First Graduate

The house was packed at First Graduate's eighth annual Winter Celebration and Founder's Award event on December 8, 2009. The Parent Association organized a festive evening filled with great food, award presentations and good cheer. Staff, families and supporters attended the holiday event, held at The Bay School, to honor the hard work and dedication of our students and volunteer mentors over the past year. After filling up on a buffet dinner of potluck dishes representing the many diverse cultures of the First Graduate community, attendees took their seats to celebrate the accomplishments of the 30 students and four mentors receiving awards. 

"Starting today, there is no excuse for you not finding your way to college," said Sara Martinez Tucker, the keynote speaker at the Early College Awareness Program (ECAP) event on Saturday, December 5, in San Francisco. Martinez Tucker, a recent First Graduate First in Family Award honoree, spoke before an audience of approximately 200 San Francisco middle school students and parents who came to the campus of San Francisco State University to get a head start on the road to becoming the first in their families to graduate from college. Her motivational words were the kickoff to a program sponsored by Harvard Club of San Francisco and co-presented by First Graduate staff, students and partners.

This month, First Graduate students Monique and Maria (FG6) traveled to New Orleans to present a workshop at the Coalition of Essential Schools Fall Forum 2009, an annual event for educators and students. Monique and Maria, both 10th graders at John O'Connell High School, a CES-affiliated school, received training and support from our partner, Youth in Focus, an Oakland nonprofit that educates young people in youth-led action research for social justice.