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Scholars & Mentors Kick Off the Year Together

December 6, 2023 in Uncategorized

PSP scholars and mentors kicked off the school year with an excursion in downtown LA!  The Lennox and El Monte communities met together at Grand Central Market, where we spent time together in workshops before sampling the variety of food stalls at the market.

We started the day with a workshop showing students how they can start building wealth now! Money & Milkshakes introduced the concept of Roth IRA’s and emphasized the importance of saving money at an early age. It was a very eye-opening presentation for scholars and mentors alike.

 

We followed this up with a group planning session to brainstorm outings for the rest of the year. The time spent researching proved to be very productive and dozens of events were discovered. This led to the creation of a shared PSP calendar listing all of the great ideas that were shared. A very handy tool to use for scheduling their monthly activities!  During lunch, the group had an abundance of cuisines to choose from at Grand Central Market.  Everyone received Market Dollars to spend as they pleased.  Scholars tried a variety of ethnic foods, from tacos and pupusas to ramen and noodles. Everything looked delicious! After lunch, the group rode the Angel’s Flight tram up the hill.

 

Our final stop was a guided tour of the Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure exhibit at the LA Grand. The tour guides walked us through the life of Basquiat and explained his evolution as an artist. It was an immersive experience with vibrant colors, music and lights. As one student shared about the graffiti-influenced art “This art really speaks to me!”

 

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Congrats to the Class of ’22!

June 17, 2022 in Uncategorized

After six years of dedication to school and enriched learning, the Partnership Scholars Program Class of 2022 have achieved their college goals to head to college! See their path in pictures, from 7th grade to today:

Above, see PSP scholars from 7th grade to graduation day.  Below, our festive celebration in Los Angeles, after 2 years of virtual graduations!

On Saturday June 11th, 2022, Partnership Scholars Program celebrated our El Monte & Lennox Class of 2022 Graduates at the Japanese American National Museum in Downtown Los Angeles. The next day the Ukiah graduating scholars celebrated at the Rivino Winery. This year’s graduates had the opportunity to celebrate in person alongside family, mentors, PSP Board Members, donors and staff.

Click the links to read about the experiences of this year’s graduates!

El Monte Grads’ Reflections Lennox Grads’ Reflections Ukiah & North Coast Grads’ Reflections

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Celebrating the Class of 2020!

June 17, 2020 in Uncategorized

On Sunday June 14, PSP’s class of 2020 celebrated their high school success and continuation to college with family, friends, mentors, board members, donors and staff through a virtual, live ceremony. Seeing the faces of so many people who make PSP the strong community that it is – scholars, mentors, parents, donors and friends from across California – brought home the strength of our inter-connectedness, even when we meet online instead of in real life.  

Over the past few months, the students in PSP’s class of 2020 have had to grapple with unforeseen challenges. The health pandemic has changed all our lives since last March. But with the guidance of their parents and PSP mentors, every graduate handled these challenges with grace and successfully completed high school and made the choice to continue their education.

PSP’s Board Chair Ray Andry had inspiring words for the graduates. “The young men and women who have participated in this program are our social justice advocates,” Ray shared, “Today you join that amazing group of individuals who have come through the Partner Scholarship Program – who are going to change the world.”

Mentors also congratulated the scholars and shared words of wisdom. Rachel Binah, the site coordinator from the North Coast region, encouraged students to “Be yourself – everyone else is taken.”

Scholars introduced themselves and shared their highlights from the past six years in the program, including college trips in the East Coast to outings to sports events.

One scholar from each region was selected to share in-depth about their PSP experience. Alexis from El Monte, Angel from Lennox, Cecilia from Ukiah and Liliana from Fort Bragg expressed intense pride and appreciation for their PSP mentors and family. There were definitely tears of joy!  

 
Liliana (Fort Bragg) Angel (Lennox)
Cecilia (Ukiah) Alexis (El Monte)

Partnership Scholars is grateful to our donors and mentors who make all of this happen. And to the parents who have lovingly trusted us by allowing their children to participate in this program.

Lastly, PSP is honored and appreciative of the scholars themselves.  We are cheering them on and looking forward to hear of all of their successes. We know it won’t be easy, but as we have seen, they can achieve anything they put their minds to.

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Introducing the PSP Class of 2025, Lennox Cohort

December 9, 2019 in Uncategorized

Partnership Scholars Program had the pleasure of introducing the newest PSP Scholars to the larger Lennox community at an induction ceremony on a rainy November night. Board members, school staff, PSP alumni, donors, families, mentors and current scholars celebrated these eight new students.

You can read what each student wrote about joining PSP at the end of this piece.

Angel, a current PSP Scholar now in his senior year at Animo Leadership Charter High School,  imparted advice to new students and shared his experience thus far in the program.  Calling PSP “a once in a life time milestone,” Angel emphasized five benefits of being part of PSP, including financial assistance, cultural awareness, personal growth, mentorship, and collegial awareness. Use the links below to hear Angel talk about…

 

Personal Growth    College Visits    His Goals    Advice for Scholars

Click here to learn about becoming a PSP mentor this year. 

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Celebrating the PSP Class of 2019

June 20, 2019 in Uncategorized

This spring the PSP class of 2019 celebrated their graduation from high school and their achievement of their college acceptance goals. More than 200 students, mentors, family members and community partners joined in these celebrations in Fort Bragg, Los Angeles and Ukiah.

Read student essays about their PSP experiences.  

One hundred percent of this year’s 37 graduates will be matriculating in college this fall! In addition, one of our graduates earned the prestigious Posse Foundation Scholarship.

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Celebrating partnership: A look at the Oder Family Foundation’s Dana Oder

April 20, 2017 in Articles, Partner

The PSP community is lucky to have so many dedicated partners. Thanks to the enthusiasm of our donors and sponsors, hundreds of scholars set out on a path toward achieving their goals that they wouldn’t have had otherwise. For over 13 years, Dana Oder and the Oder Family Foundation have been prominent supporters of Partnership Scholars Program. To date, they have helped 29 scholars develop their interests and prepare for college success.

Dana Oder first heard about PSP in 2004 through the Southern California Grant Makers, an association of grant-making foundations. “As soon as I heard there was mentorship involved we were very interested and I knew that it would be a good fit,” says Dana. Dana reached out to Meg Sanchez, who had helped launch the organization in 1996. Meg, Dana and PSP’s founder, Glenn Langer, all met in Lennox where Dana learned more about the mentorship program, and Dana agreed to become a sponsor.

“The next important part [was] the leadership. When I met Glenn and heard about his past and the passion for the children, it [stuck] with [me]. He was very enthusiastic!”

As a sponsor of several students a year through her family foundation, Dana has been able to see the organization grow and evolve over the years. “Every year I could see that difference,” says Dana. “It’s really been a fulfilling experience.” She felt so strongly committed to PSP’s mission of helping low-income students succeed that she joined PSP’s Board of Trustees for a time.

Dana has had the pleasure of meeting some of the students and their families at PSP events, such as induction and graduation ceremonies and takes great pleasure in receiving regular updates in the mail from the students she sponsors. “The letters and post cards are really impactful,” says Dana. “I’ll take those that are sent to me and I pass them around to those who work with the foundation. It’s impactful to see the pictures and get to see what the students are getting out of the program.”

The biggest reason Dana continues to give and be so involved with the organization is seeing the students reach their goals time and time again. “To see them from start to finish…it’s a remarkable process,” says Dana.

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Why Lennox: A history of PSP’s 20-year partnership

March 21, 2017 in Articles

Over 20 years ago, Lennox Middle School (LMS) was engaged in a partnership with UCLA and the Howard Hughes Corporation. Though this partnership, Dr. Glenn Langer, Head of Cardiology at the UCLA Medical School, started volunteering at Lennox School District. He was impressed by the bright, motivated students at LMS and almost equally astonished to find out that a number of those students had not been out of that 1.3 square mile community. Dr. Langer noted that “progression of a student through high school to graduation was problematic; entry to a four-year college, a rarity. Many of the students had never travelled outside the district in their lives!” After all, the ocean is only a couple of miles away, yet many students had never seen it. “This Depression kid immediately identified with these twelve- to thirteen-year-olds,” said Dr. Langer.

Using the LMS-UCLA-Howard Hughes partnership as a springboard, Dr. Langer came to the principal and vice principal of LMS and pitched an idea for a scholarship program to assist students who showed academic promise. The partnership had the following goal: That motivated but economically and culturally disadvantaged students are not limited by their environment but are assured of progressing to a level determined only by their own considerable talents to the end that they will be competitive for entry into four-year colleges with scholarship aid. “That first year, we interviewed about 75 kids and out of those, picked seven to be in the program,” says Meg Sanchez, then LMS assistant-principal and current PSP Board Chair. “Once those kids finished at LMS, those students were sent to a private high school in Playa del Ray in order to keep them on track, in lieu of keeping them with mentors through high school.” Proving far too costly, the private school component was done away with and replaced with mentorship through high school.

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New PSP mentor, Jesus Herrera

January 24, 2017 in Articles

One of Partnership Scholars Program’s newest mentors, Jesus Herrera, is not new to mentorship or to PSP. Jesus first became a part of PSP when he was inducted as a new 7th grade scholar at Lennox Middle School in 2004. Jesus remembers having a positive experience with the program as a student, saying he truly benefited from the many experiences PSP afforded him that he would not have had otherwise. Ten years later, while leading a tour for PSP scholars of his now alma mater USC, Jesus was urged by current Board Chair and mentor, Meg Sanchez, to come back to the program and mentor.

After a little over a year mentoring with PSP, Jesus finds he is reaping the benefits of being a mentor, bonding with his scholars. “I try to choose places that I haven’t been, that way both they and I get to learn and experience new things,” says Jesus. “For two of my scholars, they are older brothers. They haven’t said straight out, but it’s kind of like they see me more than just a mentor, but like an older brother or a father figure.”

All three are all in 10th grade, and he describes them as very energetic teenagers who pose the usual challenges. “For the most part they have the same school schedule, but they have different outside-of-school commitments,” says Jesus. “Communication issues are something a challenge; we’ve made some progress there. I’ve figured out times that work best and I’ve learned that it’s okay that at times only two of them can make it – or one.”

Jesus has set some goals for himself, as well as for his scholars.

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Spotlight on PSP senior: Erick Pech

November 18, 2016 in Articles

queen-mary-erick-pechHawthorne Academy senior Erick Pech has been keeping himself busy this year with school clubs, a part-time job and, most importantly: Upcoming college decisions. Erick has proven himself to be an outstanding student and was nominated by Partnership Scholars Program to be a 2016 Posse Scholar earlier this year. One of three nominees from PSP’s senior class, Erick underwent a highly competitive, rigorous interview process and is now amongst a small pool of semifinalists.

With his mentor, John Ely, Erick has been able to visit several college campuses and participate in activities that he calls a “nice distraction” from the pressures of school. Erick is exploring many college possibilities, focusing first on his University of California and California State University applications. “At the moment I’m thinking about biomedical engineering,” says Erick, considering private, out-of-state options as well, including Dickenson College. After visiting the school during PSP’s New York trip in the summer of 2015, Erick became interested in Dickenson’s three-two year program. “You do three years at Dickenson and then finish off two years at their partner school,” says Erick. In the meantime, Erick is working with his mentor and John’s wife, Meg Sanchez, on applications and letters of recommendations.

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