Both Becerra and his wife were deeply involved with the racist, anti
American group MEChA.

The Stanford Daily, Volume 173, Issue 72, 31 May 1978 Issue PDF (12.25 MB)



Chicano youths benefit from outreach program
By Cindy Santana

It's always great fun to spend the day at the beach, to go to parties and to celebrate holidays with terrific dinners, but it's even more fun when you're doing it with 45 kids who can really benefit from a group activity.

Getting people of the Chicano community together is one of the major goals of the Barrio Systems Project, one of the many MEChA-based programs organized on campus.

"We try to provide some important services that these people otherwise wouldn't receive," said Xavier Becerra, a sophomore from Sacramento, one of the four program coordinators of the Barrios Systems Project. The project reaches youngsters, teen-agers and adults in the East Palo Alto community. Each coordinator organizes activities for his respective group. Becerra is coordinator of the children's group.

Every Saturday about 20 Stanford students act as tutors to pre-schoolers and youngsters 6 to 13 years old, helping with reading, math, and English skills. Becerra and others drive to East Palo Alto, pick up the kids, and hold about a fourhour learning session at Ravenswood Recreational Center in East Palo Alto.

One-to-one

"We try to keep the program on a one-to-one basis, and find out what each child needs help in," said Becerra. "They may bring their homework with them and we'll try to help solve any problems."

"It's such a great feeling to know you've taught these kids something. One girl I worked with was having problems reducing fractions, and after our session she could solve her homework problems, lust helping with little things that can make a difference for them is very rewarding," said Becerra. The project extends to other needs of the community as well. The Barrio Systems Project has an annual Thanksgiving food drive and a Cinco de Mayo celebration. This year the project sponsored a Christmas gift drive and also had a Halloween celebration for the children. The Cinco de Mayo celebration was the highlight of the year, according to Becerra. Barrios Systems Project coordinated the activities for the community and had speakers, Ballet Folklorico, food, and games for the celebration. Working in conjunction with Barrios Systems Project is the Project Motivation Program. "Our goal is to encourage high school

Chicano students to apply to colleges and universities in California. With our tours, question-and-answer sessions, and Chicanos of the Stanford staff as speakers, we try to show role models and let the students know that the opportunities are available to them," said project director Elmer Aragon, a sophomore from New Mexico.

This year Aragon had the program working on much larger scale than its previous two years of existence. High schools from the Bay Area and Los Angeles were acquainted with the Stanford campus by attending scheduled tours during February and April. Stanford students led tou.s of the engineering building, computer terminals, the medical center, and communications buildings.

"The community was very receptive towards our project," said Aragon.

Another section of Project Motivation works with students at Sequoia High School in Redwood City. Each counselor concentrates on a target group of about 20 students.

"Many times I find that the parents of these kids really don't value their child's education because they don't understand the grading system or the letters sent home. The child feels 'Well, my parents don't care, why should I?' As a Chicano student myself, I can relate better to their situation and give them a realistic view of what they have to do," said Evelia Rodriguez, one of three counselors who work with Latino students at the school.

Initiating program Setting up the program at Sequoia took about two months. The counselors had to introduce themselves to the teachers and let students know why they were there. "There was a tremendous amount of resistance," said Adrian Ortega, a freshman from Los Angeles. "The school, teachers, and students were very conservative, and there were some misunderstandings."

Ortega has arranged various activities at Sequoia, bringing such as Ballet Eolklorico, and the Chicano poets to the Sequioa campus.

Five years ago a group of Chicano students here held a voter registration drive in East Palo Alto area. The students saw a need for more communication and assistance. The outreach programs were organized to meet these needs. All of the programs have been created, activated, and coordinated by Stanford Chicano students.

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