Hello, welcome to our April Newsletter!
Spring is here! We are excited about new partnerships,
teacher surveys, and of course, COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES!
Read more and please consider making a tax-deductible donation.

Breakthrough Seniors Receive College Acceptance Letters

This spring, Breakthrough’s seniors have been receiving exciting news from college admissions offices all over the country. Although we won’t know exactly where our seniors will attend college until May, here is a partial list of schools Breakthrough seniors have been accepted to so far:

Boston University
Cal Poly Pomona
CSU East Bay
CSU Monterey Bay
CSU Stansilaus
Johns Hopkins University
McDaniels College
New York University
Northwestern University
Regis University
San Diego State University
San Francisco State University
San Jose State
Stanford University
Syracuse University
UC Berkeley
UC Irvine
UC Los Angeles
UC San Diego
University of the Pacific
University of San Francisco
Whittier College

75% of Breakthrough Teachers Enter Careers in Education

Jia Liu came from a family of engineers and believed that he would eventually become an engineer too. However, after a summer of teaching at Breakthrough, Jia’s future changed! Now, Jia has been teaching high school science in San Jose for the past three years.

According to our recent Teaching Alumni Survey, 75% of former Breakthrough teachers have pursued careers in education after college. Many credit Breakthrough for opening their eyes and stirring a passion for entering the teaching profession. “Breakthrough turned me on to teaching,” says Jia. “My experiences as a Breakthrough teacher showed me the impact a good teacher can have on a student. I got hooked on the idea of being a professional educator.”

Breakthrough teacher alumni also become more committed to working for the well-being of children with limited educational opportunities, as reported by 70% of those surveyed. One of our former teachers said that “before Breakthrough my original plan was to move to some glamorous part of Southern California where I could teach in some rich school and get paid a large salary. After coming to Breakthrough I realized that I wanted to teach students like my Breakthrough students for the rest of my life. I decided that once I graduated, I would get my teaching credentials and work in Downtown San Jose.

Breakthrough Partners with Teach for America, The Glow Foundation, Notre Dame High School and Deloitte

Breakthrough and Teach For America (TFA) recently launched a strategic partnership to build a pipeline for outstanding Breakthrough teaching alumni to enter TFA. Breakthrough teaching alumni are three times more likely than other college graduates to be hired by TFA. “So many Breakthrough alumni have been phenomenal corps members because they bring a tremendous dedication to and demonstrated experience in achieving the mission of ensuring that all children attain an excellent education,” says Josh Griggs, VP of Admissions at TFA. “We are very excited about this partnership, and believe it will inspire even more talented Breakthrough graduates to continue and build upon their great work by becoming Teach For America corps members.”

Breakthrough high school students will participate in a two-year long financial literacy and college financial aid program thanks to a new partnership with the Glow Foundation. The financial barrier to college for low-income students is not just about money, but also about having adequate financial skills and access to information. This new partnership will provide Breakthrough students critical financial literacy and planning skills that will help them succeed in college and beyond.

Notre Dame High School (NDSJ), and Deloitte have also joined to help Breakthrough students pursue their path to college. Deloitte’s financial support is allowing NDSJ to be one of Breakthrough’s afterschool sites and will provide scholarships to Breakthrough girls. “Notre Dame’s community partnership with Breakthrough Silicon Valley and Deloitte enables young women, who might not otherwise have the financial and academic opportunity, to thrive in a rigorous school environment”, says Ann Skeet, Notre Dame’s president.

Welcome to our Fall Newsletter! We have lots of great news to share with you as we approach the end of the year: two students received one of the nation’s top scholarships; post-summer surveys showed positive feedback from students, parents and teachers; and our afterschool and high school programs are in full gear! Read more, and as the year comes to a close, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Breakthrough Silicon Valley.

Our Students

Breakthrough Students Receive Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship!

Two 8th grade Breakthrough students have been named recipients of one of the nation’s most prestigious scholarships – the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Young Scholar Award!

Isabella Berkley and Denisse Oceguera were two of only 50 students nationwide selected for the award, though more than a thousand were nominated. The Jack Kent Cooke scholarship is based on excellence in academic endeavors, extracurricular activities, a strong will to succeed, and financial need. The Young Scholars Program “provides one of the most personalized, generous scholarship experiences in the nation,” according to the Foundation. It provides financial support and guidance throughout high school for summer opportunities, music and art courses and other extra-curricular interests scholars may have.

Isabella said when she found out she won, she “was both happy and hyper” and after it sunk in for a few minutes the enormity of the award made her tear up. “I feel proud of myself for putting in all the hard work,” she said, “and very appreciative of the Breakthrough staff who supported me getting into this program.”

Rich Harris, III, Breakthrough’s Program Co-Director, said, “It’s almost unheard of for an individual program or school to have two scholars selected. The award confirms how amazing, talented and exceptional both Denisse and Isabella are.”

According to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, “the program was founded on the idea that if you give high achieving students with financial need the guidance and resources necessary for them to excel during high school, college and beyond, their greatness will emerge”.

Breakthrough Silicon Valley has had a previous Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholar: Moises Alcaraz is currently a Junior at Bellarmine College Prep. Previous Young Scholars have attended some of the nation’s most selective colleges and universities including UC Berkeley, Williams and Yale University.

Congratulations to Isabella Berkeley and Dennisse Oceguera!

Our Program: Summer Session 2010

Outcomes From The Summer Session

Breakthrough Silicon Valley summers are intense six-week academic sessions where students are presented with challenging courses that range from Chemistry to Computer Programming.  After a summer devoted to hours in the classroom and more hours hitting the books at home, the students end the summer more confident and academically motivated than ever before.

The 2010 summer according to students’ post surveys:

• 94% of students agree or strongly agree that BSV’s summer program has been a meaningful and positive experience

• 94% of students agree or strongly agree that BSV’s summer program helped them be prepared and more confident for the school year.
• 93% of students agree or strongly agree that the things they learned will help them be successful at school next year.

• 91% of students agree or strongly agree that BSV teachers had high expectations of them

Thanks to pre and post-summer surveys developed by Dr. Shirley Feldman, we have been able to analyze student attitudes and behaviors at Breakthrough compared to those at school.  Overall, students at Breakthrough are more willing to follow rules, spend more time on homework, viewed their teachers as more supportive of learning and were more assertive in the classroom.

One parent remarked: “My son was really challenged in this program. He tried hard and really pushed himself. More than anything else, he has bought into the idea that being in this program will lead him to future success. He is not afraid of extra homework and he has dedicated himself in a way that is not usual for his age. This program has lit a torch in him!”  Many parents agreed and were overwhelmingly pleased with their children’s attitudes towards education and motivation to succeed.

The summer according to the parents’ post surveys:

• 100% agreed that Breakthrough offered their child academic rigor and high expectations over the summer. (80% strongly agreed with this statement)

• 100% agreed Breakthrough positively impacted their child’s attitude toward learning and goals for attending college. (83% strongly agreed to this statement).

• 100% agreed that overall the Breakthrough summer was a positive and meaningful experience for their child. (85% strongly agreed).

The success of every Breakthrough student is a result of the incredible commitment made by parents, staff and the dedicated and hardworking high school and college-age teachers.  By the end of the summer, these older students were deeply changed as well.

The summer according to teachers’ post survey:

• 58% said they are quite a bit or extremely interested in pursuing a career in teaching.
• 73% said their Mentor Teacher made sure what they taught and how it was taught was academically challenging.
• 65% said their Mentor Teacher offered them advice and experience in regards to pursuing a career in teaching.

While reflecting on their summer experience, a summer teacher declared, “After a summer teaching with BSV, I am dedicated to education more than I ever have been. For the first time, I feel capable of directly changing the course of events in a student’s life”.

Our Programs

The Expansion Of Breakthrough’s Afterschool and High School Programs

Breakthrough Silicon Valley has expanded the Afterschool Program and College Bound Program in order to provide BSV students with extra instruction and mentoring that can prepare them better for acceptance and success in competitive four-year colleges and universities.  The math-based Afterschool Program has expanded from one site to three, at: Hoover Middle School, Castillero Middle School and Notre Dame High School.

The Math Institute prepares 7th and 8th grade students for Geometry by 9th grade or earlier. There are 70 students from ten middle schools, and the students are taught by 16 “Math Coaches” from Bellarmine College Prep, Notre Dame, Pioneer and Leland High Schools.  All of the student-teachers have regular mentoring and training from Melanie Duffins, a full-time mathematics teacher at Notre Dame High School.

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation reports that despite many signs that point to the importance of Algebra, which often is used as an indicator of future academic success, an alarming number of students in the region do not successfully complete Algebra.  Completing Algebra is the gateway to closing the achievement gap, so ultimately, the success of the Math Institute will be based on the number of students who move on to Geometry. Last year 80% of Breakthrough students moved on to Geometry; this year, our goal is for 85% to move on to Geometry.

Breakthrough Silicon Valley continues to follow its students into high school through the College Bound Program. College Bound’s mission is to make sure each student attends a top-tier four-year university. Breakthrough is grateful to recent grants from Applied Materials and Citibank for making this initiative possible. In addition, College Bound has established powerful partnerships with Kaplan, Cash for College and FLEX College Prep to provide college readiness services.

College Bound provides: monthly college readiness workshops, ACT Prep Courses, college fieldtrips (such as a recent southern California field trip), one-on-one meetings to discuss college choices, weekly drop-in counseling and grade-specific course advising to ensure that all BSV high school students remain on a college track.  Some exciting upcoming activities in College Bound include a Personal Statement Workshop for juniors, financial aid workshops delivered by Cash for College and conferences to review college acceptances with each family.

At Breakthrough Silicon Valley (BSV), the learning never stops – nor does the fun!  Read on about our summer program’s mix of rigorous academics and engaging activities, the wonderful support we’ve been receiving from local funders, our students’ high school and college plans and, last but not least, a students-eye view of a central part of each day in the summer: the All School Meeting.

Our Students

Onwards and Upwards

As the summer closes, BSV sends good luck wishes to the students heading off to high school and college.  Part of Breakthrough’s mission is to prepare motivated middle school students for success in academically rigorous high school programs that will lead them to college.  BSV has a great track record in meeting this goal – and 2010 is no different!

We’re delighted to report that, this Fall, 30 Breakthrough graduates will be taking college preparatory courses at Bellarmine College Preparatory, KIPP San Jose Collegiate, Leland High School, Downtown College Preparatory, Lincoln High School, Pioneer High School, Gunderson High School, and San Jose High.  These hard-working students are on the path to a college education.

Adriana, a rising 9th grader, is ready to tackle the challenges awaiting her at Pioneer High School.  “I feel better prepared for high school because of being in Breakthrough,” she reports.  “Breakthrough has helped me with presenting ideas, presenting myself, and having more confidence.  I used to be a shy girl and now I’m used to public speaking.”  Adriana already has her heart set on which colleges she wants to attend:  “I’d like to go to UCLA or maybe NYU, and train as a pediatrician,” she says.  “It’s a new ambition for me.  I like science and Breakthrough has helped me with the math I need.”

In a few short years, Adriana and her peers will join Breakthrough alumni at some of the premier colleges in the US.  Ninety-two percent of Breakthrough’s student alumni are attending college, split fairly evenly between four-year and two-year institutions.  BSV alumni can be found at Cornell University, Ohio Wesleyan, Macalester College, UC Riverside and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Closer to home, former Breakthrough students are studying at De Anza Community College, San Jose State, Santa Clara University, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Berkeley.

Our goal is to prepare every student for a four-year college.  In 2010, BSV began a pilot college readiness program for its high school students to increase the percentage attending four-year colleges.  We’ll report back on that initiative in a future newsletter.  In the meantime, let’s celebrate the accomplishments of Breakthrough’s students as they begin the next stage in their journey to a bright future!

Our Supporters

Investing in Our Future

Breakthrough has been awarded grants by several local foundations and corporations to continue our work with high-potential, low-income students in San Jose.

Mark Walker, Managing Director for Global Community Affairs of the Applied Materials Foundation, first visited Breakthrough during the summer of 2009.  He was immediately impressed by “the energy and enthusiasm of the college students leading the class sessions.  I was also impressed by the broad geographic range of the teachers – they came from all across the US.”

BSV was founded in 2002 as a partnership between the Breakthrough Collaborative, the San Jose Unified School District, and the Applied Materials Foundation.  It’s a key part of Applied’s strategy to deliver comprehensive and lasting change within San Jose’s education system, from pre-school to high school and college preparation.   The Applied Materials Foundation works with a number of elementary schools in San Jose to help them raise their students’ proficiency in math and language arts. Students at those schools go on to attend middle schools that Breakthrough recruits from.  Applied sees this continuity as critical to success:  “In middle school, the focus has to be on building on the elementary school experience, particularly keeping students on task and motivated,” Walker says. “We have to give kids aspirations, especially career aspirations.  Breakthrough is a good fit for us.   Its program offers academic challenge, great role models, and encouragement to young teachers.  It reinforces all the other work we are supporting in San Jose’s schools.”  The Applied Materials Education Initiative is intended to bring about systemic change where it is needed most.

Systemic change is also at the heart of the Silicon Valley Out-of-School-Time Collaborative recently introduced by The Silicon Valley Venture Fund (SV2), The Sand Hill Foundation, and The David & Lucile Packard Foundation.  This three-year initiative will support a cohort of nine organizations to develop and strengthen pathways for Silicon Valley middle and high school students from low-income families to improve their likelihood of graduating from high school and attending college.  BSV is one of the lucky recipients of this three-year funding!

Lindsay Louie, SV2’s Executive Director, explains, “We selected Breakthrough Silicon Valley because of its proven model for achieving these goals.  Representatives from each of the funders visited Breakthrough as part of our due diligence process and were impressed with everyone we met – from board members, to the ED and staff, to students in the program.”  Participation in the Out-of-School-Time initiative will help BSV develop its organizational capacity and position the program for future growth, both in San Jose and the Peninsula.

Serving the children of the Peninsula is dear to the hearts of our friends at the Intero Foundation.  Cathy Jackson, secretary of the Intero Foundation, explained that it is a true grass roots effort.  All the funds come from the realtors in Intero’s network to support outstanding local non-profits.

When Cathy and her colleague, Julie Wyss, visited Breakthrough they met with students who talked about what Breakthrough meant to them. ”One young girl said that she couldn’t see a way to make a good future for herself until she became part of Breakthrough,” said Cathy.  “Breakthrough had shown her that she could go to college and that it would support her in being all she could be.”  As one of the people involved in setting up the Intero Foundation, Cathy knows how to assess the viability of other organizations.  She liked what she saw at Breakthrough: “Tania, the executive director, was able to articulate the program’s goals in a very clear and concise way.  The people who run Breakthrough know what they want to achieve, and that’s very important for building an effective organization.”

Presenting Breakthrough with a handsome check at this summer’s Visitors’ Day, Cathy Jackson spoke for her fellow Intero realtors when she said “We’re so happy to support the children in our community to become the productive, successful adults of the future.”

The NVIDIA Foundation also emphasizes education and human services.  Its grant-making process is unique, with employees recommending and championing organizations through several stages of assessment.  In the end, all of NVIDIA’s employees are invited to vote on potential grant recipients.  This year, Breakthrough Silicon Valley was one of 63 organizations from across the world to be assessed before becoming a lucky finalist.  Breakthrough’s multi-year approach and careful tracking of its students helped it stand out from the pack.  Speaking on behalf of the NVIDIA Foundation, Tonie Hansen also commended Breakthrough “for starting its work with the students at such a young age.  It is obvious that the program provides vital social interaction that the kids may not be getting at home.  It’s placing them with trusted adults who can be role models.  The kids are seeing that someone outside their family cares.”

We are tremendously grateful to these wonderful supporters for showing so much confidence in our work.   The kindness of our new philanthropic partners will help us reach more students and put more young people onto the path to college.

Our Program: Summer Session 2010

Literature, Lab Reports…and Laughter!

On July 31st, students, teachers, parents and Breakthrough supporters celebrated the successful conclusion of this year’s summer program at Hillbrook School.  Almost 100 middle-schoolers were taught by 26 teachers from institutions as far away as the University of Pennsylvania and as close as Stanford.  Students chose from 25 elective courses and took classes that ranged from US History to Mock Trial, and Poetry to Public Speaking – in addition to mandatory core courses in math, literature, and science.

The elective courses are created by the teachers each summer, drawing on their personal skills and interests. Trung Nguyen, a junior at UCLA and a native of Vietnam, taught French and French Culture. By the end of the summer, his students were testing the knowledge they acquired, and their presentation skills by teaching simple conversations to other teachers and students.

Jennifer, in her first summer at Breakthrough, took Mock Trial, Sports in Literature, and Paper Arts, in addition to her core classes.  She enjoyed reading about the way different sports are presented in fiction, but her particular favorite turned out to be Mock Trial. “First we worked on a skit for practice,” she explained, “and then we put on a mock trial in front of the other students.  I was the defendant’s attorney.  It was fun, but I’m not sure I want to be an attorney when I grow up. But Breakthrough might help me decide!”

During the summer, Breakthrough helped students consider a variety of careers by giving them opportunities to interact with Silicon Valley professionals and companies.  On July 7th, the girls in the program attended a special luncheon with 25 women working in science, engineering and technology.  Our guests represented a wide range of Silicon Valley employers, including Google, HP, Fujitsu, Oracle, Cisco, NASA-Ames, the US Geological Survey, and a number of local startups. We were also joined by professors from San Francisco State, Cal State University-East Bay and Stanford.  The day was a unique chance for the girls to hear about what it’s really like to be a woman working in science.

The following week, Breakthrough hosted its annual Career Speakers Day. Sixteen speakers talked with small groups of students about their work and lives.  Fernando, a 7th grader, was lucky enough to chat with Bill Kindricks about being a professional football player! Two days later, the students left campus to travel to a variety of companies. Jennifer visited Google, where she met with one of the company lawyers, ate lunch in the dining hall, and learned how to create an ad for Google.  Kevin, an 8th grader, went to Yahoo! where his group met engineers and toured the server room. Over lunch, Kevin and his classmates were paired up with a Yahoo! staff member, so they could have a smaller conversation.  Kevin said, “It boosted my ideas about engineering.  The speaker gave me more of an idea of what engineering is and what I could do.”  For many of the students, it was the first time they had set foot in a high tech working environment.

Ask a Breakthrough student if there is any downside to the summer program and they’ll almost unanimously say, “The homework!”  But one thing they all comment on is the support provided by their teachers.  Kevin said, “Sometimes it’s hard, really tough.  I spend a lot of time on it but, if I don’t get it, I can email the teacher.  They give you their email addresses because they want you to ask for help if you don’t understand.  It’s really good.”

The summer wasn’t all homework though.  Students took field trips to San Francisco and Stanford University; enjoyed afternoons at the pool; and participated in skits, games, and arts and crafts.  One highlight of the summer was the Olympics, where students split up into “crews” to battle for honors.  It’s competitive, but it’s always fun.  Kevin said it was the most memorable day of the whole summer for him, even though his crew didn’t win. “It makes us united.  We have our cheers and our songs.  It doesn’t matter if you win or lose.  It’s all about the unity.  It was a blast!”

Summer at Breakthrough is designed to make learning engaging and fun but, more than that, it prepares kids for the coming school year.  Tania Wilcox, BSV’s executive director, commented: “We know from research that there’s a lot of learning loss over the ten or twelve weeks of the summer.  Breakthrough makes sure the kids don’t have any of that summer learning loss.  We also accelerate them in their academic skills.  What makes us special is that all the teaching is done by high school and college students.  These young teachers can engage the students at an intellectual level in a way that is quite different to what we expect from other teachers.”

Students agreed with Tania’s observation.  Kelly, a rising 9th grader heading to Gunderson High School said “The teachers here are really amazing.  They know how to make a connection with you, and once you have that connection it’s easier to learn from them.”  Jennifer added:  “It’s awesome having younger teachers!”

ASM

by Jordan Aspiras, 8th grader

“ALL!!— SCHOOL!!! —MEETING!!!!” students yell enthusiastically every morning at the start of this spirited twenty minute school meeting. All School Meeting (ASM) is a time when students gather to listen to school announcements and watch crews perform skits.  From Mundial Mondays to Fun Fridays, each day of the week at ASM has a theme, and is an opportunity to practice presentation skills, build public speaking confidence, showcase talents, and build vocabulary.

Mundial Mondays are days about different cultures. Monday skits typically involve crews acting out various adventures in new and far off locations around the world. Talent Tuesdays are an opportunity for students and teachers perform their talent in front of an audience. From singing to dancing, students perform a variety of talents each Tuesday.

Word Wednesdays are days where a word that we don’t know is used in a skit. “This Thursday” is the day where skits about current news events are performed. For example, crews performing on “This is Thursday” typically design skits with weather segments and feature news anchors who deliver segments of the news.  Finally, the last ASM of the week is known as Fun Friday. Fridays are days in which crews plan many fun activities such as brain-teasers.

ASM gets everyone excited for the rest of the day. “The purpose of ASM is to gather the Breakthrough family and share many great moments together, whether it’s a Talent Tuesday or crew skits,” Denisse Oceguera, a rising eighth grader, said.

Jordan Aspiras spent part of her summer learning about journalism from her teacher, Audrey Frey, a sophomore at UC Berkeley.  We’re delighted to share her work with you.

Welcome to the first newsletter from Breakthrough Silicon Valley! Did you know that BSV will serve 160 students in the San Jose area this school year? Or that Stanford University is supporting us by providing free access to the Education Program for Gifted Youth’s online math institute? Or that our students commit to attend summer school for six weeks?

In each newsletter, we’ll be sharing good news from BSV. Let us know what you’d like to see us cover – we’d love to hear from you!

Our Students

Isabella – A Future Neurologist

Isabella has a poise and ambition that belies her 13 years.  “When I first joined Breakthrough,” she says, “I didn’t have a plan. But now I know that I want to go to Johns Hopkins University and train to be a neurologist.”  She admits that giving up her beloved track and field has been hard, but she believes that the sacrifice will be worthwhile in the end – for her and her family.

Isabella joined Breakthrough Silicon Valley in the summer of 2009.  Her mother and teachers at Willow Glen Middle School agreed that Isabella was ready for more challenge.  Luckily, Isabella knew too and was eager to apply!  Breakthrough has lived up to her expectations.  “I like how it is academic,” she says, “but at the same time we work on cheers and fun activities too.  It’s not boring, like school can be.  It captivates your attention.”  Isabella’s only frustration is when she spends time at Breakthrough going over curriculum that’s already been covered in her 7th grade class.  Even then she recognizes that the repetition isn’t all bad: “I can get clarification and sometimes more depth on some concepts.”  She also sees that she can learn while giving back: “I like to help the other kids in the group who just aren’t getting it.  That makes me think harder about the problems.”

Isabella’s family has faced tough times lately because of the recession.  Breakthrough has offered her a refuge from the stresses and strains of daily life, both inside and outside school.  “I like to get time away from school dramas, or being at my grandma’s, or with my mom and my sisters – not that there’s anything wrong with them!” she says with a laugh. “It’s just good to take a break and think about some different stuff.”   Starting anything new can be daunting, so Isabella was glad that a few of her existing friends from Willow Glen were entering BSV too.  As things have turned out, she needn’t have worried: not only does she still have these old friends; Breakthrough has offered her a great chance to get to know students from other schools in the San Jose area too.  “And that’s pretty cool.”

Isabella is a talented track athlete and also enjoys soccer.  She loves to be active and physical, but she realizes that it’s not always possible to do everything without something suffering.  Her priority right now is to work on her academics.  “The math institute is so demanding that I couldn’t make a full commitment to sports,” she explains, “so I haven’t gone out for them as I expected to. I think it’s worth the sacrifices.  In the long run, Breakthrough will help me get a higher score on my math and improve my education overall.  Just because I’m not in a team right now doesn’t mean I can’t exercise.  Maybe I’ll play soccer in high school or college.”

Asked how students inside and outside Breakthrough’s program compare, Isabella shakes her head in puzzlement.  “A lot of people I see at school are just flunking out.  They talk in slang, they don’t sound educated, and they don’t seem to care.  It’s disappointing to me to see how people can throw their education away like that; whereas people inside the program are making a commitment to do whatever they can to secure a good future.  They seem more motivated.”  Isabella believes that deciding to apply for Breakthrough Silicon Valley was one of the best decisions she’s made in her life so far.  “People should definitely apply,” she says.  “Though it’s really rigorous and challenging, it’s worth it.  You get to learn new things as well as having fun with everybody else.  I’m glad I got in.”

And everyone at Breakthrough Silicon Valley is glad Isabella got in too!

Our Teachers

Moises – “Happy to Be Giving Back”

“I’ve wanted to be a teacher since Kindergarten,” says Moises, 16. ”Breakthrough is giving me a chance to learn different teaching styles and work with kids at different levels of maturity.”  Now in 10th grade at Bellarmine College Prep, Moises is part of the successful Breakthrough model of high-achieving high school and college students teaching small groups of middle school students and showing them that it’s cool to be smart.

Moises first became involved in BSV as a student in the 6th grade at Hoover Middle School.  He learned about BSV from his language arts teacher who recommended that he apply.  Moises reviewed the application pack with his father and wasn’t instantly attracted: “I saw how much work was involved and I thought, ‘Oh no! I don’t want to do that!’  But my dad said, ‘Moises, you’re going to do it!’  He could see it was going to be good for me.”  It helped that Moises knew a few students who were already at Breakthrough.  Interestingly, some of the 8th graders set out to recruit him, explaining that it was fun as well as challenging academically.  “Even the application is hard,” Moises says, “but once you get in, that’s the time the fun starts and you soon see it’s worth it.”

Moises has no doubt that the hardest thing about being a student in the Breakthrough program is the homework.  Describing it as “torture at first”, he credits Breakthrough with training him to give up procrastinating.  “I would sit around till 6pm or 7pm ignoring it, but then I learned I had to just get down to the homework as soon as I got back from school.  That’s helped me a lot, especially now I’m at high school.”  He also came to understand that there were better ways to use his time than playing video games: “That was something I sacrificed…But the sacrifices are worth it.  If you sacrifice something non-educational for something educational, then you’ll know more.  That’s always good.”

Now he is a teacher in the program, Moises faces new challenges, including maintaining classroom discipline.  He likes to be friendly with the students he teaches, but he knows sometimes he has to be tough with them. He is learning new strategies for keeping them focused on their studies and not chatting about the latest PlayStation game!  Moises hopes this experience will stand him in good stead in his adult career.  “When I become a teacher,” he says, “I’ll already have worked with lots of different kids and know how to handle them.  If this or that happens, I’ll have a better idea what to do.”  For Moises, becoming a teacher at Breakthrough Silicon Valley was an obvious decision.  “Breakthrough has done so much for me, I can’t just leave it behind.  It’s best if I go back and give back to them.  I really want to.”

Moises is the holder of a prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship that he won in 2007.  This scholarship supports exceptional students who have demonstrated – through academic excellence and extracurricular activities – that they have the potential to excel.  Each year, over 1,000 students in the 7th grade apply; only 50 students are selected to receive the award.  The scholarship supports them through high school, with potential for further support in college.  This is a unique opportunity for high potential kids from low income families.  Moises is able to draw on his scholarship to pay fees at Bellarmine, as well as extracurricular music lessons in violin and educational courses during the summer.  His success has inspired him to pursue a dream he’s had since 3rd grade – attending Stanford University to study education and prepare for a career in teaching.

Moises’ father, who is raising his sons single-handed, is delighted that both of them are committed to their education.  He has willingly made significant personal sacrifices to support his childrens’ dreams, not least changing his working hours from day to night.  “At the beginning it was hard,” he says, “but you have to be there to support them, to ask what they learned today, to find out what they should be doing.  Kids don’t see the whole picture.  That’s a parent’s job.”  Mr. Alcavarez credits Breakthrough with encouraging his older son to go to university too – and he wasn’t even enrolled in the program!  “He started hanging out at Breakthrough, offering to volunteer and be useful, and he liked joining in.  It’s important for young people to be busy.  The volunteering hours really helped him.  Now he’s going to Santa Clara University.”   With quiet pride, Moises’ father concludes “As a family, we are on the right track.”

Moises has one simple message for potential applicants to Breakthrough: “Go for it.  You may have to give up some things, but you won’t regret it.  You’ll never regret it.”  Clearly Moises is speaking from the heart.

AT&T’s Amazing Gift

On March 23, we hosted a special breakfast for current and potential corporate supporters at the offices of our long-time friends Applied Materials in Santa Clara. Little did we know that AT&T’s Leon F. Beauchman would bring us a check for $40,000 – enough to fund one year of the Breakthrough program for 20 local middle schoolers.

Mr. Beauchman, Area Manager for External Affairs in Santa Clara County, says that securing support for Breakthrough Silicon Valley was “an easy sell.” Several of his colleagues had reported positive experiences working with Breakthrough in San Francisco. It also helped that the Breakthrough model of students teaching students has a thirty year track record of success promoting high achievement among low income students.

It’s a natural partnership for AT&T, which has a long-standing commitment to supporting educational achievement in under-served communities. Through its Aspire program aimed at high school students, the AT&T Foundation has pledged to donate $100 million over four years to strengthen student success and workforce readiness. This philanthropic initiative, the largest in AT&T’s history, aims to help end the High School drop-out epidemic. AT&T’s generous donation to Breakthrough Silicon Valley’s middle school program has been provided in the spirit of the Aspire initiative.

Leon Beauchman has been personally involved with Breakthrough Silicon Valley for around a year, enough time for him to become convinced that schools generally should be emulating the strong connections between individuals that are key to the program’s success. “Kids need a vision of what they can become after they leave school,” says Mr. Beauchman. “They need to see examples of the good lives they can have if they work hard. They need positive role models. At Breakthrough the staff get to know the kids as individuals – and they care about them. The kind of connection you see between the adults, teachers, and students at Breakthrough is vital if we want kids to succeed in middle school.”

Mr. Beauchman has made a personal commitment to educational provision and reform through his work with several organizations in the Bay Area. He thinks Breakthrough Silicon Valley is up there with the best of them. He particularly likes the model of kids teaching kids. “Breakthrough encourages community spirit,” he says. “By giving young people a chance to teach, it promotes responsibility and confidence that is essential for success in working life. It builds a sense of citizenship in a meaningful way – which is good for the individual and for the whole community.”

So what’s next for Breakthrough Silicon Valley and AT&T? “AT&T offers many opportunities for students to work shadow so there may be a way we can help with career-oriented visits,” says Mr Beauchman. Personally, he is looking forward to seeing the summer school in action. Whatever the future holds, both Breakthrough and AT&T are delighted to have forged this partnership in the Bay Area. “Breakthrough helps give low income kids a vision of a successful future. That’s really in tune with AT&T’s philanthropic goals. We’re delighted to give our support to Breakthrough Silicon Valley.”