email : Webview : Breakthrough March Updates

Breakthrough celebrates AmeriCorps Week, March 9-13

Thanks to a grant administered by OneStar Foundation, every August, Breakthrough is joined by seven young leaders who make a 12-month committment to support our students as part of the Breakthrough staff. And every summer, 130 college students join Breakthrough as AmeriCorps Summer Teaching Fellows. With more than 1,000 students currently in Breakthrough, it would be impossible to run our high-quality summer and year-round programming without the significant investment of AmeriCorps and all of our AmeriCorps members - thank you!

One of our outstanding AmeriCorps members, currently in her second year at Breakthrough, is Gaby Vallejo. For Gaby, Breakthrough is about more than a job - it's an opportunity to give back. As part of our college completion team, Gaby works with students who have finished high school, helping them enter college, be successful and complete their degrees. "My college experience is what made me want to work with students," Gaby says. Read more of Gaby's story >

Mendez College Club Studies Up on Higher Ed

Every Thursday, a group of students at Mendez Middle School stays behind after the bell rings. Why? To get ready for college!

The Mendez College Club, run by Breakthrough but open to all students in ACE, or the After-school Centers for Education, is a chance for these middle school students to get a head start on the work they will have to do to get into college. Each week, they research different colleges across the country (favorites range from UT to NYU), and study different careers and the majors they required. College graduates and current college students often visit the club to talk about their diverse experiences and paths to college. And best of all, on special weekends, they tour college campuses. The Mendez College Club recently visited Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and last Saturday they went to St. Edwards University to get a glimpse of college life. Mendez Middle School is located in the Dove Springs area in southeast Austin, and is also one of the United Way's focus schools for their Middle School Matters Program.

Amplify Austin a Record Breaking Success

Earlier this month, Breakthrough took part in Amplify Austin, I Live Here, I Give Here's day of online giving. In just 24 hours, 515 Austin nonprofits raised a combined $7,715,391. $14,408 was raised for Breakthrough - nearly three times our total from last year!

A huge thank you to everyone who donated, fundraised and helped spread the word, as well as Breakthrough volunteer and board member Lynne Rupp, who generously matched donations made by volunteers. We are incredibly proud and honored to be a part of a community so dedicated to supporting its local nonprofits. Thanks to you, Central Texas has a bright future.

Mayor Steve Adler wil speak at Champions Celebration on April 21

Next month, our 10th annual Champions Celebration will bring the Austin community together for a fun evening of food, cocktails and music, all to support Breakthrough and our students.

This year, we are pleased to bring Mayor Steve Adler to the event as our featured guest speaker. Mayor Adler is a first-generation college graduate, and he'll speak about expanding the educational opportunities available to low-income youth in Central Texas. "Education is key to Austin's continued success, and we have a moral imperative to give our children the tools they need to succeed. I'm proud to work with an organization as effective and committeed as Breakthrough Austin," says Adler.

New this year, the Champions Celebration will honor three "Breakthrough Champions" who have been extraordinarily dedicated to our program and students for many years. This year, our Champions are:

Individual: Neil Webber, founding board member
Institutional Partner: Applied Materials, founding supporter
Student: Alicia Flores, Breakthrough student 2004-2014 and current Breakthrough staff member

The Champions Celebration is presented by Freescale Semiconductor, which is also sponsoring The Summer STEM Institute for 9th grade Breakthrough students in Manor.

Click here for more information about the event and RSVP by April 14 by emailing rsvp@breakthroughaustin.org.

Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.

1050 E 11th Street Suite 350
Austin, TX | 78702 US

This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.