Maywood Community Mapping

Date: August 31, 2021

Description: In EDAD 505 as part of the Maywood Education Fair service-learning project, students will visit the City of Maywood and observe the abundance of community cultural wealths, speak to residents and collect artifacts (Yosso, 2006).

Learning Domains Addressed (Labels):

• Social Justice & Advocacy

• Education

• Assessment & Evaluation

Learning Outcomes:

• SLO #1: Student will be able to (SWiBAT) identify examples of Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth by the end of the Community Mapping Activity.

• SLO #2: SWiBAT describe how education is valued in the Maywood community.

Evidence:

Reflection:

SLO #1: SWiBAT identify examples of Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth by the end of the Community Mapping Activity.

As I drove through Maywood to reach the Maywood Center of Enriched Studies (MACES), I could see Yosso’s (2006) Community Cultural Wealth come to life. I saw a significant number of residents waiting to take public buses home from their day of work. I saw navigational capital when a group of teenagers was looking at the bus schedule (Yosso, 2006). As we listened to the Maywood city leaders, I was surprised by their concept of no fences around MACES (See image 1). I thought that fences around schools were to protect students from strangers, not to prevent students from leaving. This was an example of Maywood's resistance capital and going against the social norm of fenced prison-style schools and showcasing students' academic achievements thriving in an environment of trust (Yosso, 2006). Familial capital was more than family in Maywood; I saw this through a group of friends spending time with each other for the last 20 years (See image 2). They may not have been blood family, but this small community gathering was their chosen family (Yosso, 2006). I saw linguistic capital on every door of businesses with signage in multiple languages (See image 3). I witnessed my cohort classmates use their linguistic capital to navigate conversations with business owners and build trust through speaking different languages (Yosso, 2006). I could physically see community business owners relax their shoulders once we switched languages from English to Spanish. Lastly, I recalled the 2020 Maywood Education virtual Fair and heard the letters from scholarship recipients. They were filled with dreams, hope, and aspirations to make their families and community proud by attending college. This aspirational capital makes our service-learning project of Maywood Education Fair worth every minute (Yosso, 2006).

SLO #2: SWiBAT describe how education is valued in the Maywood community.

In my experience with community mapping in the city of Maywood, I observed a vehicle with bumper stickers saying "Student of the Month from Maywood Elementary School" and a home with a yard sign saying "Congratulations Class of BHS 2021" (see image 4 and 5). Porshe and Nonzenzele were able to speak to a Maywood father who did his research on the Financial Aid process (FAFSA) and visited college campuses because he wanted his children to be the most prepared when reaching higher education. This is an example of Yosso’s (2006) counterstory of Chicano/Latino communities not caring about their children's education. In our course reading, Yosso (2006) describes a group of Latino parents who wanted to be more involved in their children’s schools. They wanted to do more than cook food for school events. The Maywood artifacts and stories showcase the pride parents feel for their children’s educational success, whether it’s winning an award, graduating high school, or applying for college.

References or Sources:

Yosso, T.J., (2006). Critical Race Counterstories Along the Chicana/Chicano Educational Pipeline. New York: Routledge.

Question: When you walk around your neighborhood, what community cultural wealth do you see in your community? Leave a comment or a picture below!