College systems, financial aid, UC/CSU admissions, and high school requirements were some of the important college prep topics covered at the 2008 College Family Conference at Porter College and College Eight on April 12. About 300 middle school students and families from Chualar Elementary, Fairview Middle School, and Vista Verde Middle School in south Monterey County gathered for the special all-day event to explore college and career options and learn about academic preparation and other steps to take for success on the college-going pathway.

“The goal of the conference is not for parents to be able to recite the A-G high school requirements. Rather, we want to empower parents to know what questions to ask, where to go for help, and feel motivated to seek out the support that is available to them through our programs and other resources at the school, district, and county office of education,” said Maria Leyva, EPC South Zone Assistant Director for South Monterey County.

The conference is part of EPC’s ongoing efforts to improve student academic achievement and increase college-going rates, especially for students from low-income and underserved communities. Dr. Eduardo Mosqueda, UCSC Assistant Professor of Education, was the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony, joining Elise Herrera-Mahoney, Chief of Staff for the Institute for Science and Global Policy. “The presence of parents here today is a testament to their commitment to their child’s education,” said Dr. Mosqueda.

Over the last few months, EPC has hosted other family conferences across the region, including a first-ever event for 200 families from north Monterey County at CSU Monterey Bay, which was a successful collaboration between the institutions and programs like GEAR UP, EAOP, Talent Search, and Upward Bound. In February, EPC partnered with the Pajaro Valley Unified School District on the district-wide “Highlight to the Future: College & Career Family Conference,” leveraging the resources and expertise of multiple education outreach efforts to help students and families prepare for life after high school.

EPC was recently awarded a $15,000 planning grant from Bank of America Charitable Foundation to launch the Santa Cruz Education Collaborative, a partnership of K-12, higher education, community, and business leaders focused on improving student learning and building a college-going culture in the Santa Cruz City Schools. With strong support from Superintendent Alan Pagano, school principals, community-based agencies, and Cabrillo College, EPC has convened the Collaborative and established task forces to collect and analyze student outcomes data, map local assets, identify collaboration opportunities, and develop a comprehensive plan to serve students and families in support of the intersegmental alliance.

Also strengthening the partnership between UCSC and Santa Cruz is EPC’s University-Community Engagement (UCE) project, a community-driven, university-supported effort to support African heritage youth and families in Santa Cruz on the college-going pathway. With a $30,000 grant from UC Office of the President for CY 2008, EPC is again partnering with a local community-based organization, Second Saturday Network, to deliver a variety of special events, college awareness and exploration activities, and sustained follow-up with students. EPC hosted a successful African Heritage Youth Retreat on campus last November and is organizing another bus trip for students to visits area college campuses. Also, through the MESA Schools Program, EPC is implementing a mathematics tutoring program at Santa Cruz High School. The UCE partnership serves as a catalyst for meaning university-community collaborations to work as equal partners on efforts to close achievement gaps and build each other’s capacity to support student success. EPC was awarded a $25,000 grant from UCOP last year to launch the pilot UCE project in 2007.

Balsawood bridges, mousetrap cars, model bisected hearts, and trebuchets were some of the engineering designs part of the 2008 MESA Day Preliminary Competition, hosted by the Educational Partnership Center at the UCSC Jack Baskin School of Engineering on Saturday, March 15, 2008. Nearly 300 middle and high school students from 12 partner schools in Santa Cruz, Watsonville/Pajaro Valley, Castroville, Soledad, and Salinas competed with science, engineering, and mathematics projects, part of the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Schools Program.

MESA Day is the culmination of students’ year-long efforts. Working with their MESA Teacher Advisors, students follow curricula designed to reinforce California State Math and Science Standards. The hands-on MESA projects allow students to directly apply important academic concepts that help them succeed on the college-going pathway and in their future careers. “We want to encourage bright minds to stay in math, science, and engineering and dream big and not lose their interest in these fields. MESA is an important part of our ongoing efforts to build college-bound communities, and this event helps celebrate students’ success and rewards their hard work,” said Carrol Moran, EPC executive director.

MESA Day also provides an engaging climate for students to meet and interact with engineers, university faculty and researchers, undergraduates, and business professionals. Volunteers from Cisco Systems, City of Santa Cruz, Lockheed Martin, Kaiser Permanente, and other firms joined UCSC economics and marine biology faculty as competition judges. About 200 EPC staff and university volunteers, undergraduate Academic Interns, parents, and guest judges helped to make MESA Day a huge success.

The Educational Partnership Center was recently awarded two grants from College Access Foundation of California, totaling $260,000 for scholarship programs to benefit students in Watsonville and San Jose. Last year, EPC established these scholarship funds with generous funding from the foundation to support college-bound, financially disadvantaged students from Watsonville High School and San Jose-area high schools that partner with EPC on student academic preparation programs such as GEAR UP/EAOP and San Jose Cal-SOAP/EAOP, respectively. Students attend a variety of two- and four-year colleges and universities, including UC Santa Cruz and other UC campuses.

In 2008, EPC will award $132,000 in renewed scholarships to some of the 76 recipients of the Silicon Valley College Success Scholarship Fund to help students continue on the college pathway, working in partnership with Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Similarly, in partnership with MAIA Foundation, the Watsonville College Success Scholarship Fund will award $100,000 scholarships in both renewed support for some of last year’s recipients as well as new scholarships to graduating seniors from Watsonville and Pajaro Valley High Schools. These scholarship funds help to meet the financial needs of students and motivate them to make their college dreams a reality. The flexibility of the privately-funded scholarship programs also allows EPC to support students who cannot access other forms of federal and state student aid. Over the course of two years, EPC will award a total of $482,000 in scholarships to college-going students across the region.

For more than a decade, the Educational Partnership Center has been hosting high school students for an annual Job Shadowing Day. On April 20, 33 tenth grade students from North Monterey County High School, one of EPC’s partner schools, came to UCSC and were mentored by staff across the campus. Many of the students were surprised to see such professional diversity and were excited to learn more about a range of careers. The students prepared months in advance through in-class interview skills, resume writing, and learning about professional conduct. Mentors introduced the students to their job and described their college and career pathways as well as provided advice on students’ resume and answered any other questions. The Job Shadowing Day is a valuable opportunity for UCSC staff to impact the lives of students and help build college-going communities.

On Tuesday, March 13, 2007, Watsonville Mayor Manuel Bersamin and the City Council issued a formal Proclamation recognizing the impact of the UC Santa Cruz Educational Partnership Center and its many academic preparation programs serving students, families, teachers, and schools in Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley region. Mayor Bersamin described the Educational Partnership Center as an "engine of educational attainment" and recognized UCSC and EPC for assisting the youth and larger community of Watsonville to "greater economic, social, and educational advancement." The Educational Partnership Center has had a direct impact on the economic development of Watsonville and its future growth potential. Programs such as the Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP), GEAR UP, and MESA Schools program act as a "catalyst for students..... provide opportunities [for students] to explore options beyond high school," said Mayor Bersamin

University of California President Robert C. Dynes toured Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties on March 22-23, 2007 and made a stop at Watsonville High School to learn more about the UC student academic preparation programs in place through the school’s collaboration with the Educational Partnership Center. “If you continue your education, if you go to college, the world opens up,” said Dynes to the students, teachers, and education representatives in attendance. The visit highlighted the ongoing efforts to build a college-going culture at the high school and improve student academic achievement and increase college-going rates.

More than 300 middle and high school students from schools across Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties came to UCSC March 10 for a full day of engineering and math competitions at the UCSC Baskin School of Engineering. “This event marks the culmination of months of hard work and preparation by the students,” said Bronwyn Moreno-Metal, director of the MESA Schools Program. The competition, including building a model balsawood bridge, mousetrap car, and model bisected heart gives students a chance to test their skills against their peers. Top winners advance to regional and, in some cases, national competitions. Students also attended a special Student Organizations and Resources Fair to learn more about the programs and resources available to support student success at UCSC, such as student-run organizations from the engineering school and the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS).

Download results of MESA Day Preliminary Competition 2007 (PDF)

About 650 students and families from EPC’s partner middle and high schools across Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties attended the all-day College Family Conference on the UCSC campus on February 24, 2007, which featured workshops about A-G and preparing for college, financial aid and scholarships, and college/student life. “Parents need to hear from other parents that college is possible for all kids. Students cannot imagine college in their future is they have no experience. At the conference, families toured the campus together and heard from undergraduates what college life is really like,” said Carrol Moran, executive director of the EPC. UCSC Acting Chancellor George Blumenthal spoke at the opening ceremony along with other students and parents who provided their inspirational stories about their path to college. More than 25 organizations participated in the College and Community Resources Fair.

In January 2007, the Educational Partnership Center, in collaboration with its many school, district, county, and community partners, launched the new “Building a College-Bound Community” GEAR UP partnership program in south Monterey County, serving about 900 sixth and seventh grade students at Chualar Elementary School, Fairview Middle School, and Vista Verde Middle School. The six-year, $4.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education will provide academic and college advising, tutoring, counseling, and coaching for students, as well as professional development in language and mathematics for teachers and outreach to families about college planning and financial aid.

In December, the Educational Partnership Center was awarded a University-Community Engagement Grant of more than $25,000 to support the “Success Through Collaboration: Aligning University-Community Student Services” project. Funding from the UC Office of the President will expand the EPC’s services locally in Santa Cruz through a partnership with the Second Saturday Education and Culture Network, a community-based agency with a strong network of educators, community members, families, and volunteers. “We are excited to be collaborating with a local, established organization on this community-driven, university-supported project. Second Saturday Network has a standing tradition of working successfully with African heritage youth in the city of Santa Cruz,” said Pablo Reguerin, EPC Deputy Director. Over the course of 2007, EPC will collaboratively develop a community-based outreach model to offer cultural and educational activities and services with the goals of improving academic achievement and preparing students for success on the college-going pathway.

The Educational Partnership Center was recently awarded a two-year, $180,000 UC-Community College Joint Transfer Initiative for Access and Success grant from the UC Office of the President for the “Bridge to Transfer Partnerships” initiative. The new project will address the need to create more effective, efficient pathways for community college students through early identification of high school students moving on to community college and collaborative partnerships between K-12 and higher education institutions. Working with four regional community colleges—Evergreen Valley College, Hartnell College, Monterey Peninsula College, and San Jose City College—the EPC will work with its high school and UC partners to increase matriculation and enrollment among educationally disadvantaged students in community college and increase community college transfer rates to the UC system.

With funding support from College Access Foundation of California, the EPC has established the “Watsonville College Success Scholarship Fund,” which will award $100,000 in scholarships to graduating, college-bound seniors at Watsonville High School. The EPC is working in close partnership with the MAIA Foundation, WHS, and the Pajaro Valley Unified School District on this new scholarship program. In San Jose, the EPC has established the “Silicon Valley College Success Scholarship Fund,” which will award $140,000 in scholarships to college-bound seniors at San Jose-area partner high schools with the EPC’s Cal-SOAP/EAOP programs. For this fund, the EPC is collaborating with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. For both scholarship programs, the deadline to submit applications is March 23, 2007.

In April 2006, EPC was awarded a $50,000 grant from the NCCEP/AT&T Foundation to establish a new after-school mathematics, science, technology program a North Monterey County Middle School during the 2006-07 academic year. UCSC academic interns have teamed up with teachers to bring science and math to life, providing academic enrichment activities and giving many of the children their first glimpse of college life. Many of the seventh- and eighth-grade students participating in the program will be the first in their family to go to college, noted principal David Burke. After-school activities that offer different modes of teaching can help reach students who otherwise might not succeed in the traditional classroom environment, he said. "Hands-on learning is the key to inspiring and motivating these students to higher levels of achievement," said Burke.