SRA Student News

Friday, 01 of June, 2007

ARCHIVED NEWSLETTERS:

SPRING 2007 NEWSLETTER

Meet the New SRA Class of 2007 and our most recent College Graduates.
Here are their stories:

Jessica Acosta
(Terra Linda High School – Colby College)
Jessica has grown up coping with her mom’s alcoholism and at times, Jessica was the only source of income for the family. She has also cared for her disabled younger sister who has taught her about love and the joys of family. An outstanding student, Jessica received the Horatio Alger National Scholarship and is looking forward to attending Colby College.

Monique Apodaca
(American High School – UC Irvine)
Monique grew up in a turbulent home and remembers sadly the night her baby sister died of SIDS. That memory and her passion for education fuels her desire to become a pediatrician.

Tiffany Camero
(Skyline High School – UC Santa Cruz)
Tiffany had a difficult childhood, her mom would keep her out of school for days confined to a small room. By age 14, Tiffany had no one to rely on except herself. An act of kindness from a family member saved her. With persistence and determination, Tiffany finished high school and is now ready to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer.

Ari Colby
(Albany High School – San Francisco State University)
Ari grew up with few family rules or family structure. He was placed in foster care five times before finally leaving his substance-dependent mother. Upon entering 4th grade, he could barely read. Ari worked hard to catch-up academically and now looks forward to attending SFSU.

Vania Ellison (Casa Grande High School – CSU Northridge)
Vania is the daughter of hearing impaired parents and learned both English and Sign Language. She is responsible for taking care of her mom who also suffers from cerebral palsy. Vania’s life abruptly changed when her father attacked her mom. Vania and her mom were forced to relocate to a different city to ensure their safety. Education has proven to be Vania’s salvation and she wants to become a professional Sign Language interpreter.

Amily He
(Skyline High School – Harvard University)
Amily was the only member of her family to speak fluent English when they emigrated from China. When a major domestic violence situation disrupted her life, she called 911 for help and served as the family interpreter for her mother in the subsequent legal proceedings. Faced with increasing financial pressure, Amily became a math tutor and helped her mom get a job. With offers from MIT, Stanford, and UC Berkeley, Amily will attend Harvard (our first SRA student to attend Harvard!)

Josué Herández (Castlemont, Business & Information Technology – UC Santa Barbara)
Josué is now a ward of the court but before that he was living on his own. Kicked out of his house as a teenager, Josué left with all his worldly possessions in a trash bag. Desperate, Josué never thought a stranger would save his life. The security guard at Mills College accidentally met him and brought him home to live with her family. The hope she provided was all Josué needed to go back to school where he is the student body president.

Cierra Hill
(Middle College High School – University of Virginia, Richmond)
Cierra suffered a child’s worst nightmare; her mother abandoned her and her little sisters and was later found dead in the Sacramento River. With her mother gone, Cierra was homeless and life became increasingly difficult. Cierra clung onto her passion for mathematics and school where she excelled as a student.

Leelawan Kaewsawang
(Berkeley High School – Mount Holyoke College)
Leelawan did not speak English when she emigrated from Thailand in 2001. When her father returned to Thailand, Lee and her sisters stayed with their step mom who forced them to work full-time at her restaurant. Working long hours, she barely had time to complete her homework before going to bed in the early hours of the morning. Lee and her sisters now live with a caring foster family and she will be the first in her family to attend college.

Souly Nachamphone
(Pittsburg High School – UC Berkeley)
Souly promised her mom she would go to college and that is precisely where she is headed. However, life has been hard for this Laotian girl and her family. Her mom passed away from cancer and her father abandoned the family. Souly wants to go to college to make her parents proud and to help support her sisters.

Anastasia Novozhilova
(Vintage High School –Brandeis University)
Anastasia’s family faced poverty when they moved to the Bay Area from Russia. For a time she and her family lived in their car in Golden Gate Park until she was placed into foster care. She stayed with four foster care families until she found a home with a counselor at her school. Anastasia has studied hard earning a 4.2 GPA and is excited about attending Brandeis.

Ali Rucker (Novato High School – Wellesley College)
Ali is passionate about music and is an accomplished jazz singer and musician. Her avocation was her source of comfort as she watched her family succumb to alcoholism. Ali wants to be a music and history teacher after college and help others accomplish their dreams. Recently, Ali was invited to play in the Marin Symphony Orchestra.

Christian Sanchez
(Clayton Valley High School – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)
Christian’s family emigrated from Mexico and his parents worked hard to support the family. Tragically last August, Christian’s father was robbed and murdered and Christian has assumed greater responsibility for the family. His mother works two jobs now and Christian is responsible for his little brother. Christian will be the first in his family to go to college.

Alvin Somwaru
(Albany High School – San Francisco State University)
Alvin immigrated to the US with his mother and brother at age 13. Life in Guyana was difficult. His childhood was defined by poverty and violence and he would frequently skip class. By the time Alvin entered school in the US, he could barely read or write. Thanks to the help of his teachers he will finish high school and attend college.

Alfonso Taylor
(St. Mary’s College High School – Ohio Wesleyan University)
Alfonso and his siblings found the strength to stay together and to protect each other from the physical and emotional abuse they suffered from relatives after their father killed their mother. He wants to follow in the footsteps of his siblings who are also SRA students; his sister Kimberly graduated from UC Berkeley, and his brother José is attending New York’s Manhattanville College.


Graduate News!
Congratulations to our newest graduates:

Oralia Behena
(SRA 2002) Graduating from UCLA

Kenny Bargas
(SRA 2000) Graduating from UC Berkeley

Latasha Brown
(SRA 2002) Graduating from San Francisco State University

Billy Kopeikin
(SRA 2002) Graduating from University of Oregon

Edward Smith Lewis
(SRA 2003) Graduating from Morehouse College, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude

Enoc Lira
(SRA 2001) Graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Shirley Liu
(SRA 2003) Graduating from UC Berkeley

Bianca Yarborough
(SRA 2003) Graduating from UC Irvine



Record Breaking Fourth Annual Gala – A Resounding Success!
The numbers say it all:

501 = Supporters in attendance (up from 384 last year)
$331,000 = Net proceeds raised (nearly $100,000 more than last year)
$189,000 = Dollars contributed to the “Off to College” Fund
Over 40 = Students attended
One-of-a-kind = Sherrice Perry, our student speaker, raised by a single mother in West Oakland, graduated from Brown University, completed graduate studies at Oxford University and is now working in Governor Schwarzenegger’s office
One-in-a-million = Ed Lowe received the second annual Donna Gaetano Award for Volunteer Excellence
33% = the percentage increase in the number of students selected into our new class as a result of the success from the Gala

Our thanks to the many kind and generous people who help our students realize their dream of going to college. Your belief in our students proves that when a community invests in hard working students, the returns are priceless.

A special thank you to this year’s Gala Committee for their extraordinary efforts in creating a memorable evening for our students and guests: Bryce Anderson, Cathy Boutros, Nino Gaetano, Mimi Gorin, Jennifer Kockos, Jim McFadden, Laurie Munos, Suzanne Bartholemy Plue, Gloria Robinson, Carrie Rosencrans, Loren Simpelo, Sheri Stray, Jim Wallace.

Join us next year for our 5th Annual Gala on Thursday, April 3, 2008, at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. Cocktail Reception begins at 5:30; Dinner and Program at 7:00 PM.


Highlight News

Wendy Tokuda Returns to KPIX
Wendy returns to KPIX and is co-anchoring the 5:00 PM news. She will begin profiling SRA students in June, November and December.

SRA Website Complete
Through a generous grant from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, we have redesigned our website to streamline the student application process, increase community awareness about SRA, and provide opportunities for our students, donors, and volunteers to stay involved in our program. Please send us your comments regarding our new website.