Maria Villamizar Londono rarely had opportunities to connect directly with community members in her work as a lawyer and public policy practitioner in her native Colombia, so when she came to Chicago, three years ago, she was eager to engage with her new community on the South Side. Villamizar Londono began her MA program at the Harris School of Public Policy in September 2024 and quickly found UChicago’s Neighborhood Schools Program (NSP). She has been working as a teaching assistant at Emmett Till elementary school in Woodlawn twice a week since.
Though she was initially set to offer general support through NSP, as Woodlawn and other Chicago communities saw an influx of migrant families in recent years, Villamizar Londono concentrated her assistance on helping Spanish-speaking students adjust to their new environment and helping Till teachers communicate their lessons to everyone.
“I didn’t know I was going to be working with Spanish-speaking students, but it’s made it especially fulfilling,” Villamizar Londono said.
Villamizar Londono was one of hundreds of UChicago students annually supporting thousands of local youth across South Side Chicago Public Schools and community sites through NSP. At Till, she was one of 10 NSP students this year. Each week, Villamizar Londono spent time in several different classrooms, translating math and social science concepts and otherwise helping Spanish-speaking students.
Even with the school’s language specialist and Villamizar Londono’s translation, Villamizar Londono noticed the students she was working with still needed some additional support. She proposed starting an English Club where students could meet, initially over lunch, and play games to improve their English exposure.
“[We came up with the English Club] because these schools received a large number of Spanish-speaking students very suddenly and have been doing the best that they can, but these kids needed more structural support,” Villamizar Londono said.
The club and Villamizar Londono’s regular visits have not only been valuable academically, but she hopes they’ve also helped the students build a sense of community and belonging during a stressful time in their lives. Villamizar Londono, who also teaches trauma sensitive yoga to local women who have survived human trafficking and English as a Second Language to adults, remembers hearing from adult students that newcomer children had been frightened by a fire drill at school when they couldn’t understand what was happening. Villamizar Londono was grateful to be able to calmly guide students through a fire drill at Till soon after.
As she graduated from UChicago with her Master’s this month and prepares to return to Colombia, Villamizar Londono says the community work she’s done through NSP during her time in the city has left a lasting impact on her and she’s excited that other NSP student participants have signed on to carry on the English Club she helped launch at Till after she’s gone.
“Chicago is a city that has made me feel welcome,” she said. “I feel a special bond to Chicago.”