Buenas! My name is Matthew Skolar. I am originally from Kearny, New Jersey and a sophomore Belk Scholar at Davidson College. I am participating in Sk8S this year looking to bring culturally relevant lessons to the classroom as a heritage speaker of the Spanish language having grown up with a Cuban-American family. I am intending to study Linguistics as my major in addition to an Arab Studies minor. In addition to this Spanish tutoring, I will also be doing literacy tutoring in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools with the Augustine Literacy Project this semester.

Outside of my studies, I am involved heavily with activism surrounding environmental, social, and economic justice issues and their complex political intersections, serving as a delegate on behalf of youth on the Green Party National Committee and the state party volunteer outreach coordinator for the North Carolina Green Party. On campus, I serve as the liaison for OLAS (the Organization for Latinx American Students), and work with the Center for Teaching and Learning as an Arabic Tutor. I am an amateur artist, enjoying creativity in my spare time, or if possible, in my work (drawing is my strong suit). I also, as my major suggests, have a fascination for language, language development, bilingualism, and language policy. After college, my dream job right now would be to return home to my community and help support English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in the public schools that actively honor culture, support multilingualism, acknowledge the intelligence of students regardless of their backgrounds, and confront segregation on lines of language.