In 2022 we continued to serve our students and communities as we adapted to the new normal

As we continued adapting to the new normal in 2022, we had the chance to reconnect with our students face-to-face, teachers and staff celebrating their successes and difficulties. We were able to renew friendships, hold extra curricular activities and speak once again with parents and our communities to share their concerns and work together to benefit our students as we prepare them for college, leadership, and life.

We continue to celebrate our students, as they continue their education in colleges where at times it would seem difficult to enroll. Here is how our students, teachers and communities inspired us at Green Dot Public Schools in 2022.

Labor of love

Sheryl Marie Jackson and Adriana Vazquez have extended their love and care for their kids, who attend Martin Luther King Middle School, to all the students at the Green Dot Southeast Texas school in Beaumont, Texas.

Jackson and Vazquez are two of a growing number of volunteer mothers who give back to the school by helping, among other things, in office duty, class monitoring and chaperoning in out of school activities. Both of them are proud to give their time once a week to help their kids and other students be successful.

MLK MS parents volunteer to help children

Duke Deuce returns to Fairley

When Patavious Isom graduated from Fairley High School in 2011, his band teacher told the aspiring musician that when he became a successful artist, all he wanted from him was to come back to school and share his experiences. Fast forward 11 years later. Isom returned to Fairley this fall to share his experiences and success as Duke Deuce, one of the new young rap artists in the genre, who has achieved Top 5 singles in the Hip Hop charts.

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Hip Hop artist donates to band department

Mentorship Match Day

The Green Dot Mentorship Program kicked off its second year with the first ever face to face encounter of mentors and students at Ánimo City of Champions Charter High School after starting virtually during the 2021-2022 school year in both Los Angeles and Memphis. Mentors from various partner companies met for the first time in person and shared experiences over the summer. At the ‘Match Day’ event, they set up new projects and goals with students from tenth and eleventh grades in the South Los Angeles school.

Mentors and mentees have first face-to-face

Transitioning from middle school to high school

Starting high school was something I had always had mixed feelings about, as I was sad, happy, excited, but overall I was nervous. Starting this new chapter in my life meant friends leaving for other schools or moving away, saying goodbye to my teachers and staff, and leaving the school building I had spent my middle school life in and created memories that  I will never forget. 

Student shares first person account

GDPS selected for Global Initiative Fellowship

Ánimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School student Sofia Garcia has been selected to participate in the Global Citizens Initiative (GCI) fellowship. The fellowship is a 10-month program designed to address global issues at local and community-wide levels. The program brings fellows from around the world to the Global Citizen Initiative’s nine-day summit at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. 

AJR student shares unique experience

UPAS graduates new student leaders

The Youth Organizing Institute (YOI) of United Parents and Students graduated 14 students this past Summer in California and Tennessee as part of their program to empower them as leaders of their communities. The YOI program has been active for the past six years, and the 2022 graduation ceremony was the first in-person since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020. 

YOI program enters sixth year of advancing communities

Content creator course added at Hillcrest High School

The new Content Creator initiative at Hillcrest High School in Memphis has both students and staff excited about giving them more opportunities on their way to college as well as being a motivation to excel in other courses. The program, generously supported by the Tennessee Valley Authority, will impact 20 students in the 11th and 12th grades, even though principal Teddrick Estes hopes to expand it to accommodate more people.

Program will impact 20 students in first year

School integrates reading through drama

At Green Dot Public Schools California, we encourage our teachers to innovate lessons to meet the needs of our students as a path to their academic success. For this Ánimo Mae Jemison Charter Middle School English teacher, she combined reading and acting to make an effective arts-based curriculum.  Leah Lambert, known to the students as “Mrs. Lamb,” has been teaching for more than 20 years, after earning her teaching credentials at California State University, Northridge.

Ánimo Mae Jamison teacher innovates lessons

Ánimo Venice alum reflects on in-campus experience

In the fall of 2020, Animo Venice Charter High School alumna Jenny Mendez started her first set of college classes at University of California, Berkeley -a campus she had never visited – on a computer in her bedroom in Los Angeles. One year later, in the fall 2021 semester, Mendez arrived at the university for the first time, saying it felt like it “was freshman year all over again.” 

Sophomore year is her first on the UC Berkely campus

Ánimo Venice alumn shares first year college experience

In the fall of 2020, Animo Venice Charter High School alumna Jenny Mendez started her first set of college classes at University of California, Berkeley -a campus she had never visited – on a computer in her bedroom in Los Angeles.  One year later, in the fall 2021 semester, Mendez arrived at the university for the first time, saying it felt like it “was freshman year all over again.” 

Jenny Mendez shares her first in-campus experience

Locke High School resumes inclusion games

After a year of games cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alain LeRoy Locke College Preparatory Academy’s inclusionary basketball team returned to the Unified Sports arena at the end of the 2021 fall semester. Inclusionary activities are made possible through the Special Olympics’ Unified Sports, a program that connects students with and without disabilities to compete as teammates. 

Basketball team trained since 2021 for games