2,580 miles away from her home in Medellin, Columbia, Maria Gomez stepped into Evanston Township High School (ETHS) for the first time in 2021, a junior in high school. As Gomez made her way through the unfamiliar, winding hallways of ETHS, surrounded by students that had known each other since freshman year, she couldn’t help but feel out of place.

Gomez wasn’t just 2,580 miles away from her home; she was 2,580 miles away from her culture, family, friends and even language. Feeling disconnected from her community, Gomez sought out a space at ETHS where she could engage with people who shared a similar background with her.

It was while in her math class—GANAS Algebra 2 for self-identified Latinx students—that Gomez finally experienced that sense of belonging.

“I felt like I belonged in that class and that I had more connections, in terms of culture,” Gomez said. “ I wasn’t the only one that was in my situation, so that was also good, because you get to meet new students that are also speaking in Spanish or that are also Latinos. There were people that didn’t speak Spanish, but they had our same roots. And that wasn’t a problem at all, because we are all part of the same culture. We felt like a family.”

Unlike a typical section of Algebra 2, GANAS is listed under the course selection guide as “intended to support students who identify as Latinx.” Students learn the same material and explore the same concepts, but the class is composed exclusively of students and a teacher who identifies as Latinx.

“My personal hope in teaching the GANAS courses is that I am able to provide opportunities where my students feel empowered and motivated as well as creating a space where students can show up as their authentic selves,” Raquel Lopez, who teaches GANAS, said. “I hope that in having Latinx specific math lessons that include real world data, we can have conversations where students feel seen, validated and appreciated as Latinx folks.”