FirstGen college counseling students accepted to prestigious summer programs

FirstGen College Counseling announced last week that 29 of 32 participating students at Healdsburg High School have been accepted to academic residential summer programs in California and beyond. The remaining students are still eligible for summer programs, pending later acceptance dates.
In addition to supporting students in their high school course selections, monitoring grades and discussing all that it takes to be accepted to college, the primary focus in the inaugural year of the FirstGen program has been having all students apply to summer programs that are housed on college campuses and focus on high interest areas and potential future college majors.
During FirstGen biweekly meetings, Lori Rhodes worked with students to research programs ranging in topics from engineering to journalism to leadership to crime scene investigations.
Students were then individually supported as they applied to no less than two summer programs. The application process was a miniature version of the college application process and a teaching tool for the students to start getting geared up for college applications in the coming years.
In August 2017, in collaboration with Rhodes, Corazón Healdsburg launched FirstGen College Counseling. During the 2017-18 academic year, the program has worked with first-generation, ninth through 11th grade Healdsburg High School students, supporting them as they navigate high school and begin to think about and prepare for the college application process.
FirstGen participants have stated their desire to attend a four-year college upon graduation and are enrolled in college preparatory classes at Healdsburg High School, such as honors and advanced placement level courses. The students are not only taking the most challenging classes the high school offers; they are excelling with college-track grade point averages.
The following FirstGen students have been accepted to academic residential summer programs:
Alberto Avalos (9^th)—University of Southern California Youth Think Tank Leadership Program
Angel Gonzalez (9^th)—Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Engineering Possibilities in College (EPIC) Program
Diana Guzman (9^th)—Stanford University Artificial Intelligence 4All Program
Erik Guzman (9^th)—Purdue University Minority Engineering Program
Camilla Hernandez (9^th)—University of Southern California Youth Think Tank Leadership Program
Mercedes Ibañez (9^th)—Indiana University High School Journalism Institute
Hernan Mondragon (9^th)—Oregon State University Summer Experience in Science and Engineering for Youth
Bryant Nuñez (9^th) —University of Southern California Youth Think Tank Leadership Program
Edgar Ortiz (9^th)—Oregon State University Summer Experience in Science and Engineering for Youth
Nayceht Pelaez (9^th)—UCLA Mock Trial Summer Institute
Alejandro Dominguez (10^th)—Oregon State University Summer Experience in Science and Engineering for Youth
Jerry Gutierrez (10^th) —University of MississippiCrime Scene Investigations Summer Camp
Eva Hernandez (10^th)—Bucknell University Academy Summer Experience
Itzel Medina (10^th)—University of MississippiCrime Scene Investigations Summer Camp
Samantha Onate (10^th)—Oregon State University Summer Experience in Science and Engineering for Youth
Mariano Sanchez (10^th)—Stanford University Medical Youth Science Program
Susana Soto (10^th)—Oregon State University Summer Experience in Science and Engineering for Youth
Alan Zaragoza (10^th)—Orion Aviation Camp
Leslie Barragan (11^th)—St. Mary’s College 10KD Summer Institute
Giovanna Briano (11^th)—Stanford University Horizon Scholars Program
Alondra Chavez (11^th)—UC Davis COSMOS Program & Sonoma State University Summer High School Internship Program
Gissel Custodia (11^th) —Bucknell University Academy Summer Experience
Dante Godinez (11^th)—University of New Hampshire Project SMART
Yuliana Gutierrez (11^th)—University of Southern California Youth Think Tank Leadership Program
Nancy Juarez (11^th)—Bucknell University Academy Summer Experience
Bersaida Lopez (11^th)—UCLA Nanoscience Institute
Daniel Lopez (11^th)— Stanford University QuestBridge College Prep Scholar & Oregon State University Summer Experience in Science and Engineering for Youth
Mariel Mondragon (11^th) —University of New Hampshire Project SMART & Stanford University QuestBridge College Prep Scholar
Roman Ortiz (11^th)—Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Engineering Possibilities in College (EPIC) Program
James Valencia (11^th)—UC Berkeley Summer Experience & Oregon State University Summer Experience in Science and Engineering for Youth
Daisy Zavala (11^th)—St. Mary’s College 10KD Summer Institute
Corazón Healdsburg is actively fundraising to support the FirstGen program and to assist students in offsetting travel and tuition costs not funded through scholarships and program assistance for their summer academic programs.
To support the program with a financial contribution or a gift of airline miles, contact Ariel Kelley at [email protected]. If you know of eligible students to nominate for the program, visit https://corazonhealdsburg.org/firstgen to download an application.