• IDRA Newsletter • May 2016 •
The IDRA Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program is a research-based, highly successful cross-age tutoring program. With a 98 percent success rate, the program shows what happens when students suddenly feel valued for who they are and for their contributions to others.
“My tutees have modified my life in ways that make me feel special and that I truly have a purpose… They were the first ones to notice I got glasses and new shoes. They were the only ones to look into my eyes and know that I was lighthearted on the outside, but inconsolable on the inside. I could truthfully say that they’ve been the only people to make me feel like I have a justification in this world of ours.”
– Faye Galvan, Treviño Middle School, La Joya ISD
“The Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program has made me a better student after I experienced being a teacher and having to take responsibility and being a role model to my students. I have learned that the way you treat them and talk to them can change the outcome of how the students act toward you and others.”
– Elijah Peña Zamora, Middle School, South San Antonio ISD
“Sometimes I stress because I think I’m not good enough… Sometimes, I would miss a day of school, and my tutees would ask me, ‘Where were you? Why didn’t you come?’ That was the moment I realized that I was a part of their lives and that they missed me. I felt important.”
– Valeria Olvera, Treviño Middle School, La Joya ISD
“Since I became a tutor for the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program, my life has completely changed, leading me to a good path… There are teachers that look at me differently, and it’s all good.”
– Lourdes Hernandez, NOW Academy, Los Angeles USD
“My tutees have modified my life in ways that make me feel special and that I truly have a purpose… They were the first ones to notice I got glasses and new shoes. They were the only ones to look into my eyes and know that I was lighthearted on the outside, but inconsolable on the inside. I could truthfully say that they’ve been the only people to make me feel like I have a justification in this world of ours.”
– Faye Galvan, Treviño Middle School, La Joya ISD
“Becoming a tutor in the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program has helped me be patient and learn how others learn. Tutoring has changed my life because I learned that all the children aren’t the same and that you need to get creative so that everyone can learn and see what you are trying to say.”
– Kassandra de La Garza, Odessa High School
Learn more about the IDRA Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program
See video clips about the program
Listen to tutor voices on IDRA’s Classnotes Podcast Episode, “They start calling my name (on being a Coca‑Cola Valued Youth Program tutor)”
[©2016, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the May 2016 IDRA Newsletter by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]
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