Canal Alliance

The Canal Community demographics are very diverse, but there is a high population of immigrant families. Within the community we see many stories of success and many sad stories. Here is a story of a young man who has made a great effort to excel not only academically but also in life. Luis Navarrete is a very determined and compassionate student. Luis is always striving for perfection. Whether it is doing a math problem, writing a paragraph, doing a drawing, speaking English, developing a business plan or what ever he is set to do he is always trying his best. He will try and try something till he either figures it out or he will go and find the help. He will not sit there and not do the work because he doesn’t understand it. He will get out of his chair and go find some one to help him understand what he needs to do and if that person he went to did not help him understand the work he will go to a different person till he gets it. This determination has gotten him ahead in his school and as a result has good grades and his teachers respect him. He has also earned the respect of many peers because of how compassionate he is. Luis is the type of student that will help in any way he can. In our program when new students come in he usually if the first to introduce himself and make them feel welcome. He is often helping students understand their homework and will sit with them till they understand even when at times he runs out of time to do his own homework. He is also the type of student that will not stay quite when he sees an injustice. He will tell you “I know what it feels like to be made fun off and so that is why I step in when I need to.” He not only looks out for his peers but also is looking for ways to improve his community as a whole. He has taken the leadership to organized a community service project in which “Who’s the men,” a leadership group he is part of raised money to buy bread, ham, fruits, juice and made and bag a lunch for 100 day laborers. He is just great to have around in our afterschool program.