“Facilitar no es fácil” Latino/a high school students as initiators of Spanish community service learning during the pandemic

Non-profit organizations, Organization A and Organization B, partnered to support Hispanic adolescents through a youth-initiated book club promoting Spanish-language and student social connections during COVID-19. Based on the Youth Participatory Action Research model, this study reports on the community service of underrepresented Latino/a students (ages 14 – 17) as book club facilitators to young Spanish-heritage language learners in the ‘Kindles4COVID’ project. Outcomes demonstrate the many ways in which Hispanic teens leverage elements of cultural wealth to become empowered community leaders. Critical reflections include the values that facilitators draw upon to carry out civic roles based on Latino/a positionality; pandemic effects on facilitator participation; and the role of non-Latino institutions in promoting Latino student engagement. Students from ORGANIZATION A and ORGANIZATION B are contributors to and co-authors of these research findings.