International Focus Magazine Vol. 3, #10 | Page 33

Natalia Arizmendi - My name is Na- talia Arizmendi and I was born in Cali, Colombia. I arrived in the U.S. at the age of 7 and from there be- gan my greatest challenges and suc- cesses. Throughout my immigration process, I saw a lot of injustices being committed towards both my family and others and from that stemmed my passion to be the voice for those who can’t defend themselves. Be- cause of this, I am pursuing a career as an immigration lawyer. Anthony D’Souza - My name is Anthony Daracristhin Pereira Romero - My name D’Souza and I am an immigrant from Karachi, Pakistan. I moved to the U.S. with my family when I was 16, seek- ing asylum from socio-political vio- lence and discrimination. Ever since I stumbled upon a Carl Sagan book in a dusty street store as a child, as- tronomy has been a safe haven for me and it is this same potent childhood curiosity and wonder which empow- ers me today to delve into research as an astrophysicist. is Daracristhin Pereira Romero, I was born in Nicaragua, “the land of lakes and volcanoes, and I moved to the U.S. when I was 3 and a half. I currently go to Eastwood Academy High School. My culture has inspired me to go to college and become an art teacher. The camp was first piloted in 2017 at 10 elementary schools, involving 120 youth and serving 450 elementary students. The 2018 camps involved ~150 youth, serving over 500 4-5th graders across 12 elemen- tary schools in HISD, KIPP, and Spring ISD. Enrichment curriculum was developed and contributed by the following partners: Nahom Zewde - My name is Nahom Joana Nunoo - Director, I Educate Zewde. I grew up in Ethiopia until the time I came to the U.S. in De- cember of 2016. I just graduated from high school and am planning on going to Earlham College to be- come a physician. I was raised in Ghana and attended Achimota where I learned my style of leading by example. At 19, I moved to the US to attend Grinnell College and majored in Math and Economics. I joined Teach for America after gradua- tion and spent close to a decade teach- ing middle Math in HISD. I now work as the operations manager at and love working with highly motivated stu- dents in underserved communities see what great heights they can achieve. • College/HS youth (design of lesson plans, reviewed by school districts) • Junior Achievement (financial literacy) • United Way (daily book club, guided reading & discussion) • Lemonade Day (entrepreneurship) • Houston Dynamo (nutrition & fitness) • Houston Urban Debate League (debate) • Children’s Museum, in collaboration with United Way (STEM kits & activities) • Seven Lakes Robotics, Katy ISD (STEM & engineering activities) • Texas French Arts Alliance (social & emo- tional learning through art projects) I Educate wants to help as many students as possible reach their full potential. The program has been such a success that they plan to expand to reach even more students in 2019. To contact iEducate’s summer team, email [email protected]. For more inter- views with the teachers go to IFMagazine. net iF Magazine | www.iFMagazine.net 33