CYPRESS BAY LATINOS IN ACTION

Latinos in Action (LIA) is a student led academic organization at Cypress Bay High School with approximately 138 members.  It follows three major components – social growth, professional growth, and community service.  Cypress Bay is one of 21 schools within the State of Florida that has LIA.  Within the community service component, the mentoring vision of LIA is to empower and create a positive experience for young students who are struggling to adapt to a new country and a new life.  Often, children begin to feel excluded from society due to difficulties in communication because of language barriers.  By assigning a mentor to these children, we focus on building confidence within the child, allowing them to feel prepared to build new friendships and connect with others.  LIA knows that life brings many bumps down the road, therefore we diligently strive to make the journey of these young Latinos as smooth as possible.

Our mentors are not all alike or from similar backgrounds, however, we consider ourselves one family with one particular factor in common:  we were all once strangers in a new country.  This similarity has brought us together, creating a desire to help guide those who are going through the same hardships we once had to experience on our own.  Being a foreigner can be a scary thing, and feeling like you are on your own is not always easy.  However, with our mentoring program, not only do we address these problems, but we also improve the lives of many children.  We want these young Latinos to always strive for success, not fall short of their goals, and prove that we are here to help this new country that has opened so many doors to opportunities not only for ourselves, but for our families.

Our mentors aim to have Latinos adapt as quickly as possible in the most efficient way in order to begin their road to success as young leaders.  By helping these young students in their native language, we help with their transition into a new culture and provide them a “real-life” example of true leadership put to practice.