Nov 28

Volunteers of the Month – November 2022

November 28, 2022

Jennifer Lozano Huerta

Jennifer Lozano Huerta

Jennifer is the epitome of patience, dedication, and persistence. She always goes above and beyond for her student Adonis who is a native Spanish speaker. She regularly researches resources to help him thrive in school and models care, understanding, and grace in her sessions with him. Jennifer is her student’s favorite teacher! We are lucky to have Jennifer in the School on Wheels family!

– Manmeet Sodhi, Regional Coordinator

Before volunteering at School on Wheels, I was working as a high school tutor. I truly found that experience of working with kids to be very rewarding and special, but sadly I had to leave due to the pandemic. I wanted to continue volunteering and making an impact in other people’s lives, so when my school counselor shared a volunteer opportunity with School on Wheels, I gladly made the decision to sign up. 

Being able to see the progress my student makes is truly rewarding. In the very beginning, he did not speak any English and did not know many vocabulary words, but now he talks to me in English with confidence. While still mostly using “Spanglish,” he sometimes switches entirely to English, something that really took me by surprise the first time he did it. We still have work to do, but it continues to be an amazing and rewarding experience. 

Definitely my most memorable experience was when we had just finished doing some math problems together and moved on to a drawing activity. He suddenly said to me, “Usted es mi maestra favorita” (“You are my favorite teacher”), which was the first time any of my students had ever said that to me. It is a very unique and rewarding experience being able to make an impact on someone’s life. There are times when things are challenging and it may not always go as I planned, but I see these moments as learning experiences where I can discover new things about my student and it just helps build a much stronger and trusting relationship. 

Shiqing Liao

Shiqing Liao

Shiqing is an incredibly dedicated and understanding tutor. She offers her student a supportive and comfortable environment to reach their full potential. I am glad to have her on my team.

– Manmeet Sodhi, Regional Coordinator

I gained a lot of knowledge during my college years and spent some time learning how to teach people. I really enjoy teaching and want to make a bigger impact; working with School on Wheels lets me do both.

It can be so gratifying when I try my best to understand what my student Ashton is confused about and manage to explain it in a way that he can understand even difficult concepts. My most memorable experience with him was when we worked together to start a chess club at Ashton’s high school! 

It is a truly rewarding experience making it easier for your student to master the knowledge you struggled to understand when you were young. Your hard work suddenly has a lot more meaning than the grades you received in school. 

Alex Welsh

Alex Welsh

Alex is incredibly committed to his time with his student Ashley. He creates a great balance of consistency and exploration in his sessions with her, and enables her to discover new things in each session. He is also a great team member and always keeps our region’s morale high!

– Eden Ettenger, Regional Coordinator

I found myself with some extra free time when the COVID was shutting many things down, and since I like working with kids, volunteering with School on Wheels made perfect sense.

I really enjoy joking, laughing, and learning with my student Ashley. We teach each other, and have fun at the same time.

Whenever we come across a small animal, she always says “it’s so cute”, in her unique way. I still remember the first time I saw the surprised and excited look on her face when we were watching how flying squirrels do what they do.