Cultural Community Outreach

Cultural Community Outreach Proposal

Kathy Frechette
TESOL 507
February 23, 2015
Christina Nguyen

Cultural Community Outreach

A global issue that affects people and children all over the world is hungry and access to
nutritious food. The first step in helping end hunger is talking about hunger. Hunger is
everywhere including the city or town we live in. It is not just something that is found in third
world and developing countries. People and children in the United States also face hunger and
poverty. Thirteen million children in the United States go to bed hungry every night (Bread for
the World, 2004). There are many global issues that our world faces. I chose to focus on world
hunger because my school population is mostly Hispanic and African American. More than one
in four Latino families experience food insecuritythe highest rate among any demographic in
the country. Latino families with children struggle even more to put food on the tablenearly
one in three (Bread for the World, 2004). This issue is something that my students and families
face every day of their lives. Proper nutrition gives kids the best start in life. Poverty is the
principal cause of hunger. The causes of poverty include poor people's lack of resources, an
extremely unequal income distribution in the world and within specific countries, conflict, and
hunger itself. (www.worldhunger.org)
Within a specific region or community in which many cultures are merged together, they
experience cultural diversity. It is pretty apparent in urban and populous cities where many
diverse languages are spoken. Those who live in a culturally diverse community are enriched by
being aware of the other cultures which surround them. However, communities in which culture
diversity arent quite visible (language, ethnicity, etc.) there is still culture diversity because
everyone has different cultural experiences even if they are of the same cultural background.
Regardless of the area, all students should be exposed to a variety of cultures and not just their
own since the world is made up of so much diversity.

Cultural Community Outreach

For an English language learner in a culturally diverse community, an instructional

strategy for them is to first identify with their culture as they begin to adapt a second language.
Ideally, they would be taught in their native language in an effort to not fall behind on their
education and in addition taught the English language. In the majority of cases, they should
participate in role-playing activities where they activate strategies in speaking. It is important for
them to practice in speaking during the class as they may predominantly use their native
language within their community. Exposure in reading will also increase their vocabulary and
familiarity of sentence structures. In order for all this to happen, the teacher needs to create a
classroom environment that consists of mutual respect, equality, and fairness for all students.
Students wont take risks in their learning if they are afraid of being judged or afraid of making
mistakes. This safe learning environment benefits all students not just English language learners.
The benefits of cultural diversity broaden a childs perspective about the cultures which
they are exposed to in their environment and the rest of the world. The challenges which
students and the community have to face alike are finding a common ground where each culture
is treated fairly and possible past negative experiences dont affect their own personal views. A
fair understanding of a cultures beliefs and background could prevent attitudes towards
prejudice and stereotypes. This begins with being willing to be open to other cultures and having
mutual respect for one another.
The cultural community outreach program that I would like to organize is a four part
program. It first starts with education in the classroom by learning about cultures and the human
right to having access to nutritious food and water. Teacher will provide a variety of resources
that teach students about different cultures and focus on human rights. Resources such as online

Cultural Community Outreach

videos, grade level appropriate articles / books, inviting families to come in and share about their
cultures can be used within the classroom. Students will pick a culture to research (individually /
small group) and decide how to visually represent the culture. These research projects will be
shared at the end of outreach event. The second part of the program focuses on the human rights
issue of hunger. The students will be holding a can food and nonperishable items drive within
the school and through businesses in the community. Students will reach out to businesses in
their community (grocery stores, fire stations, banks, etc.) and see if they can have collection
boxes available at those locations to be able to collect even more canned items. This can food
drive will last for a couple of weeks. Students will create flyers not just in English but in native
languages that represent the community. Family volunteers and/or teachers will collect the items
at the end of the drive and delivery it to local food banks in the community. The third part,
culminating event, is having a multicultural dinner event at school where students visually
represent their culture or culture of their choice that they studied and share with their peers and
families. Classes will also have family volunteers to bring in food from their cultures to share
with their childs class. Students will also reach out to local restaurants to ask for food donations
for this event. This event can happen during the school day and the multicultural food can be
eaten during lunch. A modified version of this event can also happen after school so families
who arent able to make the day event, can still come at night. Students will also reach out to
local newspapers and invite reporters to this event as well so they can spread the word of
students giving back to their community. Finally the fourth part of this program is students will
write thank you cards to all who participated in the event (local businesses, family volunteers,
etc.). Students will also reflect on what they learned about culture; their own culture and the

Cultural Community Outreach

culture of their peers. Students will also become aware of a global issue of world hunger and
learn that they can begin to help solve this hunger crisis by starting with their own community.
Through this program students will learn about the similarities and difference of different
cultures. There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion, group work, academic choice (how
to represent what students are learning, etc.) for students in this outreach program. There is also
family participation, getting local businesses involved, and teaching kids the importance of
giving back to their community. Students will learn that they can make a difference in their own
communities and the world if they are informed and that they can share this information with
others to raise awareness about hunger issues. Our cultures and experiences may be different but
when we come together as a community we can begin to solve global issues that affect the entire
human race.

References
Homepage - Bread for the World: Have Faith. End Hunger. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2015,
from http://www.bread.org/

2014 World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics by World Hunger Education Service. (2015,
February 1). Retrieved February 23, 2015, from
http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world hunger facts 2002.htm

All images in the PowerPoint were taken from google images.