Our Equipo Goes to the City of Angels

18May
by Raymond Gonzalez

When the tour guide at USC asked if anyone had any questions, a humble hand went up and asked, “what percent of students here are Latino?” The curious mind was disappointed when the honest tour guide responded, “Too low, less than 15%.” At this point, my student turned to me and said, “Mr. G, we need to change that.” This is the fuel that we try and instill in all of our students here at Equipo Academy, a public charter school that focuses on getting students to and through the college of their dreams.

Our school is located in the heart of East Las Vegas and serves a working class community of predominantly immigrants families. As educators, we try to provide our students and their families with the resources they need for more opportunities, resources that are already afforded to affluent neighborhoods.

One example of how these opportunities are developed is reflected in a commitment to giving our students experiences that prepare them for their future, like visiting college campuses. Every grade level goes on a different field trip, visiting a unique city like Claremont, San Francisco, Washington D.C., or New York. We accompany our students to numerous locations so that they are exposed to all facets of careful decision-making, encouraging them to trust their own voices as they begin choosing the right college for them. We hope seeing so many different schools will enable them to make a better choice if they decide to further their education.

Our eighth graders are fortunate enough to visit several Los Angeles-area centers of higher learning, among them UCLA, USC, Occidental, Cal State LA and Mount Saint Mary’s. When we ask our donors to help sponsor these tours, we explain the powerful feeling students get when they step foot on a college campus creating a connection between their everyday efforts in their rigorous classes and their future. While touring the campuses, Equipo Academy students eat in the school dining hall and speak with students currently enrolled there.

We make sure that our junior and senior high students are able to interact with college students from similar backgrounds or with whom they share a cultural identity. These field trips are meant to inspire our young scholars and motivate them to one day matriculate into college, becoming another educated person of color in our society who has helped make the “less than 15%” figure a thing of the past.

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Raymond Gonzalez

Raymond Gonzalez is the proud son of Mexican parents who have worked hard to provide him and his five siblings with a supportive, loving, and culturally resourceful upbringing. With his mother’s tough love and father’s hard work and tenacity Raymond proudly attended UCLA receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Chicana/o Studies and Political Science. Upon graduation, he joined the national nonprofit City Year and served in the Boyle Heights region of Los Angeles with the hopes to serve students as a mentor, tutor, and role model. During this time, Raymond fell in love with education and serving youth and consequently applied to Teach for America. He had the privilege to serve as a 7th grade math teacher in the East Las Vega area. Through TFA he enrolled at UNLV and worked to get his Masters in Education with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction. Raymond currently resides in Las Vegas and continues to serve the East LV community as the Dean of the Students at Equipo Academy, a charter school he helped to establish that focuses on getting students in this community to and through the college of their dreams.

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