(EL PASO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT – Mar. 22, 2024) — As the annual tax-filing deadline quickly approaches, El Paso ISD students are offering a helping hand to people who are seeking assistance.
Students at Coronado and Irvin High Schools are providing free tax-filing services to the community through April 11 at their respective campuses. The students are all volunteers and receive guidance from their instructors and workers from GECU.
“We have been doing this for over four years, and we get a good crowd at these events every time we do them,” said Jesse Alvarez, business instructor at Irvin High School. Alvarez has several experiences in the business field himself and shares his own experiences with the students. He owned and helped manage Expert Refrigeration and founded United Bank in El Paso, Texas. “I’m very proud of the students who are doing this because a lot of people need this free service since not everyone can afford to pay big companies to file their taxes for them,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez added that the students who take part in the program gain beneficial skills that will help them at school and later in their professional lives. The student volunteers also earn community service hours.
Heaven Mesa, a senior at Irvin High School, said she has learned a lot in the few days she has volunteered.
“You are taught how to do taxes for people, but in the future, I can also use this new knowledge to do my own taxes when I’m older,” Mesa said. “It feels good to do this for my community, too. Everyone is just grateful for it. Every time when I finish, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, thank you so much for this,’ and it feels nice.”
At the end of tax season, GECU will have a celebration for the students and give them certificates of completion.
Hours and locations for free tax services:
Irvin High School
9465 Roanoke Drive, Building C, Room 112
Thursdays only
4:30-7 p.m.
Coronado High School
100 Champions Place, Building D, Rooms D1 – D4
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
5-7 p.m.
