Last Friday was a day to remember. Not only was it Mother’s day in Mexico, but it was also a day for mothers who collaborate with Mission Graduates to get recognized for their work and to share their story. At around 5:30 PM, las Fabulosas, accompanied by their children, came to St. John’s Church to enjoy food and to engage in conversation.

The children were busy watching a movie in a separate room, while the fabulosas and some of their husbands formed a circular space in which stories would be exchanged. Amidst laughter and tears, time was suspended as the mothers recalled their arrival to the United States for the first time and recounted their journey since then. The common denominator of all of these stories was that the beginning of life in the U.S was a difficult experience in which las fabulosas had to adapt to another system and to a life away from their native land and family. However, the journey to college is both a struggle that all the mothers endure, and an aspiration that only grows as each day passes by. The dream of attending university materializes itself day by day, soon to become a reality for many families of our community.

“My parents put so much effort so that we could receive an education, and thanks to them, I completed my studies at the University level”, said Elena Angeles, a ‘Fabulosa’ mother of two. “ I want to do the same with my children, to help them, to encourage them, and to motivate them so they can accomplish their goals. I know that with love and dedication, they will go to University”. Elena’s dream is intertwines with the ones of the other mothers, who all expressed their gratitude for the knowledge they have gained from being a member of Mission Graduates.

Those of us who had the privilege to witness this powerful event gained a new appreciation for the journey that each one of these women have already taken to arrive at where they are now and a new awareness of the importance of the work of the Parent Partner Program to continue to support the growth of these fabulous parent leaders, not only for their sake and that of their children, but for the sake of the larger Mission District community of which all of us are a part.

-Juliana Romano, Social Media Intern & Eric Cuentos, Program Director, Parent Partner Program

• Our students have submitted 277 scholarship applications, and have raised over $675,000 in scholarship awards to date.
• 100% of cohort 5 students have been accepted to a 4-year college. Students are still making final college decisions, however 90% have been admitted to a UC, 45% have been admitted to a private school, and 100% have been admitted to to a CSU.
• 6 students have been awarded full ride scholarships: 1 Questbridge scholar, who will be attending Vassar College, 1 Gates Millennium scholar, who will be attending UC Berkeley – he will also have his education funded through graduate school, and 4 additional students have received full scholarships to attend UC Berkeley.

Writing coaches have been a crucial part of this progress, as they help students craft the personal statement which is used both on college and scholarship applications. Check out our Facebook page so you can get to know Cohort 6. We have a great group of 25 students this year!

There are two types of College Connect volunteers: Summer and School Year Coaches. Writing Coaches work with their student one-on-one and assist them in writing their college entrance essays, scholarship essays, and provide meaningful support and mentorship along this journey. Coaches are asked to commit to meeting with their student at least once per week, for a minimum of 1 hour each meeting.

Summer: June-July

The best way to get to know your student is to become a Writing Coach and help them develop their personal statement, which helps colleges understand the person behind the application and test scores. Personal statement workshops typically begin the second week of June. Writing Coaches agree to attend three consecutive personal statement workshops from 5-8pm and a Writing Coach training. Coaches will be paired with a student during the workshops and will continue working with their student once a week for 5-6 weeks or until the personal statement is close to completion.

School year:  August-May

After the personal statement is completed, the Writing Coach and student can choose to continue working together throughout the school year. This is also a good opportunity for a volunteer to begin working with a student if she/he was not able to begin in the summer. Students will apply to many scholarships throughout their senior year and Writing Coaches are well positioned to help them pen that perfect scholarship essay. Meeting times are flexible; students and Coaches will find the best days and times to connect.

Please contact Jill Marinelli, Program Coordinator at 415-962-8283 or jill@missiongraduates.org for more information about this opportunity.

- Jill Marinelli College Connect Program Coordinator

Caio intently lowers the paperclip hook into the makeshift hole in the “ice” to catch a fish without touching the aluminum sides. Rarely do you see this active third grader with such calm focus and determination. If he does touch the side of the hole, the light bulb will turn on and the game will be over.

This creative student-made form of the game “Operation” is one of the science projects made by the fifth graders for the Marshall T.C. Science Fair. When the light bulb lights up, the fifth graders explain that the circuit of wire, battery, and aluminum and Christmas light bulb is completed, thus turning on the light. Another group has a contest of who can figure out how to complete a circuit first. The winner is the one to make a light go on using just a battery, some wire, and a piece of metal along with the disembodied Christmas light.

The classroom is quiet, surprisingly peaceful considering the room is filled with 46 children. Fifth graders are patiently explaining their science projects to the younger students, who sit with eyes wide or stand around stations absorbedly doing experiments, with the occasional hushed “Woah!” or “Cool!” to punctuate the atmosphere of discovery.

Other classrooms are full of flowers and food coloring, watercolor paints demonstrating the water science behind art. The third graders get their chance to share their experiments with another class. The smell of shaving cream wafts through the air. Fingers are died blue from the food coloring that managed to not make its way into the shaving cream “cloud” and food coloring model of rain. The structured chaos of the Science Fair showcased the months of hard work and hands-on learning at Marshall Elementary Tutoring Center.

- Kym Lundberg, 3rd grade coordinator at Marshall TC

Mission Graduates is excited to add another talented volunteer to our team. Make’s involvement with Mission Graduates all started with her Communications and Social Justice class that she takes at the University of San Francisco. “For my community service work, I had one of two choices. I could tutor once a week and go home unfulfilled, or I could pour my heart into something that I can see grow”.

As a lover of photography, Make acknowledges that visual displays of storytelling are powerful tools in transmitting a message, now more than ever. For the next several months, Make will be working on a documentary about what goes on behind-the-scenes of Mission Graduates.

“The thought of the final product makes me nervous, but when it does, I just remember my teacher’s words: ‘Don’t focus on the final product because you will lose the focus on the process’”.

So far, Make has attended a board meeting in which she met two students, Maya, who will be attending Vassar University next year on a QuestBridge scholarship, and Alan, who will be attending UC Berkeley on a Kids’ Millennium Scholarship.

“I met a student who said that she never even dreamed to go to college, and now she attends a prestigious university in the East Coast. She spoke so eloquently and passionately that I forgot that I was filming. I saw how Mission Graduates supported her in achieving her dreams. She was telling her story so graciously, as if she saw an opportunity behind every obstacle”.

Stories like Maya’s are what inspired Make to work with Mission Graduates and to learn about the community’s effort behind every program that supports the youth. “We hear and even acknowledge the struggle that exists in the journey to college, but here I see youngsters who are doing it, who are going above and beyond, and who are even more dedicated than what I’m used to seeing. They’re the minds of the future!”

Stay tuned for Make’s progress with her upcoming documentary. We have planted the seed, and a title will soon sprout up. In the meantime, feel free to check out her blog on planteddeeds.com.

Audience members were blown away by the precocious poetic stylings of the first, second and third grade classes. Even the kindergarten class participated with a song and dance, adding to the enthusiasm and delight of the event.

Enjoy some of our favorite photos and poems from the event!

Thanks to all of you for your commitment to Mission Graduates, and if you happen to be in the neighborhood, feel free to drop by. We’ll be here.

- Aaron Clemmer

The tour starts at UC Merced where we’ll meet Nathaly DeLeon, a freshman and College Connect student from Cohort 4 who studies at Merced. From there we’ll head to Pitzer College where our tour guide will be College Connect’s own Makda Beyene, a Gates Millenium Scholar in her first year studying medicine. Pitzer forms part of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of seven private colleges that includes the prestigious Harvey Mudd and Pomona (which we will also get to tour).

We’ll then stop at CSU Los Angeles, Pepperdine University, and CSU Monterey Bay. And, amidst all of the touring, our students will have a chance to enjoy one of Southern California’s treats: the beach. After all, it is Spring Break.

Finally, we want to give a shout out to Allen Li, a senior at Mission High, who won our scholarship contest! Allen submitted the most college scholarships (a whopping 30!) and won our scholarship contest and the prize – a brand new iPad. He would like to thank his writing coach and one of our great volunteers, Rohan Kadakia, for spending valuable hours helping him hone his personal statements and scholarship essays. Congrats again, Allen!

Allen Li shows off his new iPad while his fellow cohort member, Sharon, tries to take it away.

A poet laureate is a poet who is appointed by the government and whose duty it is to represent the written word at various public literary functions. We were very honored and excited when we heard Murguía had accepted our invitation to speak at Bryant’s poetry recital.

Murguía is on the faculty of Latin@ Studies as a creative writing professor at San Francisco State, as well as founder of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. He has published several books of literature and poetry and is currently the focus of two films -one being a short based on a story he wrote called “The Other Barrio” and the other being a documentary about him. The film crew for this last film was present for our poetry recital.

Students performed a versatile set of poems, from group style to raps. Most classes focused on a theme for their poems such as “where I’m from”, “color” or “identity”. Despite the bright lights and camera, every poet performed with pride. We were all impressed and proud by how well the students overcame their stage fright and stole the show.

-Julie Morse, Bryant Tutoring Center Program Assistant

“Celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday annually is a clear way to message how important reading and literacy development is,” Maria Rassiwalla, program director at the Marshall Tutoring Center, says. “Alongside the rest of the nation our Dr. Seuss Read-a-thon uses rhymes as an entry point to show kids reading can be fun!”

At our event, in addition to reading and acting out stories, special snacks were served, hats were created, and laughter and fun could be heard and seen throughout the school.

We would like to send out a special thank you to all of the volunteers who came out that day in support of our program and our students’ literacy. We could not have pulled off such an event without your help. We hope you had as much fun as we did!

The students at the Marshall Elementary Tutoring Center have been writing poems during the month of February. They love that they can be short, rhyming, about almost anything, or free-verse and released from the structured of rhyme or format. Classes have been writing individual as well as group poems, having fun with words, space, and form.

All of our students will share their voice at our culminating poetry event on March 6 at St. John’s Church.

We cannot wait to celebrate our poets!

-Natalie Guandique