The Oaxaca Learning Center helps
underserved Oaxacan youth
transform their lives and communities
"The young people who arrive in the Center can dream and can create new plans for their lives"
Jaasiel Quero, Director, Oaxaca Learning Center
Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in Mexico and for many young people the life-choices
are very limited. The Oaxaca Learning Center offers free support to low-income students
fourteen years and older to help them succeed academically and broaden their horizons.
It is run by a team of staff and tutors from the same social class as the students - many are themselves graduates of the Center and act as powerful role models and inspiration.
THE PROGRAM
The Center's aim is to help students realize their personal and leadership potential,
increase their academic skills and support them in finding the path they want to follow.
There are three component parts to this.
SKILLS
Educational attainment in Oaxaca lags well behind the rest of Mexico. The Center offers mentoring and tutoring in math, physics, chemistry and English language, together with study skills and workshops in many other subjects. At the end of the Integrated Training Program, students improve their results in school by 2.4 points (out of 10).
SELF-CONFIDENCE
Many young people from low income families in Oaxaca believe their life options are very limited.
The Learning Center supports the students in discovering that they can achieve more than they ever imagined.
LEADERSHIP
The Center encourages the students to be involved in their communities and be active agents for change, challenging oppressive gender roles, violence against women and opening opportunities for others.
For more detail, visit the Learning Center's own website (in Spanish) or download the 2021 annual report.
Graduates' stories show just how impactful the Center's work has been.
Here are just a few from the thousands it has supported in their journeys.
Click on the text below to see more of their stories.
Friends of the Oaxaca Learning Center (FOLC) Board members
The role of FOLC's volunteer Board is to raise funds and other support for the Oaxaca Learning Center
and work strategically to determine how best to support it.
Bob Anyon, President
Bob first came to Oaxaca in 2001 and has been coming regularly ever since. In 2003 he met Gary Titus and started working with the then-emerging Learning Center. He believes strongly in the holistic approach to supporting youth and giving them the tools to realize their own future.
Susan Connor
Susan stumbled upon the Oaxaca Learning Center in Spring of 2007 and decided to spend the rest of her sabbatical leave time volunteering there. Thereafter she spent 6-8 weeks every year volunteering. In 2014 she left her career teaching and litigating and moved to Oaxaca. She now runs the B&B, serves on the Board, mentors students and is a daily witness to how the the Learning Center changes the lives of so many youth here.
Jaasiel Quero
Jaasiel is President of the Oaxaca Learning Center, which he founded alongside Gary Titus. A former schoolteacher himself he had firsthand knowledge of the limitations of the public school system and how it was failing poor students and worked with Gary to devise a curriculum to address those shortcomings.
Viviana Ruíz
Viviana brings a wealth of experience in non-profits, most recently as Managing Director of Mexican non-profit, Fundación En Vía. She is now focusing on her original profession of architecture, bringing her passion for community into her vision of how buildings can work. She believes young people should be seen from their strengths
Mark Jacobs
Mark and his wife first visited Oaxaca in 1997 and came back at every opportunity. They volunteered at the Oaxaca Streetchildren Grassroots and then at the Oaxaca Learning Center.
A retired teacher who taught mostly Mexican immigrants at the high school level for twenty years, Mark loved teaching. He now lives full time in Oaxaca and is grateful for the opportunity to support the Center.