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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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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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Ukiah scholars hit the slopes

March 21, 2017 in Articles

When initially mapping out the six years ahead of them, many mentors come up with a “must do” list with their scholars. For example, when mentors realize that many scholars have never taken a trip to the beach, a trip to the coast goes right up to the top of the list. For Ukiah mentor Kim Roth, a ski trip became a “must do” as soon as she found out very few PSP scholars had been to the mountains. “When we first sat down and thought through what they could do in the first two years of being in the program, I thought about things we did with our kids,” says Kim. “I said, ‘Have you guys ever been to the snow?’ and they said no. I just think it’s one of those things that everyone should experience.” So she started talking with fellow mentors and some of the scholars in Ukiah about what they thought of taking a ski trip over the winter. Two other mentors stepped up – Elizabeth DeVinny and Roseanne Ibarra – and eight scholars were on board, and with one of the snowiest winters upon them, the Ukiah group was ready to take on a weekend trip to Dodge Ridge.

Like with most PSP overnight trips, the idea behind the weekend excursion was to have the students experience something new, get out of their element, and challenge themselves. Planning for the trip began last summer. “Originally we had thought about going up to Tahoe, but it was too costly,” says Kim. “My son was working up at Dodge Ridge and I realized it was much more affordable. It was a way more family friendly ski place than Tahoe: There was no traffic, no crowd, and no waiting in long lines.” Dodge Ridge is just east of Sonora at Pinecrest, in Northern California’s High Sierra Mountains. The three mentors and eight scholars stayed in Sonora, about a 30 minute drive from the ski area. Going as a big group – a mixture of five eighth, two ninth and one tenth grader – the scholars were able to bond in the car, overnight at the hotel, and then on the ski slopes. “At the beginning they weren’t that talkative,” says Roseanne. “Within a couple hours, they were talking and laughing.

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PSP’s Scholar Abroad: Spotlight on Jonas Anderson

October 26, 2016 in Articles

ja-2There is bravery in venturing out of one’s comfort zone. The Partnership Scholars Program in large part focuses on fostering this very bravery in our scholars, encouraging them to try new things, explore all possibilities and answer when opportunity knocks. Upon entry into PSP, many students in the program find it hard to imagine leaving their small communities, let alone traveling across the country. Some see the scholarship as a means to begin exploring the world. One such scholar is Jonas Anderson, recent Ukiah High School graduate and current Rotary International Youth Exchange Ambassador in Paraguay where he is studying for a year before starting college.

Jonas first heard about the Rotary Youth Exchange program two years ago when a friend applied. At the time, Jonas’s mother was working for a local nonprofit organization that was doing a presentation for the exchange program and asked Jonas if he was interested in applying. Having taken four years of Spanish in high school, studying in Paraguay or Argentina made sense to him. “Most people do their junior year of high school,” says Jonas. “I was a little late to that, so I got everything out of the way early.” Jonas completed all of his high school requirements last year and walked with the graduating class of 2016.  Essentially, his year in Paraguay functions as a “gap year” as he continues to take high school classes through the exchange program beginning college in the United States next fall. “Right now what I do is I go to school five days a week at a high school here and I try to follow along in Spanish and Guarani, the indigenous language,” says Jonas.
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