An UpLift student and his mentor (the student is the tall one!)

Some new UpLift alumni

Friday night marked one of the most spectacular events for Colorado UpLift of the year, as families and staff mentors gathered at the Mi Casa Resource Center on 4th and Acoma to honor the UpLift graduates of 2011.  The facility was packed to the rim with around 200 joyous graduates, tearful family members and proud Colorado UpLift staff who all worked hard to help the students receive their diploma.  Cinzetti’s restaurant catered the pasta dinner, and decorations were supplied by Colorado UpLift Guild volunteers, who helped provide a gift card for each student and served cake to hungry guests.  UpLift graduate and college student Alejandra encouraged graduates as a keynote speaker with her own story, after which each student received a personalized certificate from UpLift and hug from their staff teacher/mentors. 

Overall, students who enroll in Colorado UpLift for three years or more graduate at 90%, compared to 52% of their non-UpLift peers.  It’s definitely an achievement worth celebrating!

The scholarship is especially meaningful considering their backgrounds:
• Adolfo lives in a basement apartment with eight other siblings from a low-income family. Now he will be the first in his family to graduate from high school and go to college. Adolfo plans to attend the University of Wisconsin and study pre-med; he is the valedictorian this year at West.
• Reyes will also be the first in his family to graduate from high school and go to college. Though good at sports, he didn’t play because his father was very ill much of his life. He spent his time after school taking care of his siblings, then going to the hospital to see his father, where he would do his homework. Reyes is the salutatorian at West, and will study engineering at CSU Pueblo.
• Jonathan is #3 in his class at North. He comes from a low-income family with four siblings from Guatemala. Jonathan plans to study business at the University of Denver, and says Colorado UpLift helped keep him on track and supported him along the way.

According to a press release issued by the Daniels Fund, the scholarship awards “students who demonstrate strength of character, leadership, and a record of accomplishment in giving back to the community. The Daniels Scholarship is not ‘full ride,’ but is supplemental to all other financial resources, including an estimated family contribution.” 184 scholarships were awarded in the state of Colorado. More information can be found at www.danielsfund.org.

Congratulations to our successful students!

When she decided to take the Colorado UpLift class, her life began to change. Her mentor, Monique, was able to encourage her, help her process the things she had been through and see life in a positive way. In a year, her grades were up to a 3.8. Monique nominated her for the Metropolitan Mayors and Commissioners Youth Award in 2009, which she won, and was chosen as a speaker at the Colorado UpLift celebratory banquet in 2010.

Now Kim will be the first in her family to graduate from high school, and has also been accepted at all six schools that received her application: University of Denver, University of Colorado, Colorado State University, Red Rocks Community College, Metropolitan State University and Community College of Denver. We just learned she was inducted into the National Honor Society at North High School and is in the running for several well-know scholarships, including the Daniels Fund Scholarship.

Kim is one of many students whose lives have been changed in a dramatic way due to Colorado UpLift influence. Help us congratulate Kim for her very deserved accomplishments!

1: Budget Cuts: According to today’s Denver Post, Mayor Hickenlooper’s proposed budget for 2011-2012 includes $332 million in cuts for education, including K-12 and colleges. This amounts to $497 less per K-12 student, and $877 les per public college student. How this will affect Denver Public Schools is unsure, as each district will have to decide where to tighten their belts (e.g. reduce salaries, cut personnel or shorten the school year). Don’t forget that Colorado UpLift serves these schools at no cost to them, providing full-time teacher/mentors at about $1,200 per kid. Just food for thought.

2: Graduation Rates. The US Department of Education is asking states to recalculate the high school graduation rate by the number of students who receive a diploma within four years of entering high school. For most UpLift schools, this is good news – rates have improved a few percentage points. However, one of the worst-performing schools is still UpLift-served West High School, with only a 47.6 percent graduation rate. Luckily, those in the UpLift program – who have been enrolled three years or more – graduate at 90% consistently year after year.

3: College Remediation: According to the Denver Post (2/10/2011, “Glass of 2010 is half full”, by Yesenia Robles) a state report reveals high school graduates still need remediation courses once enrolled in college. Apparently, remediation needs cost colleges $19 million last year, compared to $13 million the year before. Wow.

VIPs were also in the news: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan also visited Denver yesterday to test a FAFSA-completion program, which wasn’t very promising. Senator Michael Bennett is advocating for a special “President’s Corps” teaching license, in which federal monies would be used to place teachers who achieve this license in failing schools and track their progress. Antonio Esquibel, principal at Abraham Lincoln High School (one of UpLift’s six high schools), is taking a new position to oversee school improvement in west Denver. He will be greatly missed, although teacher and administration turnaround is common in DPS: the average urban high school teacher doesn’t last more than five years.

That’s a lot of education news to process. Meanwhile, Colorado UpLift continues to build long-term, life-changing relationships with urban youth, impacting 3,600 students each year and providing measurable results that will help them achieve success in life.

Now that’s newsworthy.

Overall, as t

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Colorado UpLift!  We’re grateful for everyone who has been part of our organization, whether as a student, staff, supporter, friend or partner. As the JFK quote says, we hope to live out our gratitude through the changed lives of urban youth, who inspire us to see that anything is possible. 

Have a great week!