Book club offers new avenue to enrich education

By Kristina Chiapella

Surrounded by piles of books and cups of tea, a small group of students from Santa Clara and Downtown College Preparatory are continuing a pursuit of friendship and literacy.

These are members of the women's book club that formed last month as the result of a fall quarter English class, in which eight Santa Clara students served as mentors and role models for a class at the neighboring charter high school.

While DCP had an existing relationship with the university through an Arrupe tutoring program, Jill Goodman, senior lecturer in the English department, was inspired to make it into something more.

"I thought their vision was really interesting," said Goodman of the school. "I thought we should be a part of it."

The charter school, founded in 2000, focuses on Latino students who struggle within the public school system.

Each week the Santa Clara students faced both the rewards and frustrations of tutoring as they helped teach "writing for college," a class for DCP seniors. Such a class is appropriate for DCP students, who must be accepted to a four-year college or university in order to graduate.

Santa Clara's class, English 196, was first offered in the fall of 2003.

Jennifer Higareda, a senior who took the class last quarter, says, "Since I am working to become a teacher, I loved the experience of being in the classroom. It was so satisfying to work with students with things like voice and style in their writing."

DCP student Mayra Salvador said that "working with someone young helped because I felt more confident when I had questions."

For fellow DCP student Ema Ibarra, working on assignments like personal statements and essays proved invaluable.

"When I was applying to colleges," said Ibarra, "I did not have to start from scratch because I already had something that was good enough for the applications and scholarships."

Now, students from English 196, the university Bridge Program and DCP have come together to continue their experiences in the form of a book club.

Goodman believes the group will be a fun way for the students to keep in touch and continue the role modeling that began in the DCP class.

In addition, the DCP students will have the opportunity to read in English, which will in turn influence their writing.

"Every time I teach at DCP," Goodman says, "I'm struck by how little they are reading. They need to love to read, they need to enjoy it and come to see it as a social, pleasant activity and not just a school activity."

Claudia Vásquez, a Santa Clara alumna and former Bridge student of Goodman's who became involved with DCP the first year, has also joined the book club.

The group strongly supports the work being done at DCP, saying that by giving the students an opportunity to work with people from a university, it can "potentially reduce the intimidation that first generation college students have towards attending college," said Goodman. The book group she said, is a great way to continue that mission.

Ibarra said of her reason for joining the group, "I want to try something different. I want to be part of something that I have never done but have always wondered about."

Higareda agreed. "I have been so consumed with academic school reading, and I feel behind in the other readings and stories that are out there. I also wanted to make some new friends."

Last quarter, the Santa Clara students discovered the true complexity of the teaching and learning process, as they conducted peer reviews and created and taught their own lessons.

The book group discussions, Higareda said, will be great for the DCP girls because "they will be able to experience a taste of college, which is the next step in their lives. They will also be exposed to literature they may not have decided to read on their own."

Goodman hopes to continue the work at DCP next fall. The ideal number of Santa Clara students to enroll would be 10 to 12 students. Last quarter, the class had barely enough to keep going with eight members.

"We intend to keep the class going," she said, "It's just the question of enrollment."

Contact Kristina Chiapella at (408) 551-1918 or kchiapella@scu.edu.