Project W.I.L.D.

Project W.I.L.D. serves elementary and middle schoolers who are first and second-generation immigrants at Temple Intermediate School in the Garvey School District in Rosemead and at Arlington Heights Elementary School in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Many of our tutees speak a language other than English at home, which is common in Rosemead, where 83.9% of individuals over the age of five years speak a language other than English at home, and in Los Angeles where this percentage is 56.8%. Not only do many of our tutees speak a language other than English at home, many are in our ESL (English as Second Language) level. Oftentimes, due to large class sizes and inadequate resources for teachers, the school system simply cannot devote adequate attention to ESL students who need more support. Project W.I.L.D.’s goal is to supplement our tutees’ regular schooling with a curriculum designed to fit our their academic needs rather than their grade level.

​

Additionally, students in the Garvey School District and the Los Angeles Unified School District received low scores overall on the 2015 English Language Arts/Literacy section of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, which was established in 2013 for third through eleventh-grade students. In LAUSD, 67% of students scored below the standard in English language Arts/Literacy. Within Project WILD’s target population of third, fourth and fifth-grade students who were tested, 71%, 71% and 65% scored below the standard respectively. In the Garvey School District, in which third through eighth-graders were tested, 51% scored below the standard. 54%, 57% and 50% of third, fourth and fifth-graders scored below the standard, respectively. These low scores illustrate the need for supplemental programs such as Project W.I.L.D. that pursue more individualized learning methods to aid students who are not proficient in English in improving their literacy and in building a strong foundation to succeed in school and pursue a higher education in the future.  We also work to promote interests in art, science, health and environmental issues through weekly activities and field trips.