O.L.A.S. Skate-for-a-Cure Charity Event (Glenbard North High School)
My name is Susanna Melón and I'm a teacher at Glenbard North High School for the Spanish for Native Speakers program. At Glenbard North, I also sponsor a student organization called O.L.A.S. (Organization of Latin American Students). My purpose is to increase student involvement in extra-curricular activities in my district, which has increased dramatically, and continues to do so at such a fast pace, within the last 4 years, with a total of 188 members now. My personal goal is to help close the minority achievement gap in this school, so with that in mind, we've started a book club within O.L.A.S. in which we read a 300 page book per semester and have book discussions throughout. I keep an eye on their grades every 6 weeks and expect them to maintain a 3.0 GPA, so when I notice that they start to fall short, I have them get mentored and tutored. We've also created an O.L.A.S. Mentor & Tutor program where selected leaders tutor the students to help bring them up to a 3.0. One of our main objectives is to get the Hispanic students to take Honors and Advanced Placement courses in high school and to get them to go to college, which is a big step.
Some of the main focuses I stress are Community Service and Charity Work. We do a Toy Drive for the children with cancer at Central Dupage Hospital's Oncology Center, and get them delivered to the hospital on Three King's Day. Amongst all the other things we do, we've started something new this year, which is a SKATE-FOR-A-CURE charity event. We are currently selling tickets for $10, which includes admission and roller skates. This event will take place on Saturday, November 16th from 4pm - 7pm at Coahlite Skate Center, 1291 Bryn Mawr Ave, in Roselle. All proceeds for this event will benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. We've been organizing this charity event with a lot of pride and it's going to be a very big turnout.
So I'd like to invite you to please come and join us for this very BIG and SPECIAL event. It will most definitely be a very memorable one and we'd like for others to know the HUGE things taking place in this school. As the O.L.A.S. sponsor, I take great pride in knowing the direction we've been leading the 192 Hispanic students under my wings. They are definitely my pride and joy!! So please join us, it would mean a lot to us.
-Susanna Melón