For most UF students, a typical Friday evening offers a golden opportunity to unwind from the wear and tear of the week.
For Jennie Costa, the start of a weekend means driving 20 miles to Alachua, reading English to Spanish-speakers and playing soccer with Mexican children.
And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
The UF health science sophomore volunteers for Proyecto Libros de Familia, or Project Family Books, a program funded by the Office of Migrant Education. The program helps migrant families succeed and adjust to frequent moves by providing tutors for their children and placing volunteers with families to work with every week.
Costa and two friends have been volunteering every Friday since October, she said, except for holidays. She said they are lucky to have been placed with their family because they’ve formed a close bond.
“I love it,” she said. “I look forward to it every week.”
Once they arrive, they read with the kids for an hour. They’ll read books she brings, such as “Oh! The Places You’ll Go” and “The Giving Tree.”
The parents moved to the United States from Mexico, and the mom cannot read English. The dad is working on pronunciation, she said, and the students have been tutoring the parents as well as the children.
Victoria Gomez de la Torre, a teacher specialist for Proyecto, which has been around for more than 30 years, said the children of migrants tend to fall behind academically due to their families’ need to move frequently.
Although hesitant toward education at first, the children, de la Torre said, make radical changes. Some even consider going to college.
In the end, she said, they believe in themselves and see possibilities for their lives.
“When we can address their specific needs, it is then that we can start really making a difference,” de la Torre said.
