Ngoc Ta
SCHOOL: Coliseum College Prep Academy
PILLAR: Student Supports
ARTIST STATEMENT
Good schools should be places where youth are supporting each other and where youth with disabilities are integrated into mainstream classes with support. This photograph I took during a tutoring session shows me tutoring an ESL student with a learning disability. She needs several accommodations due to her disability, but my underfunded and understaffed school cannot provide the support she needs to succeed. Many other students are in the same situation. I wanted to show what an everyday session of “club time” looks like to show how students can be supported by each other and can be utilized as a resource for one another. I started tutoring because of my realization of the numerous everyday obstacles youth face in East Oakland. Peer-tutoring is a valuable type of student support. I hope my tutoring club can always be a dependable resource. Great schools support students in stepping into leadership roles and fostering community which improves school culture. I am proud to go to a school that fully includes students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms, but I also believe there must be more resources to support their path to post-secondary education.
