The Latino After-School Initiative endeavors to create model after-school programs that identify youths' skill strengths and learning styles, and build these skills through academic and vocational programming to stem poverty, school drop out rates, violence and hopelessness in the local Latino community. Youth will achieve mastery in a range of skills, improve overall academic achievement and significantly more will graduate from high school - qualified for life long employment.
"A…study of Latino children in Boston Public Schools by Antonia Darder and Carol Upshur…point(s) out that Latino children are failing in the school system because the schools provide little support for the cultural strengths that those children bring with them…The result of all of this is that both children and parents feel
pushed away from schools and education."
Organized and implemented by Latinos, for Latinos, Latino After-School Initiative (LASI) site coordinators and teachers are trained to embrace and nurture individual learning styles and abilities. Students work on projects that encourage problem-solving skills, and focus on their unique talents and cultural contributions through specific activities and curricula.
LASI History
Several trends have emerged within the Latino student community that demand additional support for youth, and which inspired United Way to introduce LASI. Significantly lower MCAS scores, poor high school student retention rates, and language barriers have positioned Latino students at an educational disadvantage to their peers. In response to the disproportionate amount of academic challenges facing Greater Boston’s Latino youth, UWMB created LASI to establish a network of strong, supportive after-school programs that serve Latino children ages 7-14 years old. LASI program providers aim to build on the intelligences and skills found within the Latino youth community so that students have both the academic and character competencies to succeed in high school and beyond.
LASI Fast Facts
- Over 200 Latino youth from diverse communities are enrolled in LASI sites throughout Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea and Lynn.
- LASI sites vary in after-school activities.These activities include art, science and mathematics, robotics and technology, digital and multimedia projects, and computer-based research and games, all of which are taught using the whole-brain learning approach.
- LASI programs ensure that all students receive appropriate support around school subject areas, homework completion, and preparation for standardized testing (i.e., MCAS, etc).
- LASI programs engage students in a wide variety of projects to strengthen their connection to their communities and develop their leadership skills.
- LASI supports the work of Latino parents by providing training, and special activities to engage parents in the development of their children’s education.
LASI Providers
| Centro Latino de Chelsea Chelsea, MA | Centro Presente Cambridge, MA |
| Hispanic Office of Planning & Evaluation, Inc. Jamaica Plain, MA | Hyde Square Task Force Jamaica Plain, MA |
| La Alianza Hispana Roxbury, MA | La Vida Lynn, MA |
| Sociedad Latina Roxbury, MA |
For more information on LASI, please contact Marcelo Juica, LASI Program Manager 617.547.1063 x216 or juicam@ccrcinc.org