AlamoHOPE helps student-parents overcome obstacles to graduation

Felix Carcamo's daughter is only four years old, 但她已经准备好了一些东西来激励自己获得大学学位——今年5月，卡尔卡莫在圣安东尼奥学院毕业典礼上走在舞台上时穿的那条特别的披肩. 

Carcamo received the stole from AlamoHOPE, 这是一项十大网赌正规网址官网区倡议，将学生家长与倡导项目联系起来, peer-to-peer mentoring, financial support, 以及其他帮助他们度过有时曲折的教育道路的帮助. 

26岁的卡尔卡莫于2020年进入SAC，但在第二年入伍后离开了.S. Air Force. 基础训练结束后，他回到SAC，并于今年春天完成了学位要求. 

"I'm very grateful for all of the people at SAC who have helped me achieve my goals." said Carcamo, 他将于今年秋天前往德州州立大学攻读机械工程学位. “我是我们家第一个获得副学士学位，然后继续攻读学士学位的人." 

Carcamo said the AlamoHOPE stole "is real neat." 

“我把它放在这里是给我女儿的，这样她长大后就能看到它，能更好地理解它," he said. 

Derek Martinez, the district's coordinator of student success, 他说，AlamoHOPE旨在帮助学生家长“以毕业为出发点”，帮助他们打破可能阻碍他们前进的障碍. The word "HOPE" in AlamoHOPE stands for "helping others prosper through education.马丁内斯说，这个目标可能会引发父母和孩子积极的思维模式转变, long-term ramifications. 

“阿拉莫霍普偷窃的全部目的就是为了把它一代一代地传下去," said Martinez, who designed the program. "As the parent is graduating, they're passing it down to their child and they're creating this new normal, this new life and new growth. To show that their child has a future as well in education." 

AlamoHOPE通过识别那些在学业和财务状况良好的情况下停止上课的学生家长，启动了这一过程的第一步. They are targeted with postcards, emails, 以及关于十大网赌正规网址官网区提供的支持的提醒短信. 

“有很多学生可能只缺几个大学学分——可能是6个小时或更少——就为了跨过舞台拿到学位," Martinez said. “明信片、交流和信息之间的联系有助于推动他们回到他们开始就读的一所大学." 

Back on the five campuses in the Alamo Colleges District, AlamoHOPE提供了一个支持和关怀的环境，帮助学生家长重新入学并取得成功. The AlamoHOPE stole is a symbol of their persistence, hard work, and success. 

Monica Gutierrez, another recent recipient of the AlamoHOPE stole at SAC, had an educational path with several starts and stops.  

 A 1990 graduate of Fox Tech High School, Gutierrez got her associate degree in applied science from St. Philip's College and later enrolled at UTSA, where she hoped to study for a bachelor's degree in communications. She dropped out, however, 在发现她的副学士学位不包括大学的大部分核心课程要求之后.  

这位两个孩子的单亲母亲于2011年开始在十大网赌正规网址官网工作后，又回到了教室. 

"Just one class at a time because that's all I could afford," said Gutierrez, 51, who currently works at SAC's Scobee Education Center. "And that was all I had time for because of my kids." 

This past semester, Gutierrez completed the last of her core classes and hopes to enroll again at UTSA. She's been so focused on her schoolwork, 直到一个朋友问她这个问题，她才意识到她的第二个副学士学位将给她另一个机会走过SAC的毕业舞台.  

"I had no intention of doing that," Gutierrez recalled. "But then I thought, 'Let me do this for my boys. I want them to watch me.' I don't ever want them to have the excuse, like 'I'm too old.' If I did it, you're gonna do it." 

It worked.  

古铁雷斯最小的儿子乔纳·阿奎莱拉(Jonah Aguilera)出席了她的毕业典礼. 阿奎莱拉说，他母亲的成功故事，以及穿上她的AlamoHOPE披肩的机会，激励他从SAC获得了自己的副学士学位.

After getting his associate degree, 21岁的阿奎莱拉计划进入德克萨斯州立大学攻读科技戏剧学士学位. 

Christina Cortez, the director of the Alamo College District Welcome Center & District-Wide Onboarding, 她说，古铁雷斯的毕业和阿奎莱拉的学术计划证明，像阿拉莫希望这样的项目的教育和支持可以创造代际变化. 

“When you drop a pebble into a pond, you see a small, little ripple," Cortez said. "You don't see the tsunami that happens later because of that rock. 

“我们看到一个学生穿过舞台，但我们看不到那个学生的孩子. The mindset being changed, the shaping of their minds, that education is power." 

-SAC-