Si Se Puede center coordinator takes new job
Jeanette Acosta arrived to an empty room at the Villa Luna
Apartments community center last fall. She is leaving behind the Si
Se Puede Learning Center, a place with bulletin boards, kid-sized
tables and chairs, a handful of computers, walls full of
decorations, a full staff and a fully-enrolled after-school program
of kids in kindergarten through fifth grade.
”
Not a day goes by that I don’t explode in laughter,
”
she said.
”
They are generous and they have a love for learning.
”
Si Se Puede center coordinator takes new job
Jeanette Acosta arrived to an empty room at the Villa Luna Apartments community center last fall. She is leaving behind the Si Se Puede Learning Center, a place with bulletin boards, kid-sized tables and chairs, a handful of computers, walls full of decorations, a full staff and a fully-enrolled after-school program of kids in kindergarten through fifth grade.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t explode in laughter,” she said. “They are generous and they have a love for learning.”
Acosta finished off her last day at the apartments Aug. 14, just in time to have one week off before she starts a nine-month Fulbright research fellowship in Mexico.
Acosta came to the apartments through the Americorps Vista program as part of a grant from the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation to create an after school program at the apartment. A similar site was started at an apartment complex in Gilroy, and other sites exist throughout the state. As center coordinator, she was charged with finding equipment, coming up with curriculum, hiring staff from Americorps applicants, and getting local families involved in the program. She quickly partnered with the Hollister Youth Alliance, a nonprofit that runs after-school programs at some local schools.
“It’s been incredible,” Acosta said Aug. 14, her last Friday at the center. “It has been an experience I will never forget. I can’t even express all the friendship and the memories.”
A new coordinator, Charles Miller, will take the reins in September.
Acosta has some advice, and hopes, for her successor.
“It’s less groundwork, and laying the foundation,” she said. “It is about continuing to build it up. I wrote a letter and put together a welcome packet. It’s time to think critically about how you can strengthen the program.”
Some of her ideas include a middle school program, or even adult computer classes for parents.
“The computers are here now,” she said. “They weren’t here when I arrived and it took so long to get them.”
Acosta stressed the partnerships that were made in the community during her year on the staff.
“We are blessed to be in Hollister,” she said. “I didn’t expect such philanthropy from the business community.”
She recalls the donations she received from local stores and groups, such as the Masons, who donated a bicycle.
“Be open to the community, be open-minded,” she said. “And have the energy to stay committed and dedicated to the project.”
As a student at the University of Southern California, and a high school student in Pasadena, where she grew up, she said she had internships or part-time jobs, but nothing compared to the full-time commitment required of the center.
“I volunteered a lot, and did a lot of tutoring [of high school students], but I didn’t know how it would be with K-5,” she said. “I didn’t expect to become so deeply attached.”
Acosta has exchanged contact information and has plans to return next summer to visit the students, after she completes her Fulbright program.
The Fulbright Program started in the 1940s, is run by the U.S. government as an educational exchange program with other countries. Some awardees go to other countries to teach the language. Grants are available for students, scholars, teachers and professionals – for U.S. citizens to teach English or conduct research overseas, or for foreign citizens to study in the U.S. for one year.
Acosta has received a grant to research the impact of a certain type of remittance – money sent by immigrants working in the United States to their home country – on Mexican students in Zacatecas. She originally did a project on remittances while she was a USC student.
“It really got me thinking about the huge source of income it is,” she said. “It is second to oil.”
Some communities in Mexico have started hometown associations that support projects in the city, such as community gardens, the purchase of sewing machines or even scholarships. The government triples the funds in a program called “three for one.”
“The money really offsets what the government does,” she said of the lack of public programs in the country.
In recent years many of the hometown associations have started using some of the money from the program to fund scholarships for students. Acosta’s goal is to interview as many students as she can that have had scholarships in the past, and those who have scholarships now, to see what affect it has had on their pursuit of higher education.
“Scholarships are an attempt to get the kids to stay in school and graduate, and go on to university,” she said. “A lot of students drop out early because of lack of funds, or starting a family early.”
Acosta will also be looking into how the scholarships are distributed.
“Is it elitist, or is it really exclusive?” she said.
The biggest challenge to her project is going to be connecting with the students, and getting around to the three cities she has selected for her research.
“I won’t have a car, so I will need to arrange transportation,” she said.
The thing she is most looking forward to is talking to the students.
“I want to get the student perspective,” Acosta said. “Sometimes that is missing in research.”
Though she said she is excited to be starting her research, Acosta’s departure from Hollister is bittersweet.
“I will miss the students, staff and family, and the welcoming community of Hollister,” she said. “I will miss those hugs.”
