Adelante is a new club that was founded by Spanish teacher, Mrs. Evelyn Aguilar, and English Resource Teacher, Mrs. Claudia Renehan, at the beginning of 2022. Its primary goal is to provide educational opportunities to Latinos, but the club isn’t only limited to Hispanic members because anyone can join. They meet every Wednesday at the beginning of lunch in room 205 to discuss everything from how to get scholarships for college to setting personal and academic goals. They also provide insight and information about the variety of options that are available for students after high school.

I recently had a conversation with Mrs. Aguilar to discuss what Adelante is all about.

KG: What is Adelante about?
EA: Adelante is a new club that we are starting here at Damascus High School. Mrs. Renehan had the wonderful idea and I completely supported her! Adelante is a club about empowering students with information and opportunities in order for them to prepare for life, not only at Damascus High School,  but [also for] life after high school. What they’re going to do, where they’re going to go, who they are going to talk to, and what programs they’re going to apply for.

KG: What does Adelante mean to you?
EA: To me, Adelante is a club that really just helps students out who sometimes might be confused about how to apply for colleges and scholarships. It’s providing them with that insight that they need in order to begin that process. It’s also connecting them with the community, connecting them with possible scholarships, community events to expand their horizons, to meet people and make connections that will benefit them in the future.

KG: Why is this club important for this school or in general?
EA: You know, this is my first year here, so I don’t know if there’s something like this that has occurred before. But in teaching in other schools, I do know the importance of having a club such as Adelante because students need it. Not all students necessarily have the support sometimes that they need to be able to know where to go or who to talk to. It’s not faulting anyone at home because sometimes even like [in] my personal life my mom didn’t know the whole college process because she didn’t go to college. So, Adelante really is just about giving the students the information at school so that they have all their bases covered, so that they know, are aware, and can benefit from it.

KG: Who is able to join the club?
EA: Everybody. Anybody. It’s open to everybody. We are focusing on the Hispanic/Latino community but honestly, it’s open for everyone because we want all students to succeed here at Damascus High School.

KG: What has inspired you to start this club with Mrs. Renehan?
EA: You know, I can think about my own personal life and how my mom didn’t go to college, how we came to the U.S. as [undocumented] immigrants and how she always instilled in my sister and me the importance of education. [My mom] didn’t go to college so the opportunities she had for employment were very limited–she cleaned houses for a living. I’m not demoralizing that profession, but it’s hard work. She didn’t get benefits such as health insurance and paid vacations, so she really instilled in us how educating yourself will really open the doors for you and provide you with a better life. So the importance of that really stuck with me, and I want to pass that on to other students making sure that they know education and college [are] important.