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When she was five years old, Julie (Juliana) Villanueva first stepped into a KidWorks’ classroom as a preschool student. Now a freshman business major at Orange Coast College, Julie overflows… Continue Reading
The numbers are impressive for KidWorks’ class of 2024 high school graduates:
But numbers don’t tell the whole story, of course. The pursuit of academic excellence and meaningful careers is a seed we plant from the first day a student walks through our doors and continues for as long as they are with us.
Each of the high school grads participated in our College & Career Programs which prepares first-generation college students for higher education. Over the past year, students participated in 87 hours of college and career counseling.
Our students also attend monthly career seminars that focus on a different industry or profession each month. Many say they have chosen career paths they were not aware of beforehand.
Each high school senior is also paired with a volunteer mentor who provide guidance, encouragement and insight into the work world.We’d like to introduce you to our class of 2024 high school graduates. Please join us as we cheer them on as they continue with their education and plan for a bright future.
Estrella Moreno shared, “I’ve had so many staff and mentors support me during my time at KidWorks. I’m excited to see what the future holds and to make everyone proud!”
By Glenn Leibowitz, volunteer writer
Attn: KidWorks Alunni
Our annual alumni reunion will be at Angel’s Stadium this year. KidWorks Alumni Reunion Flyer (8.5 x 11 in)
Click HERE to register:
https://4agc.com/commerce_pages/5ccff496-78a7-4319-9081-abc2a7d6912d
Like many students enrolled in KidWorks’ programs, Cristian Vega knew he wanted to say “thanks” by serving here as a volunteer.
Cristian attended our programs from eighth grade through graduation from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. He joined KidWorks at the same time as his younger brother, Enrique.
Our March 2024 “Volunteer of the Month” is a senior at Orange Coast College; he’s about to earn his associate of arts degree in speech language pathology.
Cristian became a KidWorks volunteer in 2018 and continues to volunteer as he makes plans to attend a four-year college or university. So far, he’s logged over 150 volunteer hours.
“Cristian is a dedicated alumni who has remained committed to KidWorks and our students,” says Rachel Cervantes, Volunteer Coordinator.
“Cristian could easily get wrapped up in the busyness of college, work and family commitments, yet he chose to return to KidWorks and volunteer,” Rachel adds. “Cristian always shows up in a big way. He’s such a dependable person.”
“Cristian is an alumnus I can reach out to when we need volunteers, knowing that he will say yes,” says Brenda Trujillo Sanchez, our Senior College & Career Manager.
She adds, “Most recently, Cristian supported our annual Youth Lock-In, a once-a-year event for students in grades six through 12. It’s a night of fun, food, faith and fellowship.”
Cristian has also volunteered at our Festival of Chefs fundraising event, pickleball tournament, Noche de las Estrellas graduation celebration, after-school programs, set up/clean-up for events and at Campus Crash, where students visit college and university campuses to plant the seed of higher education after high school graduation.
Cristian has fond memories of his years as a KidWorks student.
“I was involved in pretty much everything KidWorks offered,” he says. “That included after school tutoring, summer and spring programs, youth groups and college preparation.”
In addition to Campus Crash, our College & Career preparedness programs at KidWorks include the College & Career Success Initiative™ (C&CSI). The initiative prepares first generation college students for higher education beyond high school. College preparedness also includes our College Apps Academy, our 25-week program for high school seniors that provides guidance through the college application process, including support with college and financial aid applications, scholarships, admissions essays and tips on how to have a successful transition into college.
After they start their higher education, our engagement continues with our college counselor, care packages for our college students and more.
KidWorks guided Cristian to apply and earn a scholarship to Mater Dei. After graduation, our college preparedness team assisted in his application and acceptance at Orange Coast College.
He is also one of our gap scholarship recipients. A gap scholarship provides financial assistance to students who for a variety of reasons and situations take a year or more after high school graduation before starting at a college or university.
KidWorks has also supported Cristian’s dream of becoming a licensed speech therapist.
We introduced him to Cindy Rodriguez, owner of Esperanza Speech Therapy. Cristian shadowed her for a class assignment. This January, we connected Cristian with Collaborative Therapies where he now works as a behavior interventionist, someone who guides clients to positive behaviors and actions.
Our March “Volunteer of the Month” wanted us to pass on his thanks to past KidWorks team members who worked with him over the years, along with current team members, including Lazaro Espinosa Bahena, Facilities Manager; Rachel Cervantes, Volunteer Coordinator; Jessica Ellis, Senior Site Supervisor, Dan Donahue Center; Vanessa Hernandez, Volunteer Manager and Brenda Trujillo Sanchez, Senior College & Career Manager.
In his spare time, Cristian enjoys working out at the gym, visiting the beach and attending Angels games with his brother, Enrique.
We are inspired by Cristian as he pursues a four-year degree and eventually begins a career in speech language pathology.
This is a young man who early in his youth demonstrated a heart to serve others. We see Cristian bettering the lives of others for decades to come.
By Glenn Leibowitz, volunteer writer
We invite high school and college/university students to learn more about how KidWorks can provide you with opportunities to earn service hours, intern and volunteer.
From an early age Melisa Castillo had a passion for learning and her sights set on college. She joined KidWorks in seventh grade along with her brothers.
“While I always did well academically, KidWorks played a big role in my social and emotional growth,” Melisa says. “They also taught me to be a leader and to have a servant’s heart.”
KidWorks also helped Melisa develop confidence and a sense of self. Those are skills she needed while attending Duke University, where she graduated in 2020 with a double major in classical civilizations and history.
Our KidWorks alumni is now on a path to becoming an attorney specializing in trademark and intellectual property law. She’s subsequently taken law classes at Santa Ana college and has applied to law schools, planning to start at one of them next Fall.
“Melisa is unstoppable,” says Noemi Juarez, our Director of K-12 Programs. “She’s a determined and spirited young lady. There are no limits to her success in life and career.”
Melisa recently shared the story of her KidWorks’ journey with attendees at our recent fourth annual Rose’ on the Bay event led by our KidWorks Women (KWW) auxiliary service group.
“KidWorks believed in me and that I would go far in life,” Melisa told the attendees. “They’ve been such a big part of my life. During those years, more of my waking hours were probably spent at KidWorks than anywhere else, except home and school.”
Always an excellent student, Melisa thanks her parents and KidWorks for giving her the solid foundation upon which to build not only academically, but also spiritually, creatively and as a leader.
“From a very young age, my parents, Maria and Abel, told both me and my brothers, ‘You’re going to college; it’s just a matter of where,’” Melisa recalls.
Melisa says KidWorks’ faith-based approach helped her develop the desire to serve others that Jesus teaches.
“At KidWorks, I was part of the youth service club during my middle and high school years that focused on making Santa Ana better and serving members of the community,” Melisa said.
What was then known at KidWorks as the Youth Empowerment Network, focused on issues such as safe bike lanes, a community garden, healthy nutritional choices in school cafeterias, bike safety advocacy, the KidWorks’ Christmas toy drive and more.
“While our youth program operated under KidWorks’ umbrella, they really made sure it was youth-led in order to develop our leadership skills,” Melisa says.
That meant she and her youth colleagues participated in such activities as speaking before the Santa Ana City Council, legislators in Sacramento and other key influencers.
The youth also helped organize, promote and fundraise for local street fairs where valuable information was shared with neighborhood residents.
“We connected existing services and resources to people who did not know where to find them,” Melisa says.
“When the opportunity to attend Duke became available, I doubted myself and wondered if I really belonged there,” Melisa recalls. “Maybe one in 30 students looked like me.”
But KidWorks walked alongside Melisa and helped dispel that self-doubt.
Years before, Melisa was also encouraged to attend Mater Dei high school by Xitlaly Sanchez, another successful KidWorks and Mater Dei graduate, who is now a middle school history teacher in Anaheim.
“I met Xitlaly when I was in middle school and we both attended KidWorks summer camp in Yosemite,” Melisa says. “Xitlaly was older than me and saw that I was very uncertain about applying to Mater Dei. ‘It’s not a mistake; you are supposed to attend that high school; God is sending you there,’ Xitlally told me. I was motivated and graduated in 2016.”
As she awaits acceptance to law school, Melisa works 35 hours a week at PTS Marketing, a full-service printing and marketing group located in Tustin, California. They are a longtime KidWorks partner, who also employ two other KidWorks grads and founder Pat Merrell sits on our board.
Melisa says she’s attracted to a career in law because to succeed in that profession, a person must use skills such as creativity, intelligence, problem-solving, persuasion and understanding nuance.
She is particularly focused on the risks Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses to creative people and others if left unchecked.
“The law is not just black and white; I like the fact that you use persuasion and logical arguments within the context of rules,” she says. “KidWorks helped me develop a wide range of skills that I can apply to my chosen profession.”
At PTS Marketing, Melisa is an administrative assistant to Elizabeth Carroll, the company’s Director of Operations, and also helps support the finance team.
In her spare time, she enjoys reading, acrylic painting, jigsaw puzzles and video games.
As KidWorks celebrates our 30-year anniversary, we are inspired that our vision—“We unleash youth potential”—is being realized in such inspiring examples as Melisa Castillo.
By Glenn Leibowitz, volunteer writer
For someone who once professed to “dread” running during her high school physical education classes, KidWorks alumni Fritzi Valladares has learned to fully embrace one of KidWorks life lessons: “Welcome new experiences.”
In February, Fritzi ran the 2023 Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach. She’s currently training for the Orange County Half Marathon in May.
This former KidWorks student first experienced the joy of running as an early member of the KidWorks running club, formed in 2013 (although currently not active).
Fritzi was in high school at the time and had been attending KidWorks since fourth grade. She stayed enrolled in our programs through high school. We helped her pursue a college career as the first in her family to do so.
Today, as KidWorks celebrates our 30th anniversary, Fritzi is another example of a successful KidWorks student alumnus who has gone on to a successful career.
Fritzi is a program supervisor within the intensive services department at Olive Crest, a non-profit dedicated to preventing child abuse. With the encouragement of KidWorks staff, she graduated from Azusa Pacific University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work and in 2018 with a master’s degree in social work from the university.
On occasion, she’s returned to KidWorks during alumni gatherings and last spring she spoke to our high school students during a career day event.
Fritzi is a perfect example of someone who reflects KidWorks’ core values: Belief, hope, perseverance, confidence and impact.
Fritzi says her time at KidWorks—including as a member of the running club —taught her life lessons she carries with her to this day.
“KidWorks taught me the importance of being confident and knowing that I could accomplish anything that I set my mind to,” Fritzi says.
She adds, “I was able to set the goal of running this February’s half-marathon after almost 10 years since running my last half-marathon. This showed me that I could accomplish any goal I set my mind to.”
Julie Herrick was active in KidWorks beginning in 2001 and was a coach/leader involved with the KidWorks running club in 2013. She’s now an administrator at the Connected Learning Lab at the University of California, Irvine.
“I’ve personally experienced how powerful it is to set a big, challenging goal and then reach it through hard work, over time,” Julie says. “I remember Fritzi as an active part of our group and being impressed with her and the other runners’ perseverance and positive attitudes, even as the runs got longer and harder.”
Julie was excited to learn about Fritzi’s successful completion of the Surf City Half Marathon:
“Fritzi, congratulations on 10 years and another half-marathon!” Julie says. “What an accomplishment and a great way to celebrate that milestone!”
Fritzi offers her thanks to Julie and the other running club coaches/leaders for the lessons the experience brought to her life: “It was a great and life-changing experience. It made me fall in love with running, and to continue to run.”
The Bruce Springsteen song, “Born to Run” isn’t about Fritzi, yet it’s an apt description of the many KidWorks experiences that have so positively shaped her life.
By Glenn Leibowitz, volunteer writer
