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Nine UCI undergraduates from the School of Social Ecology will be assigned a small group of BT middle school students, who will meet weekly for tutoring, and community-building, as part of a pilot to address pandemic learning loss and disconnection. As one of the interns described this opportunity:
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“Breakthrough is about perseverance, overcoming fear, and pursuing personal growth. In the time of COVID-19, it is more important than ever to help students from underrepresented backgrounds achieve higher education and grow their career passions and beyond.”
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12 – 16 months of estimated learning loss for students of color was recently reported by McKinsey. The American Psychological Association noted that “the pandemic itself has caused much worry, stress, and grief” for youth. These are the challenges we’re hoping to address with our virtual learning pod pilot.
Thank you to our incredible interns for your commitment to expanding educational opportunity and the UCI School of Education’s doctoral students, Yenda Prado and Taffeta Wood, for providing the virtual learning pod instructional training!
Yenda wrote a blog on “Pods for the People” last fall, in which our pilot is modeled after.
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BT High School Seniors Get Early College Acceptances
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Thirty-one BT high school seniors (our largest class yet!) have submitted over one hundred and forty-four college applications, with an average of four applications per student.
Even through the pandemic's disruptions, with the leadership of BT Director for College Access and Completion, Sam Geary, and our eighteen college mentors, students have continued to stay on track to fulfill their college aspirations. Mentors meet monthly with their mentees and help them edit college essays, create college lists, apply to colleges and scholarships, and so much more. They are community members and BT student alum wanting to close gaps to educational access with individualized guidance.
Several seniors have received early admissions decisions, and we anticipate more decisions in the coming months. As one senior said about her journey applying to college this year:
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“To be honest, I felt overwhelmed at first about the college application process. However, Breakthrough does a really good job of keeping you on track with deadlines and milestones along the way. Each month, we have a BT meeting where Sam goes over valuable resources, advice, and so much more.
I'm also so grateful that I have a college mentor because she helps A TON to keep me accountable and guide me on the application process.
Overall, it feels so great that I've finished my college applications and have already received some early decisions. Thank you so much BT!!”
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If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a BT college mentor, feel free to contact Sam Geary at samantha.geary@smes.org
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BT Families Join the Nourishing Neighbors Project
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The level of food insecurity has dramatically increased, especially among children during the pandemic. Through the BT Family Emergency Fund established last April to send grocery cards to BT families, we’ve provided some needed aid.
To build more long-term sustainability around addressing food insecurity, we’re excited to partner with The Ecology Center to connect our BT families to their Nourishing Neighbors Project. As described by the center:
“The Ecology Center believes in a culture that gives more than it takes. We put this belief into action with our commitment of donating 20% of what we grow to feed food-insecure families in our neighborhood and community. Our 28-acre regenerative organic farm, located in the heart of San Juan Capistrano, has been designed to produce the highest quality, fruits, vegetables, berries, herbs, and flowers – enough to nourish 750 families every week.”
We’re grateful for this partnership that will help fifteen BT families with weekly produce boxes. Thank you to The Ecology Center and its generous supporters for making this possible!
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BT Director, with BT National’s Director for Research and Evaluation, Get Published Blog in UCI’s Online Learning Research Center
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Dr. Jee Deogracias (BT National Director for Reserach and Evaluation) and Alex Serna (BT Executive Director) recently published a blog on UC Irvine's Online Learning Research Center website. It focuses on practices to build relationships and community online. An excerpt describes findings from this summer's virtual program:
"The successful summer reestablished in our minds that forging relationships and building community are critical components to student engagement and academic learning. While teaching and learning virtually can create physical distance between teachers, students, and peers, leading to feelings of isolation and disconnection, some practices can mitigate those challenges."
Special thanks to Dr. Mark Warschauer and Dr. Tamara Tate for the opportunity to showcase our findings from the Breakthrough Collaborative's summer 2020 white paper.
You can read the full blog here: https://www.olrc.us/blog
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Help Grow BT's Community!
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Our impact is only possible through our community, individuals like you who follow our happenings, volunteer, mentor, advocate, or donate. We couldn’t do it without you.
Please consider forwarding this newsletter to friends, family or colleagues who you think would want to join our community. A community that's expanding educational opportunity, and ultimately, breaking the cycle of poverty through the power of education.
For others to subscribe to this monthly newsletter, and other BT communications, they can fill out this form: http://bit.ly/BTSJCnews
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Thank you for your continued support!
Warmest Regards,
Alex Serna, Executive Director
Sam Geary, Director for College Access & Completion
Qunsia Daniel, Director for Middle & Early High School
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