Connecting enthusiastic volunteers with passionate students
WHO WE ARE
We are three young people united by a passion for educational equity and a belief in the power of community. We started Study Buddies because we saw the strain that the pandemic has put on local students and their families. Distance learning has exacerbated educational inequities, and we want all kids to have the tools to succeed in school. We decided to try to tap in to the care in this community, helping volunteers and students connect to form strong relationships.
Elena Lev (she/her)
Elena is a senior at Scripps College, where she is majoring in Spanish. She enjoys reading, journaling, swimming, and laughing with her friends. She also loves spending time with kids, and often finds that she learns the most when hanging out with 5 year-olds. She is grateful to be one of the Study Buddies organizers, and is learning so much about the importance of educational equity through this experience.
Liora Jacobs (she/her)
Liora is a graduate of Southern Oregon University and a member of the Summerfield High School class of 2011. She grew up in Sebastopol right next door to Elena. As the oldest of her cousins and the second oldest of the kids in the community where she and Elena grew up she has always been a caretaker and a leader. She has also babysat, worked with disabled toddlers and done theater with kids ranging from 8-18. She has always tended to feel that her value as a person is in direct correlation with how much she is being of service to others, so being a part of Study Buddies is very important to her.
Miranda Dickerman (she/her)
Miranda is a Junior at Colorado College. She spent last semester in Sonoma County and has so enjoyed meeting community members through Study Buddies. She loves working with kids of all ages and has ample experience as a counselor, nanny, tutor and mentor. When she isn’t doing her philosophy homework she enjoys cooking, laying in the sun, drinking sleepytime tea and crafting.
Acknowledgement of Identities
As three white women, we do not always understand the experience of the tutors and predominantly Latinx families we work with in the way we would if we were members of their community. We want to emphasize that we are limited by our experiences and our identities as white people. We are committed to diversifying our leadership team so that it is more reflective of the community that we are working with. The work we are doing is not charity. We strive to facilitate reciprocal connections between community members that extend beyond our program. Our tutors and students learn from each other in a reciprocal relationship based on the concept of mutual aid.