and play with their minds by reading books. On September 8’18, National day of Service- GatorServe volunteers will get in groups of two to build house-shape bookshelves. With these bookshelves, we will help provide access to books during recess time for preschool and elementary school students. We will not only be building the shelves but we will come together to decorate them with paint and will be organizing books to be delivered along with the shelves.
Enlighten Bench
(Eliminate Barriers):
"The only way to make a friend is to be one"
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
The goal of this project is to create a simple idea to eliminate barriers between students, peers, teachers and staff. On September 8, 2018 National day of Service- GatorServe volunteers will get in groups of 3-4 to build benches for preschool and elementary school students. With this bench, we want to help improve a student's day at school by allowing them easy access to a spot where they can feel comfortable sharing. Together we will also be painting these benches with creative designs and positive quotes.
Know more about the Student Leaders:
Selena Garcia
B.A.I.S Student
Gregoria Uroza
B.S.W Student
Selena Garcia is a daughter of immigrants, who is granted the privilege to be the first one from her family to attend college. On top of being the first in her family, she pushes her success by keeping her grades and expectations high. She is a proudful member of many organizations around UHD and UHD-Northwest campus. As she continues her B.A.I.S, she finds time to give back to her community in projects like: Enlighten to make a difference, Camino a la Universidad, Be a teacher Club- Northwest, and many more. Without doubt her representation of herself brings a reminder to others that the American Dream is still alive.
Gregoria Uroza is the second oldest of 7 siblings, and a first generation higher education student. She started to find a passion in community service when she was a junior in High School. One thing Gregoria loves about serving others is having the chance to make someone else’s day by serving as a volunteer. And being able to see that she did not only make a change one day, but she made an impact in their lives. She shares to others to see community service as, “it is never too early nor too late to get involved with one’s community, encouraging others to get out of one’s comfort zone and continue the passion to help one another.”
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