America's Promise Alliance

Ford Motor Company Fund and LULAC announce 10 winners of new program to address high school dropout rate

7/30/2010

Ford Motor Company Fund and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) recently announced the 10 winners of their Ford Driving Dreams through Education grants. Under the program, each LULAC council will receive $20,000 over a two-year period to implement solutions that address high school dropout rates among Latino students in their communities. 

The grant recipients include LULAC councils in Arizona, California, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin. View the full list of grantees below. The grant selection process considered best practices for engaging students, such as mentorship programs, after-school volunteer and extracurricular activities and parental involvement. In addition, each grant recipient developed sustainable programs that reflect the local education landscape and rely on partnerships with local education institutions. The LULAC councils will begin implementing their programs this fall.

“Education is a critical component to the future success of Latino youth,” said LULAC National Executive Director and Alliance Trustee Brent Wilkes. “LULAC is excited to be working with Ford and our councils to implement local solutions to help more Latino youth graduate from high school.”

The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest and largest Hispanic membership organization in the country, advances the economic conditions, educational attainment, political influence, health, housing and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide. LUCAC become an Alliance Partner earlier this year.

“At Ford, education is a top priority,” said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “We are proud to support local efforts that will inspire Hispanic students to achieve their dreams and build better futures for them and their communities.”

Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services works to strengthen families and communities through programs that foster auto-related safety, education and American heritage. National programs include Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies, which provides high school students with academically rigorous, real world learning experiences, and Ford Driving Skills for Life, which teaches safe driving skills to teenagers through interactive web-based learning and hands-on driving clinics.

• For more information on Ford Driving Dreams, please visit www.lulac.org .

Ford Driving Dreams 2010 Grant Recipients

• LULAC Cesar E. Chavez Council # 1086 (Mesa, Arizona)
  Twenty 9^th and 10^th grade students at Mesa Public Schools, the largest school district in Arizona will have access to peer mentors (10^th and 11^th graders) and adult mentors (community volunteers). The program exposes parents to a network of parents, students and community volunteers involved in the program. Parents will also get access to resources on navigating the education system and tools to support their child’s future education.
• LULAC # 1083 (Phoenix, Arizona)
  Twenty students at Betty H. Fairfax High School will participate in the Don’t Drop Out-Give Back! program. Adult mentors will meet with the students weekly and also organize job shadowing opportunities. It will encourage students to graduate on time through credit recovery (4 courses per year) and financial incentives to participate in these evening make-up classes. Students will also participate in motivational speaker sessions that include hands-on learning exercises.
• LULAC Salinas Council #2055 (Salinas, California)
  Twenty 9^th and 10^th grade students at Alisal High School will participate in Triple M Mentor, which pairs students with college student mentors. The program also offers workshops aimed to increase motivation to succeed, bolster self-esteem and address cultural assets and tutoring.
• Santa Ana LULAC #147 (Santa Ana, California)
  LULAC #147 will partner with KidsWorks, a local nonprofit that exposes students to science, technology, engineering and math through an after-school program. Twenty 9^th and 10^th grade students will be able to participate in the program and learn about career exploration through the context of these fields of study.
• Midwest City LULAC #19002 (Midwest City, Oklahoma)
  Students from 9^th through 12^th grade in the Oklahoma City metro area and Putnam Ctiy West High School will be mentored and tutored by local community volunteers. Each student will create a portfolio documenting their personal goals and will get prize incentives for completing different assignments. The program will also offer English as a Second Language classes to both the student and their parents.
• Central Texas LULAC #4734 (Temple, Texas)
  The program will offer Mariachi musical lessons and academic tutoring to ninth-grade Hispanic students. Area college students will serve as the tutors and mentors. The program participants will also volunteer by providing academic assistance to younger children while their parents participate in English as a Second Language classes.
• Collin County LULAC #4537 (Plano, Texas)
  Through a Robotics project more than 1,000 students at Bowman Middle school will learn how to build and program robots in an effort to introduce them to science, technology, engineering and math. The project will start with a small group of 20 selected seventh-grade students and grow to eventually encompass all sixth and seventh graders in the school. A teacher will work with the students who will present their work in the classroom and also compete in a Robotics competition.
• Greater Houston LULAC Council #4967 (Houston, Texas)
  The Greater Houston LULAC Council will target at-risk Latino students in America’s fourth largest city. The program will focus on matching students with a mentor who will promote academic achievement. Students will have access to four cultural and social field trips and will also participate in a volunteer activity. It will also increase parental involvement through monthly activities for the families.
• LULAC Council for Justice, Equality, and Business Development #4782 (Farmers Branch, Texas) Steering Students to College will provide at-risk students from R.L. Turner High school with leadership training, college prep and tutoring, volunteer opportunities and access to motivational speakers. The program has a dual-approach by targeting parents of students with leadership workshops aimed to increase their involvement in the school district. The students will be offered gift cards as incentives for remaining in the program.
• Milwaukee LULAC #326 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
  Mentors from the school district, community and higher education will provide guidance to 20 students from Pulaski and South Division High schools. This counseling will center on best practices that address academic failure, mentoring/tutoring, family involvement, reading and writing programs, individualized instruction, exposure to the college environment, community collaboration, out-of-school enhances, and career education/workforce readiness.