Napa County Superintendent Barbara Nemko was appalled as she and over 50 community members of Napa’s P16 Council reviewed the data of the achievement gap suffered by Napa’s low income and Latino population.  After reviewing the data and researching best practices and strategies, the P16 council developed four strategies – one of which mirrors that of the Corporation for National Community Service: to Improve the preparation for, and prospects of success in, post secondary education institutions for economically disadvantaged students. Naima Wright-Clay and her fellow AmeriCorps VIP fellows (Cherri Alcantara, Sonia Ayala, Kim Nguyen, Aileen Savage, Haley Schandelmier, Thanh Tran) offered a young adult voice to the P16 discussions of how to best reach out to low income and Latino students. Many of the AmeriCorps members themselves were fresh from college and were well acquainted with the struggles of reaching post-secondary educational goals on a budget. “We need to get to them early and give them hope”, was the message they delivered.

With that guiding principle AmeriCorps members lead the way for the first ever “Success After High School” conference sponsored by the P16 Council at Napa Valley College.  The goal of the conference was to offer an opportunity for middle and early high school students to walk onto a college campus – and realize that it could be their future destination. Naima and her team recruited over 81 volunteers to help put on the event. VIPS reached out to community for donations from raffle prizes to refreshments to keep the event fun and free of charge. Naima worked with the NCOE Regional Occupation Program (ROP) to provide a bountiful morning snack for the event, with the opportunity for students to ask questions about culinary skills and job opportunities that the program could offer. And career counselors, financial aid advisors and college support staff volunteered to help create the day of hope!

On April 9^th, 2011 nearly 200 parents and students filled the Napa College Little Theater to capacity. Two high profile Latino guest speakers greeted the assembly and spoke of their careers and college experiences. Later a panel of college students from the Puente program spoke in English and Spanish to the assembly offering “youth speak” and advice for the college bound.  Students and parents were then offered workshops in both languages. The workshops discussed career options, financial aid, school resources, educational options after high school, and safety on college campuses. Raffle prizes were offered throughout the day, courtesy of local businesses thanks to the persuasion of the VIPs.  “I never knew this was all available” stated a mother. “Mi hijo –you are going to college”. That statement encapsulated the day’s success!

Students all received their college readiness bags – put together by the AmeriCorps team. Maria Cisneros, co-coordinator of the event proclaimed to all “this wouldn’t have happened without the hard work, dedication and persistence of Naima Wright-Clay and her VIP team!”