Juliana Ko, now an AmeriCorps alum, was a Teach For America corps member from 2008-2010.  During that time, she served as a mathematics teacher at Thoreau Middle School, situated on the edge of the Navajo Nation Reservation in rural New Mexico.  While teaching, Juliana faced all the challenges of an under-resourced school in a low-income community.  She also witnessed the impact these conditions had on her students.  During her second year teaching, one of Ko’s students committed suicide. The young boy had issues with alcohol and drugs, and domestic disputes at home. Like many students in Thoreau, he had no place to go after school. 

This tragic event was part of a larger crisis. Between 2009 and 2010, 15 suicides were reported on the Eastern Navajo Nation. Ko knew that she had to do something for her heartbroken community. “I was devastated. Angry. Mad at the world,” Ko said. “But the idea of giving the kids a reliable place outside school, where they can go, kept coming back to me. I decided I could not leave without giving this my all.”

Ko engaged her students in various activities to help them cope and to look at their future with excitement rather than fear. One of the activities was a “Rebuilding Thoreau” math project. Using basic mathematics and geometry, students designed plans of their ideal community which included many amenities, such as parks and recreation centers that the rural reservation community of Thoreau lacks. Through these projects, Ko realized that her students needed a place to go after school where they could get help with their homework and focus on their educational and career goals away from the stresses of home. 

After completing her two-year service commitment, Ko founded the Thoreau Community Center in the summer of 2010. With support from local leaders and community members, Ko renovated the old and vacant 2,700 square foot co-op building located behind the Thoreau post office. Serving as Executive Director, Ko established the center as a legal nonprofit and secured funding to offer a space for students to go after school. Its mission is to inspire hope, joy, and progress within Thoreau and the surrounding areas by providing resources and special programs focused on health/well-being, education, and recreation.  Through this supportive and loving environment theThoreauCommunity Center seeks to encourage youth and adults to engage in positive activities to uplift the community at large.

The center now provides fitness, dance and cooking classes, tutors to help students with their homework, a small computer lab, and weekly movie nights. It also provides support for adult community members, offering programs focused on job placement and volunteer involvement.  It is an essential resource for the community, and has helped improve the lives of many at-risk students and community members.  Ko’s impact as anAmeriCorpsmember in the classroom and continued impact as an alum merits recognition.  The Thoreau Community Center serves as an icon of the national service movement.