CARPINTERIA — Girls Inc. of Carpinteria, a nonprofit organization seeking to inspire girls to be strong, smart and bold, recently hosted its Eureka! College Road Trip, with a group of local eighth-grade students spending Spring Break exploring college campuses between Los Angeles and San Diego, the organization reported in a media release.
Courtesy photo Students participate in the Eureka! College Road Trip hosted by Girls Inc. of Carpinteria. Courtesy photos
Part of the organization’s Eureka! program, the College Road Trip is designed to encourage girls to envision themselves as college students and explore their interests and priorities when it comes to choosing a dream school.
Eureka! is a five-year, college-bound program that breaks gender stereotypes by encouraging girls to explore science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), officials reported. Through hands-on activities, girls are able to discover and explore different career paths. Eureka! also includes fitness, nutrition and personal development activities that encourage girls to be healthy, strong and self-confident, the organization reported.
“Eureka is designed to better prepare our girls for college and the real world, while teaching teens the importance of setting their own paths and achieving their own goals,” Victoria Juarez, executive director, stated in the release. “Visiting some of the top universities in the state helps our girls envision themselves attending college and stepping foot on those grounds. And we are here to show them that their dreams can be a reality, and help with turning potential obstacles into accomplishments.”
Over the course of three days, the girls toured five college campuses, including UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, San Diego State University and the University of San Diego.
The college visits provided the girls with an opportunity to learn more about entrance requirements, financial aid, majors and student life through interactive scavenger hunts that encouraged them to consider not only academics, but also campus demographics, geography and culture.
Participants also visited the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego and the Santa Monica Pier.
“Getting girls out of their comfort zones and into new and different places is key to the success of the Eureka! program,” said Jessica Wetzel, Elementary and Eureka! programs director for Girls Inc. of Carpinteria. “In addition to STEM enrichment, Eureka! is focused on personal development and helping girls decide who they are and what they want, while giving them the tools to take healthy risks in getting there.”
Next summer, the same group of students will enter the externship component of Eureka!, in which participants shift their programming to the workplace. After a week of training, the teens are offered an externship in their field of interest and work approximately 80 hours over four weeks in July. The program pairs externs with businesses throughout Santa Barbara County for this experiential work opportunity and the girls gain valuable job skills through hands-on mentorship, enabling them to apply their college goals to real-world careers.
Business professionals interested in sponsoring a Girls Inc. Eureka! extern should contact Jessica Wetzel at jessica@girlsinc-carp.org or 805-684-6364.
Eureka! is a partnership between Girls Inc. of Carpinteria, UCSB’s Early Academic Outreach Program and Easy Lift Transportation. Program sponsors include Deckers Brands, ExxonMobil, Southern California Edison, Venoco Inc., Williams Corbett Foundation and Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara.
Visit www.girlsinc-carp.org for more information.
CAMARILLO — Although she is the mother of a 1-year-old and expecting a son in June, 2015 CSU Channel Islands graduate Daisy Carranza made time to volunteer to help other first-generation college students.
Daisy Carranza
Carranza’s efforts recently earned her a 2015 Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellows Award from the KPMG Foundation, a charitable institution seeking to change business and society through the diversity of ideas, university officials reported in a media release.
Carranza, 22, is one of 201 college students from across the nation chosen as a Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 1,100 college and university presidents committed to improving community life on campuses and educating students about the importance of civic and social leadership.
The fellowship recognizes college and university students who have emerged as civic leaders at their respective campuses.
“She has been the most remarkable student I have ever met,” Leah Alarcon, director of Student Success Programs at the university, stated in the release. “She came from being this shy, quiet, happy girl to actively wanting to be a leader. We took all the quietness and shyness and made it a strength for her.”
Prominent in Carranza’s volunteer efforts was CI’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), which helps economically disadvantaged and first-generation college students, a program that helped Carranza know which classes to take and how to graduate successfully, the university reported.
“A lot of my involvement was around populations I could relate to,” Carranza said. She will be awarded a degree in psychology in June. “I felt the need to give back to programs that helped me. I wanted students to know that even if you don’t have the support at home, there are programs to help you.”
Carranza grew up in Oxnard, the daughter of parents who worked in agricultural fields.
“Most of the time I had the responsibility to look after my two younger brothers,” she said. “Watching my parents work long hours in the field with low-paying jobs and come home so tired was one of my motivations to work hard and make them proud.”
While caring for a baby, Carranza carried a 3.49 grade-point average, traveled to study in Spain, volunteered for the EOP and donated her time to Interface Children & Family Services, where she now has a part-time job.
Carranza will accept her diploma May 16, thanks in large part to the help she got with child care from both sets of grandparents. The babies’ father works full-time, so was also unavailable for child care, a problem Carranza sees for many student parents.
Her fellowship allows her to join the network of other Newman Fellows, who will brainstorm, share resources, and help one another with each Fellow’s social cause.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — David Rodriguez, State president of California League of United Latin American Citizens; and Andres Rodriguez, State deputy director for young adults at the California LULAC, recently attended a briefing at the Pasadena headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
David Rodriguez, right, State president of California League of United Latin American Citizens; and Andres Rodriguez, left, State deputy director for young adults at the California LULAC, recently attended a briefing at the Pasadena headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). They met with Daniel Llargues, multilingual affairs officer from Washington D.C. Courtesy photo.
“We met with Daniel Llargues, multilingual affairs officer from Washington D.C., regarding the agency’s planned outreach to California’s Latino residents,” David Rodriguez stated in a media release. “California LULAC has agreed in concept to become involved in the dissemination of information in communities throughout California where our councils are located. We will also partner with FEMA on outreach to other community-based organizations in California.”
Also discussed was the FEMA Corps. program for 18 to 24-year-olds to work for the agency on assignment throughout the U.S. and wherever FEMA has an office.
CAMARILLO — CSU Channel Islands 2015 graduate Victor Rodriguez had three older sisters who were teachers, so he was determined to enter another field.
“There was absolutely no way I was going to do teaching after my three sisters were doing it,” Rodriguez said with a laugh. “I was going to study business.”
The youngest brother who was not going to be a teacher just won one of five statewide awards for his work in bilingual education. Born and raised in Oxnard, Rodriguez, 27, was awarded the Peter Chacon Teachership Award from the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) during the association’s annual convention in San Diego in March, university officials stated in a media release.
The awards are presented for each of the five regions in the state. Rodriguez won for Region Five, which includes Ventura County and the High Desert area. Named after the first California lawmaker to introduce a bill backing bilingual education, the Region Five award comes with a $2,000 scholarship.
CSU Channel Islands 2015 graduate Victor Rodriguez, was awarded the Peter Chacon Teachership Award from the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) during the association’s annual convention in San Diego. Courtesy photo
“This is a tremendous help,” Rodriguez said. “With full-time student teaching and preparing everything for class, you don’t have a lot of opportunities for work.”
Rodriguez plans to use the scholarship toward his goal of earning his master’s degree and doctorate in education. He graduates May 16 with his Multiple Subjects/Bilingual Teacher credential.
Rodriguez is currently student teaching fourth grade in a bilingual classroom at Tierra Vista Elementary School in the Ocean View School District in Oxnard.
CABE Chief Executive Officer Jan Corea said the CABE board decided on Rodriguez in the competition based on an essay he wrote expressing his passion for bilingual education.