HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) — A student at Holland High School has a heart for service and a passion for people.
Karinna Martinez prides herself on mentorship. She’s involved in several leadership organizations at her high school because she wants to make a difference in her community. A varsity swimmer, Martinez volunteers to help with Holland Middle’s swim team. In the spring, she runs track.
Her resume continues. Martinez works as a lifeguard and is a member of Women of Color GIVE, a West Michigan-based philanthropic organization. Of all of Martinez’s extracurricular activities, she said her favorite is volunteering for Latin American United for Progress, also known as LAUP. She partners with the organization to help Latinos become American citizens. It’s where she helps Latinos become American citizens.
“I really like this one,” said Martinez. “I think it’s really important people get the opportunities for help because the citizenship test is hard, and on top of that, most of them have a language barrier, so they’re already struggling with that, so I do a lot of one-on-one work with the spelling and the writing.”
Martinez said she wants to become a special education teacher. She’s pursuing that degree by taking a class at Hope College.
Correction: A previous version of the article incorrectly spelled Karinna Martinez’s name. We regret this error which has been corrected.
