What He Faced: Before Rey Saldaña was elected to San Antonio's City Council to represent District 4, he was a Communities In Schools of San Antonio student. No one in Saldaña's family had graduated high school, let alone attended or graduated from college. He grew up believing that higher education was out of his reach. [...]
State Representative Barbara Gervin-Hawkins believes that students are able to perform their best when surrounded by a community of support. She believes this because she has experienced it. Through her own community of support growing up, she was able to succeed in school and in life. Gervin-Hawkins shares a valuable piece of wisdom when she [...]
What They Faced: The Mondragon Family adopted their two boys. Sage, the youngest, had difficulty processing his emotions and it was spilling into his behavior in school. How CIS-SA Helped: Ms. Salina Rocha, our CIS-SA Site Coordinator at Olmos Elementary School, provided one-on-one session with Sage to give him pointers on how to deal with [...]
What She Faced: Dealing with issues at home, DeeAndra's academics suffered and she was ready to drop-out. How CIS-SA Helped: Our site coordinator, Ms. Jones, worked closely with DeeAndra to identify how she could improve her academics. In addition, Ms. Jones enrolled DeeAndra in a girls leadership group to help boost her self-esteem and to provide a safe [...]
What He Faced: Victor struggled in school due to the strained relationship between himself and his twin brother. How CIS-SA Helped: Once Victor's site coordinator, Ms. Vargas, learned about the struggles Victor faced at home she connected him with a mentor through our InspireU program. The relationship forged between Ms. Vargas and his mentor, Stan, helped [...]
What They Faced: As a single parent, Mr. Jimenez faced unforeseen challenges for himself and his children, Cristina and Joshua. How CIS-SA Helped: Cristina and Joshua's site coordinator, Ms. Roxanna, linked Mr. Jimenez with resources to ease the burdens he faced as a single parent. By working closely with the family, Ms. Roxanna also identified the [...]
What She Faced: After a death in the family, Ebony found herself struggling to focus on her academics, leading to her being retained in the eighth grade. How CIS-SA Helped: Ebony's site coordinator enrolled her in a credit-recovery program so she could catch up with her peers. Ebony's involvement in a CIS-SA led girls leadership group has provided a [...]
What He Faced: Taking on many responsibilities, Hector strives to excel in school while juggling a full-time job. His involvement in our Upward Bound program helped Hector to see the opportunities that come with higher education. How CIS-SA Helped: With the support of his Pre-College Advisor, Mr. Regan, Hector received the guidance he needed to be [...]
What She Faced: Coping with the devastating loss of her father, Rachel struggled with focusing on school and faced issues with her confidence. How CIS-SA Helped: Our site coordinator, Sandra, enrolled Rachel in a grief group and provided a safe place Rachel could visit when she needed extra support. Sandra encouraged Rachel to pursue her passion [...]
What She Faced: As an elementary school student living with her grandparents and multiple siblings, Alacyn was timid and not receiving much one-on-one attention at home and was not involved in any extracurricular activities. How CIS-SA Helped: Our Site Coordinator, Hillary, enrolled Alacyn in her after school ballet class which not only promoted physical activity [...]