Staring intently at his instructors, Sebastian Estrada moved consecutively through 19 steps.
Through repetition and focus, the 4-year-old boy practices Tae Kwon Do, a Korean fighting style with an emphasis on kicking, twice a week in a makeshift Do Jang called Spartan Village Elementary School’s gymnasium.
The program is paid for in part by money from the University Apartments’ Council of Residents.
“It helps them to have discipline and I like it because it is a good sport,” said Milvia Estrada, Sebastian’s mother. “It helps them in the future with self-defense.”
But after the council’s proposed $1.50 tax increase failed last week with a vote of 53 to 62 with two abstentions, residents may have to pay more for the program. Residents have paid a $1.50 tax per semester for the last 12 years.
There are more than 40 children who practice the discipline. The council pays $500 of the program’s fee.
Council President Jeremy Roark said Tae Kwon Do is the council’s most popular program and won’t be cut, but other student groups who seek money from the council likely will be denied.
“We’ll have to cut our budget in half,” Roark said. “We have been trying to spend our money wisely. I hope we won’t have to cut the Tae Kwon Do program. It’s part of that responsibility that we need to be out there in the community more. It’s difficult with the limited budget we have.
“It was a shock. I don’t think residents realize the potential we have in the organization.”
Eduardo Olivo, area coordinator of University Apartments, said Residence Life still pays for part of the children’s Tae Kwon Do, but only covers $253 of the program since the council took it over. Residence Life provides the facility, absorbing the legal liabilities.
“The challenge for us is that we have an average of 18 different programs in University Apartments, all of them competing for funding,” he said. “We always have to strive for a balance in terms of providing programs that address the needs of all the different groups we have.”
Master Sidney Singer has watched the children improve twice a week since the program began in June 2000.
“When they come here, we want them to feel at home and not intimidated by a new experience,” he said. “It gives them a reason to go to school or it gives them that extra effort.
“When we get 3- and 4-year-olds to count to 19 is one thing. But to have them to count moves and turn and work on their balance is pretty challenging.
“They might not understand exactly what I am talking about. But when we show them, they follow along pretty quick.”
Gabriella Saldana, vice president of the apartment council, said she enjoys the opportunity for her two children to have the activity at the cost of $1.50 per semester. Although higher costs may plague the program, she’d rather pay more than see it cut.
“(My children) are more focused in what they are doing,” Saldana said. “This is how they understand in class, focus and have discipline in their lives.”
But Saldana also knows the class is one more way to better solidify her community.
“The parents are in contact during their year between them, like neighbors,” she said. “The parents continue to communicate. We have this activity and more children start to come and every week we have a new student.”
