Submitted by Guest Blogger: Lieutenant
Colonel Jason Mims, US Army Retired
What happens when a community
member spends time at the public high school in his urban ZIP code?
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| SHHS students on the UCLA campus October 2016 |
In my case, I encounter students who have a desire to make use of this national treasure we call public education. These encounters are sources of inspiration and fuel my activities related to promoting Academic Excellence in my community. Others have raised the level of interest in having some of our district's high-achieving students attend Tier 1 Universities and institutions committed to meeting 100% of accepted students' financial need.
I realize that I can support
that goal with my time, talent, training, and treasure.
One senior this year at
Sam Houston High is Tierra Starks. She has been ranked in the top ten in
her class cohort since I started paying attention a couple of years ago.
Last year I served as an advisor to the National Honor Society and noticed her
prominent role as the chapter's secretary. She may not have noticed that
I was paying particular attention to her because, at the time, it appeared that
my focus was on guiding another student to my Notre Dame alma mater.
This year,Tierra is the
president of NHS and vice-president of the student council. I passed some
information to her and her mom this summer. She participated in the
"Ya Veremos" college trip to some twenty institutions in the
Northeast. Of the 19 student participants, she was the only one from Sam
Houston High. During a fellowship with her and her mom before the trip,
however, Tierra shared that her dream school is the University of Southern
California.
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| SHHS Faculty and Students on a College Tour; University of Southern California |
As the school year reached the
end of its first month, I started to wonder if any effort were being made to
get Tierra out to visit her dream school. I threw some
ideas out to Mr White, the proud principal of Sam Houston. I asked Tierra
to help me plan a trip. She came up the names of two other student
participants and a faculty member. Together, the students decided on the
date for the trip and the four schools in the Los Angeles area that we would
visit.
Mr. White agreed to let Mr.
Shugart and Ms. Wallace serve as school chaperones on the trip. Mr.
Shugart teaches social studies and is the faculty sponsor for the Youth In
Government/ Student Council. Ms. Wallace is pursuing a Master's degree in
Education and serves as the Trinity University Resident Implementation
Specialist on Sam Houston's campus. Tierra picked the president of the
student body, Jason Orosco, and Eileen Moran-Robles, vice-president of the
student council, as the other two student trip participants.
We can now answer a
question. When was the last time students from the public high school in
ZIP code 78220 explored and visited campuses in Southern California that offer
to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for accepted students? From
October 26-30, 2016, three students from Sam Houston High visited the University
of Southern California, University of California Los Angeles, Pomona College,
and Claremont McKenna College. While on the trip, both seniors (Tierra
and Jason) worked on their CommonApp.org applications to Pomona.
Some seniors from San Antonio's
Eastside high schools can serve as explorers. They can create--even for a
brief time--a Sam Houston presence on previously unexplored college
campuses. What may follow is the desire and expectation that some
high-achieving Sam students prepare for, apply to, and attend colleges that
meet 100% of demonstrated financial need.
