Correlation between wellness and academic success

“To be prosperous, one must achieve a healthy mind, body and lifestyle.” —Vanessa Quintana

For Latino students to succeed academically, there needs to be culturally relevant material and the students health and well being must be at the forefront of education. Many Latino students from immigrant families may experience some form of family separation, reunification, and/or may be exposed to further obstacles due to undocumented status (González, Kula, González, & Paik, 2017). At my school, this is the case for many of our “newcomer” students. They are being reunited with their parents whom they have not seen in many years. Some students only know their grandparents to be their primary caregivers. Now, they are in a new country without their grandparents and struggle emotionally and academically. Some students come without their parents and are living with extended family.

Schools have the power to act as a positive influence in the lives of newly immigrated students and their families. Schools need to offer resources and supports such as mental health services, teacher training, and peer mentors to help these students transition and increase academic success.  Something that my school would like to pilot is having calling cards and time allotted in the school day so that students can call their families whom they have recently left. “Families who experience separation during immigration tend to be those experiencing higher levels of poverty” (González et al., 2017, p. 214).