Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month Workshops Begin Highlights Thank You Ways to Give

Join us in celebrating the contributions and influence Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx communities have had on the United States. This month, we invite you to learn more about what makes this 30-day celebration so meaningful. To kick off our celebration, we recognize Dr. Ellen Ochoa's success as the first Hispanic women to go to space.

Dr. Ellen Ochoa NASA Astronaut Ochoa joined NASA in 1988 as a research engineer at Ames Research Center and moved to Johnson Space Center in 1990 when she was selected as an astronaut. She became the first Hispanic woman to go to space when she served on the nine-day STS-56 mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1993. She has flown in space four times, including STS-66, STS-96 and STS-110, spending nearly 1,000 hours in orbit. Born in California, Ochoa earned a bachelor's degree in physics from San Diego State University and a master's degree and doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

Workshops Begin BLCI workshops are back in session! Students 3rd grade through 12th grade joined BLCI staff on Monday, September 21 for the first virtual workshops of the school year. BLCI staff also joined parents for a virtual parent meeting. Parents learned what services and opportunities are available to them this year through BLCI. Thank you to all of our families for a great kick off to the school year!

Highlights

Emely Rodriguez BLCI Class of 2020 On September 15th, Emely participated in a local TV segment where she shared her BLCI experience. For Emely, it was one of the easiest interviews to give. Her mom, Adriana, and little brother, Esteban, joined her, and it was all smiles. They all felt right at home. Emely, who joined BLCI in 3rd grade, is one of many success stories and a result of what our "Secret Sauce" can develop. Emely is now headed to UC San Diego. Her story will be featured on local television, but the impact of her success will change everything around her. Emely's little brother now has a role model to follow and knows that college is in his future. Just like Esteban, Emely is also following the example of her sister Sarabi, a BLCI Alumnus, who is now a UC Berkeley graduate. We congratulate Emely and the Rodriguez family for being a great example of taking advantage of opportunities!

Olimpia Vázquez Ojeda Upward Bound Program Coordinator Born and raised in Tijuana, Olimpia graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Anthropology. She is a bilingual, bicultural educator with a passion for transformative, student-centered teaching. Olimpia joined BLCI as a part-time Instructional Advisor in February 2018. This September, Olimpia accepted a new position - Upward Bound Program Coordinator. Congratulations Olimpia! As the Upward Bound Program Coordinator, Olimpia is excited to maximize student development opportunities. "I am looking forward to working with team members, partners, community organizers, and families who are seeking to support students as they thrive into this 'new normal'."

Thank You to The San Diego Foundation and San Diego County Employees’ Charitable Organization for your generous computer donations. Thanks to you, our staff will be fully equipped to take on this virtual school year and guide our students to success!

Add BLCI as your preferred charity on Amazon Smile, and Amazon will donate to BLCI every time you make a purchase. Your generous support will get our students a step closer to making college a reality. Give through Amazon

Donate Today!  With your help, our students will continue to enroll in top universities around the nation and be given the tools needed to succeed.  Donate Online

Thank You to our Partners We want to give a big thank you to our partners. Our partners have helped us reach our goals and push forward to help our community.

Our Partners

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