Gratitudes

Thank you to Delina Zapata, the outgoing, and first, SOE Educational Justice Intern! Delina lent valuable assistance throughout the winter 2017 semester to a variety of dije efforts and programming, including the SOE Colloquium, the resource guide on fostering safety and inclusion for immigrant and other vulnerable students, SOE dije award reviews, and the Expansions newsletter. She approached all of her service and learning with great enthusiasm, commitment, and care. Delina is a rising second year Master's student in the Educational Leadership and Policy program. Prior to Michigan, she graduated with a BA in Sociology from DePaul University in her hometown of Chicago. She has also worked with the AmeriCorps Jumpstart program and served as a McNair scholar at the University of California Berkeley and Stanford University before coming to U-M. AT U-M, she completed a research internship with Dr. Deborah Rivas-Drake’s Contexts of Academic and Social Adjustment (CASA) Lab, where she explored issues related to the academic and social outcomes of Latino families in East Michigan. Likewise, her research interests relate to education in the Latino community, specifically, policies that can help mend the academic achievement disparities affecting low-income Chicana/o students. We wish her a wonderful summer and continued success!