QuestBridge/First Class Wesleyan University Volunteers Read to Local Students

2017 May 1

Four Wesleyan students participated in a literacy program March 24 at the Green Street Teaching and Learning Center. The students, who are members of Wesleyan's QuestBridge/First Class organization, read social justice-themed books to the Green Street students and spoke about being a first-generation college student. QuestBridge/First Class provides support to low-income and/or first-generation students on campus.

The student volunteers included Yuhsuan Liu '20, Aysha Khan '19, Jada Jenkins '20, and Mya Valentin '19. The literacy program was organized by Belen Rodriguez '19 and Emma Llano '19.

"We thought this would be a great way to interact with younger students in Middletown who may also be low-income," Rodriguez said. "In general, increasing childhood literacy is an important goal to have and we hope to hold more events like this in the future."

The students read and discussed

the books A is for Activist and Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers.

As members of QuestBridge/First Class, the Wesleyan students address their experiences on campus and provide programming with necessary resources to help students with difficult backgrounds succeed in their time at Wesleyan and beyond. In addition, QuestBridge/First Class also encourages increased campus dialogue about low-income experiences and first-generation experiences First Class and QuestBridge work in tandem with each other and share similar missions and goals in terms of creating a larger, more accessible community for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to find a support network and learn about resources.

Photos of the literacy program are below: (Photos by Olivia Drake)