PROGRAM
HIGHLIGHTS
2006-2007
During the month of July, August and part of September recruitment and orientation of the program took place at each school site.
Three
Westwood High School Achievers received
a 4 year $2,500 scholarship from the PBG
(Pepsi Bottling Group) Foundation. The
award winners were recognized at a banquet
given in their honor on Tuesday, July 18th at
6:00 pm at Aunt Chilada’s Restaurant,
in Phoenix. The
PBG Foundation has established the Rising
Stars Program to provide an opportunity
for urban youth who have the potential
and desire to succeed in post-secondary
education, but who may have been overlooked
for scholarships. The Foundation provided
scholarships to address the needs of today’s
youth and to increase graduation rates
in America’s urban cities. Because
of the aforementioned scholarships,
and participation in the Achievers program,
our teens can now enter the doors of prominent
colleges and universities, which furthermore
prepare them for many opportunities that
will await them in business, technology,
medicine, education, engineering, law and
government. But more importantly,
they learn the importance of being an effective
leader in the community.
Over
100 Achievers attended the 4th Annual Achievers
Kick-off, Saturday September 23, South
Mountain High School.
During
the month of October, Achievers performed
volunteer hours at the Sirrine Adult Daycare
in Mesa, AZ. Planned fundraisers
and performed community service hours at
Kiwanis Park in Tempe, AZ. They also attended
a workshop on interviewing skills.
In
October, Westwood High School Achievers
attended the Latino Youth Summit, Mesa’s
Latino Town Hall, Mesa Public School College
Fair, and the Hispanic Women’s Conference.
The
Achievers attended a Career Cluster, Saturday
October 21, 2006 at the Lincoln Downtown
YMCA. Clusters speakers were; Melinda Coronado,
Counselor, McClintock High School, Sherrie
Moore, i-Learn Program Director Andrea
Murphy, Teacher, Westwood High School. The
topics were; Planning & Goal Setting & College
Plan, Communication Skills and Service
Learning.
12
Achievers completed applications for the
2006 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards
for Middle level and High School Youth
Volunteers, (applications were due October
29, 2006). This award is a unique opportunity
to honor young people for their outstanding
volunteer service. One Achiever was selected
from Carson Junior School as middle level
local honoree, 1 Achiever was selected
from South Mountain & Westwood High
as High School local honoree’s. If
recipients are chosen they will be named
State Honorees next February 2007 and receive
$1,000, a beautiful silver medallion and
all expense paid trip to Washington DC,
with a parent or guardian April 30 thru
May 3, 2007. The Washington trip
will include formal award ceremonies, sightseeing
tours, Congressional visits on Capitol
Hill and many other exciting events. Runner-up
honorees at the State level receive bronze
medallions or Certificates of Excellence.
In
November Achievers attended a HOPE (Health
Occupations Predatory Education) workshop,
and a college fair.
5
Achievers attended the Student Leadership
Day, November 10, 2006 at the Phoenix Convention
Center. The activities geared specifically
for high school aged students to explore
multiculturalism and its relationship to
education in the 21st century
16th Annual International NAME
(National Association of Multicultural
Educators) Conference.
South
Mountain High School Achievers attended
the 8th annual Kathy Preacely
Youth Motivational Conference, Saturday
November 11, 2006. The National Society
of Black Engineers at Arizona State University
hosted the event. Through interactive
workshops and sessions, this event is intended
to motivate students to purse a college
education.
November
13, two Westwood High School Achievers
appeared on channel 12 @ 5:00 pm and
channel 3 @ 10:00 pm. They were interviewed
because of their involvement in the Martin
Luther King Unity Parade in Mesa, the parade
has been "shelved' due to budget cuts
this year. They are a part of a committee
trying to raise $9,000 to have the parade
next year in Mesa, AZ; because of the story
airing on both channels, a donor (Rolland & Agnes
Lawson) came forward and will be giving
$9,000. There was a press conference
held Monday, Nov. 27, 3:00 pm at Westwood
High School.
Saturday
November 18, 2006, Achievers participated
in the Breast Cancer 5k Walk, held at the
Tempe Town Lake.
Achievers
organized, fundraised, and participated
in the December Christmas Community Service
Project, Thursday, December 7, 2006, Cloves
Campbell Elementary School, 2624 East South
Mountain Ave. Phx. AZ, k-3 graders. There
were over 50 kids and over 75 Achievers
and volunteers in attendance. The Achievers
bought and wrapped all of the gifts, and
presented each child with a toy and candy
gift bag. Santa Claus was also present
and presented each child with a stuffed
toy and talked (on his lap) to each child
individually.
Thursday,
January 25, 2007, some
of the Westwood High Achievers and
Westwood Site Director was special
guest at this year’s YMCA Annual
Strong Kids Campaign kick-off breakfast;
the keynote speaker was Josh Byrnes,
General Manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Because
of their involvement & efforts
in raising funds for the MLK Parade
in Mesa, Rasheed Mitchell, Westwood
Achiever was named 2007 Student of
the Year, Andrea Murphy, Westwood
Achievers Site Director was named
2007 Educator of the Year, and 12
Westwood Y Achievers won the award
for Civic Action, they were honored
and received their awards at the MLK
breakfast in Mesa, Monday January
15, 2007.
Monday,
January 29th, the
Achievers Program received a $96,069
2-year grant from State Farm Advisory
Board. The Westwood High School Achievers
were chosen to initiate, design and
implement a service learning project
with support from other schools and
expert community partners. The name
of the project is Project ACES (Advocacy
for Children’s Education in
Safety) which is an innovative project
that focuses on a major national and
local need in relation to safe driving
practices. State Farm will be doing
the check presentation, Monday February
26, 3:00 pm, Westwood High School,
945 West 8th Street, Mesa
85201.This grant will be also be used
to 1) Provide new opportunities for
youth through service-learning to
make positive change in their communities,
2) Engage a large number of youth
as participants & beneficiaries,
and 3) Bring multiple community partners
and stakeholders together for a common
goal.
The
Achievers attended a Career Cluster, Saturday
January 20,, 2007 at the Lincoln Downtown
YMCA. Clusters speakers were; Achievers
Alumni’s, Jesus Ruiz, Adorian Walker,
Kathleen Tate & Sherika Jackson Arlene
Chin, ASU, Executive Coordinator, Undergraduate
Admissions Armondo Barry, Marketing Director,
Learn2win.com & CEO, Amate International.
The topics were Scholarship Preparation,
Resume, Job Application, and International
Business.
The
Achievers attended a Career Cluster, Saturday
February 24, 2007 at Lincoln Downtown YMCA. Clusters
speakers were; Travis Johnson, President
of Learn2win, Author, & Motivational
Speaker, LaShawn Jenkins, Attorney, Quarles & Brady
LLP, Stephanie Conlon, Attorney, Maricopa
County, and Beth Hebert, YMCA Senior Program
Director, Youth & Government Program.
The topics were: Budgeting & Finance,
Good Debt & Bad Debt, “How do
I know the difference, ”Law & Order
and Youth & Government.
During
the month of March, Achievers planned several
fundraisers, participated in field trips
to several community colleges and ASU,
attended a goal setting seminar, volunteered
and performed community service hours for
Mesa Food Bank, “Relay for
Life Cancer Society ”, “American
Cancer Society” and “Make
a Difference Day”. Also participated
in the Character Challenge 6K run/walk.
The
Achievers attended a Career Cluster, Saturday
April 21, 2007 at the Pointe South Mountain
Resort. Clusters speakers were; Donald
Cox, Scottsdale Culinary, Hector Araujo & Anielka
Contreras, Anytown Arizona , Inc. The topics
were; Fine Dining, Dress & Table Etiquette,
and attending a leadership camp. The purpose
of Anytown Arizona is to educate young
people for effective leadership in our
pluralistic society. Anytown is also
widely recognized as one of the most successful
leadership and cultural diversity programs
for teens and youth in America today. The
program is held at a camp site for 7 days
and during this period, they are taught the
importance of; Leadership training, Self
Esteem, Communication skills, Cultural
Awareness, Family Relations, Gender Equality,
Conflict Resolution skills, Racial Understanding,
Police/youth relations, Interreligious
Respect, Citizenship Values and Personal
Empowerment.
The
10th annual YMCA Achievers banquet was
held at the Hilton Phoenix Airport, May
11, 2007, 275 was in attendance. Fourteen
Achievers received a YMCA scholarship,
and a recognition award from Governor Janet
Napolitano, which was presented at thebBanquet. Achievers
also received various scholarships from
other sources, to help defray the cost
of their education. The keynote speaker
was Shirley Johnson is currently the principal,
Desert Oasis Elementary School. Ms Johnson
retired from Phoenix Elementary School
District after working for 36 in the field
of education Her career accomplishments
include the 1997 Black Educator of the
Year award, 2004 Calvin C. Goode Lifetime
Achievement Award, 2005 Mayor’s Partnership
for Leadership Award, and induction into
the Hall of Fame by the College of Education
at Arizona State University in 2005. She
is a lifetime member of the honor society
of the Department of Education at Arizona
State University. Over the years,
she has served on various boards and committees
and is presently chairperson of the Education
Board at Union Institutional Baptist Church
in Phoenix.
This
year’s 2007 YMCA Achievers banquet
honorary recipient was Martin Alvarez,
Senior, CEO of Sun Eagle Corporation (SEC),
a commercial construction and construction
management firm, and CEO of Alvarez and
Cortazar, LLC, a real estate brokerage
firm. SEC is dedicated to constructing
quality buildings and has built over $480
million worth of schools, government offices
and other public work facilities. During
its 29 year history SEC has helped hundreds
of minority subcontractors and suppliers
to grow and prosper. Martin and SEC
have supported the YMCA, with a special
interest in the YMCA Achievers Program,
since 1995. He has participated in
the cluster sessions with the teens and
shared the story of his success. Their
support of teens and education is further
demonstrated by the establishment of a
memorial scholarship honoring his parents. Martin
and his wife have given a scholarship to
one student each year for the past sixteen
years at Casa Grande Union High School,
which is the alma mater of Mr. Alvarez
and his family. Martin is very civic minded
and has served on the boards of Phoenix
Day Child Center, Arizona State University
Foundation, and Arizona Hispanic Chamber
of Commerce. Currently, he serves
on the boards of Associated Minority Contractors
of America, Arizona State University Trustee,
and Valley of the Sun YMCA, which he served
as Chair for 2 years, and received the
Arizona Business Leadership Award in 1996.
Enrique
Jose Ruiz, a senior from Westwood High
School was chosen the 2007 Outstanding
YMCA Achiever of the year, and was
one of the masters of ceremony at the 2007
10th Annual YMCA Achievers Banquet;
he has been in the program since 7th grade.
Some of Enrique’s accomplishments
included receiving the National Hispanic
Institute scholarship award, and the Ronnie
Felix Athletic scholarship. He was
also one of the testimonial speakers at
the 2007 YMCA Association Strong Kids Campaign
Celebration. Enrique will be attending
George Fox University in Oregon, majoring
in communications, sociology with a minor
in Spanish, he also want to become a firefighter.
Some
of the Westwood High Achievers and Westwood
Site Director was special guest at the
2007YMCA Annual Strong Kids Campaign kick-off
breakfast; the keynote speaker was Josh
Byrnes, General Manager for the Arizona
Diamondbacks. Because of their involvement & efforts
in raising funds for the MLK Parade in
Mesa, Rasheed Mitchell, Westwood Achiever
was named 2007 Student of the Year, Andrea
Murphy, Westwood Achievers Site Director
was named 2007 Educator of the Year, and
12 Westwood Y Achievers won the award for
Civic Action, they were honored and received
their awards at the Mesa MLK breakfast,
Monday January 15, 2007.
Two
more Y Achievers, Jessica Bagazuma and
Michael Young, seniors from South Mountain
High School gave an outstanding testimonial
at the YMCA Community Initiatives’ 3rd
Annual “Building Leaders for Our
Future” luncheon.
Britnee
Green, a senior at South Mountain High
School and was one of the masters of ceremony
at the 2007 10th Annual YMCA
Achievers Banquet. She has a 4.4 GPA and
is the senior editor of the year book club
and a member of the National Honor Society.
Britnee will be attending University of
Arizona majoring in pre-pharmacy, and then
continuing on to attain her Medical degree. |
Started
School Year 2006-2007 with 8 sites, & over
200 Achievers
Mountain
Pointe HS, Phoenix, AZ
McClintock
HS, Tempe, AZ
South
Mountain HS, Phoenix, AZ
Tempe
HS, Tempe, AZ
Westwood
HS, Mesa, AZ
Carson
Jr. HS, Mesa, AZ
Santa
Maria Middle School, Phoenix, AZ
Queen
of Peace Catholic School, Mesa, AZ
Footnote:
Because
of the aforementioned scholarships, and participation
in the YMCA Achievers program, our teens can
now enter the doors of prominent colleges and
universities, which furthermore prepare them
for many opportunities that will await them
in business, technology, medicine, education,
engineering, law and government, etc, but more
importantly, they learn the importance of being
an effective leader in the community.
Throughout
the school year, some of the Achievers were
featured in newspaper articles with the Arizona
Republic, and the Arizona Informant. |