CROSSROADS REFLECTS ON 20 YEARS Fostering Leaders Dedicated to Equity
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n a hazy October afternoon, Marin Academy students and Crossroads middle schoolers logged on to a virtual classroom for more than just an afternoon tutoring session. Despite frequent challenges with technology, internet connections, and the long days on Zoom and Google Classrooms, these students knew they had an opportunity to be together, a chance to build bridges, and a moment to connect. Crossroads Director, Abby French, spent the afternoon popping in and out of breakout rooms and tutoring groups to find one example after another of joyful learning. Tutors led students in laughter-filled games of Kahoot to test their knowledge of a topic or prepare for an upcoming quiz. Groups engaged in critical conversations after watching KQED news clips. They used virtual whiteboards to dig deeper into their understanding of algebra. They discussed their academic and personal goals in a school year vastly different from anything they had previously experienced. They worked through challenges and celebrated successes. Each session ended with a moment for "props," an opportunity
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for the Crossroads community to share appreciation for each other. Words like fun, hard work, persistence, support, growth, and accomplishment frequently floated around the digital classroom. Founded in 2001, Crossroads was created to address issues of educational equity and the opportunity gap in the San Rafael community. Crossroads is an academic support and enrichment program that partners with Davidson and Venetia Valley middle schools to work with 7th-and 8th-grade students, many of whom will be the first generation in their families to attend college. Crossroads strives to create a space where students can fully realize their
potential and develop a lifelong love for learning. The program's founding Director, Rey Fernandez, reflects on the vision that inspired the program twenty years ago, "We asserted that talent and potential are equally distributed, but opportunity isn't, for a host of systemic and historical reasons. I'd spent a lot of time meeting with community-based organizations and school leaders in the Canal, and it was clear to me that Marin Academy could facilitate connecting curious and dedicated youth with opportunity, and that's where the name Crossroads came from." Marin Academy student tutors and fellows design curriculum, teach classes,
