It’s an honor to be TACC’s inaugural Policy Fellow, and I’m beyond excited to learn and work alongside this team. I believe my education and professional experiences have set a foundation from which I can learn and contribute to this position.
As a child of immigrants and a first-generation college student, I comprehend the importance of education first-hand. My parents taught me that education is a human right that no one should take away. After receiving my B.A. in Psychology from the University of Houston, I taught AP Human Geography and World Geography to 9th-grade students at a Title 1 school. During that time, I received my M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas A&M University with a focus on teaching English as a second language. Throughout the four years I spent as a high school teacher, I was continuously reminded of the inequities that students face not only in K-12
On November 6, the Texas Success Center recognized excellence in implementing and scaling guided pathways essential practices with the inaugural Texas Pathways Awards. The Texas Success Center presented awards to the colleges that have excelled in scaling essential practices in each of the four pillars of guided pathways and to the college that has made the most progress overall. In collaboration with the Charles A. Dana Center, the Texas Success Center also recognized one college that has excelled in the implementation of mathematics pathways.
Excellence in Implementation & Scaling: Paris Junior College
Mapping Pathways to Student End Goals: San Jacinto College
Helping Students Choose & Enter a Program Pathway: Amarillo College
Keeping Students on Path: Alamo Colleges District
Ensuring Students are Learning: McLennan Community College
On Wednesday, October 2, Alamo Colleges announced Alamo Promise, a program that will provide last-dollar scholarships to students at 25 Bexar County high schools in 2020-2021. The following year, 20 additional high schools will be added to the program. Read more about the Alamo Promise program on the Alamo Colleges website and in the Rivard Report.
Dallas County Community College District was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to start one of the first health-care apprenticeship programs in the country. The grant is part of a $20 million partnership between the U.S. Department of Labor and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) that aims to create 16,000 new apprentices across the U.S. by summer 2022. DCCCD was the first system announced to participate in the Expanding Community College Apprenticeships Initiative (ECCA). Read more about the grant program.
