August 5, 2022

Several of our high school graduates enjoyed a KidWorks College Success Initiative™ (CSI) sendoff party on July 27 at our Dan Donahue Center before they head off to colleges and universities. CSI prepares first generation college students for higher education beyond high school.

Our grads and their teachers enjoyed a meal donated by Chick-fil-A and shared funny stories and lifetime memories from their high school years and time at KidWorks.

The grads also received “off-to-college” gift bags containing essentials for their time away, including a notebook, a KidWorks water bottle, KidWorks stickers, a $25 Target gift card, a $25 Visa gift card and other away-from-home needs.

An especially welcome gift for each grad was a new printer along with ink and printing paper, thanks to a generous grant from Red String Foundation, a nonprofit public benefit corporation.

A printer, ink and paper are much appreciated by students, allowing them to save on printing costs that can really add up if they had to pay for printing on campus or at a store.

“We wanted to give students tools that would directly impact and equip students to be successful,” says Red String Foundation.

Our graduates expressed their thanks for such a wonderful send-off.

“KidWorks prepared me for college since preschool,” says Miguel C., who will attend Irvine Valley College. “They have always instilled in us that education is the key to success.

“I’m looking forward to getting out into the real world and learning more. I’m planning a career in computer science and it excites me that I’ll be able to learn more about this field at college.”

“The send-off was really fun and I’m so thankful for the printer and the supplies,” says Cyntia R., who will begin studies at Santa Ana College and then attend either the University of California, Irvine or the University of California, Santa Cruz.

She adds, “KidWorks has helped me for years and I’m forever grateful. They have so many workshops and lessons that have resonated with me. KidWorks also helped me apply to college.”

Please enjoy these pictures from the event and join us in wishing our graduates every success as they pursue their higher education and then meaningful and productive careers.