Hearts Full of Grace

The first thing you notice when Nicholas Wysocki (MA ’00 – African-American World Studies) walks into a room is not his 6-foot-8-inch, 250-pound frame, but the energy and enthusiasm he has for his work. His smile and his vigor are contagious for all who meet him, which has been a wonderful thing for the people of Xicotepec, Mexico.

Wysocki, a third-year doctoral student in Social Foundations, spent spring break last year with the Iowa City AM Rotary Club, a humanitarian service organization, in the poor, rural Mexican community of Xicotepec.

He says it was a week that changed his life. “The experience of being out of the country, seeing economic and cultural differences, and observing what education is like in the third world, had a huge impact on me,” Wysocki said. “I saw that no matter how limited the resources are, the people recognize the importance of education.”

Developed by the Rotary Clubs of Iowa in 2001, the Xicotepec Project is a World Community Service Project aimed at building an infrastructure for an impoverished community of 70,000. From the project’s start, the state Regents universities have been involved, sharing ideas and vision.

Wysocki became involved by helping the schools build five new classrooms and create a partnership with the teachers and community. His major focus is the Los Tezontles elementary school, where one director, seven teachers, and one teacher’s aid teach over 300 students. Needless to say, the teachers were overwhelmed, but Wysocki embraced the prospect for collaboration and he saw an opportunity for educational improvement, both in Mexico and the United States.

Jim Peterson (BA ‘74 – Letters, MA ‘76 – Spanish), Rotary Xicotepec project coordinator, said Wysocki was well prepared and bonded with the people very well. “Nicholas cut a high profile and did an outstanding job,” he said. “He knew the community situation and the people immediately took to him and enjoyed having him there.”

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by the year 2050, Latinos will make up a quarter of the United States population, with the major portion being people of Mexican descent. Wysocki has been watching the changing demographics. “Our teacher education students need to be better prepared,” he said, “and learn enhanced skills to work with Latino immigrants. “

So, out of the Rotary Club’s Xicotepec Project, Wysocki developed the Cultural Immersion Experience for Teacher Education Program Students project for students at The University of Iowa College of Education. The first group of Iowa teacher education students will travel to Xicotepec this spring break.

Through this cultural immersion experience, Wysocki envisions these students will gain an insight into diversity and understand the role family and community play in the learning process that they can bring back and share with their colleagues.

“ By building relationships across cultural settings, we realize how many social and educational issues we share,” Wysocki said. “The connections are rewarding, and most importantly, we discover how much we can learn from each other. We can gain a great deal from teachers who don’t have a lot of resources, but have a huge commitment to their students.”

The size of Wysocki’s commitment echoes that of the teachers of Xicotepec. With the cultural immersion project, he is determined to help our teachers, parents, and communities to become better educational advocates for our first, second, and third generation Hispanic students.

“You can take any poor, rural community’s problems, whether it be family, health, or infrastructure, and trace it back to education,” Peterson said. “Education and Nicholas’ ideas are the key to breaking that cycle.”