Oakland High School sophomore Lirio Zepeda says, “In regular school you feel embarrassed to tell people that you want to go to college.” Teachers and staff who join the Mills Upward Bound “family” tend to stay for years. Mr. Garcia started in 1983 and became director in 1996, and this is the 13th year for assistant director and freshman counselor Sharon Nesbitt Jones. Assistant director and senior counselor Susana Hernandez began as a tutor in 1995, as a Mills freshwoman, and joined the staff after earning a teaching credential and master’s degree at Stanford University. “I came in [to Mills] really wanting to be premed and a doctor [like my sister],” Ms. Hernandez says. “When I started this, I got turned on to education. This is the program that worked best. I knew I wanted to stay here.” Like the students, veteran Fremont High School math teacher Richard Staniland spends his summer vacations at Upward Bound—in his case, teaching calculus and advanced math to upperclass students for the last 18 years. “If it weren’t for Upward Bound, I might have left the profession years ago,” he says. “I know it’s possible here [for students to succeed]. It’s the rule, not the exception. . . . By junior or senior year, they understand, and that’s when they cross over the line and can see a future.” Ms. Hernandez has seen her students blossom. “They gain confidence. They come here, grow, and believe in themselves.” Many students also come back to Upward Bound. One returnee is tutor Uirl Mayweather, who graduated in 2005. “The program helped me stay focused in regular school,” he says. “I would have graduated, but I may not have done as well as I did.” He takes pre-nursing courses at Merritt College in Oakland and returned this summer to “hopefully affect change the way it affected me.” “I see transformations all the time,” says Ms. Hernandez. She mentions one particular student who “was
motivated but struggled a lot. We thought she had a learning disorder.” Upward Bound helped confirm the disability and provided expert assistance. It helped her to know that the disability had nothing to do with her abilities. “She just graduated from Smith College,” Ms. Hernandez says, Left to Right: Sophomores Della Singleton (Skyline High), Felicia sounding like a proud Walker (McClymonds High), Christine Nelson (Oakland Technical High), and Lirio Zepeda (Oakland High). mom. “She came back every summer as a tutor, and this summer Indeed, the Bush administration’s as a teaching assistant.” 2007 budget proposes eliminating the Each night from 7 to 9 p.m., Upward Bound program entirely, the entire Mary Morse Hall—boys’ nationwide. and girls’ wings alike—is as quiet as That would end the dreams and a library. Tutors and teachers tiptoe transformations of freshmen like through the halls, asking if anyone Donald Biagas, who entered Oakland needs academic help. Mr. Garcia High School last fall. This past year, and his counselors check on their he brought his grade-point average up charges, ready to lend an ear or a to 3.8 and is aiming for 4.0. “I really helping hand. want to go to college,” he says. With “If you need to chill out, you can Upward Bound, “I’m feeling confident talk to people, and not just about acawith math way more. Before, I just demic stuff,” says Christine Nelson, a thought I was dumb. The [algebra] sophomore at Oakland Tech. “It’s like teacher, Ms. Hughes, and Mr. Garcia a family.” are always on my side.” “Everyone is open,” says fellow Mills Professor of Education sophomore Della Singleton, of Skyline Tomás Galguera teaches the High School. “They’re willing to give Educational Research elective and you answers.” worries about the uncertain funding. Later, outside the dining hall, “It’s a necessary program,” he says. Oakland Tech senior Lien Truong “This is what school should be like. confirms the family dynamic of This is what’s making a difference.” Upward Bound. “We never let anyone Tutor Uirl Mayweather worries down—we participate in class, finish about uncertain funding too. essays, take care of each other. It’s like “Everyone should support Upward a dream school everyone wishes they Bound in all ways possible,” he says. could be in.” You sense that his and many other As in any dream school, not everyhearts would break if the program thing is academic. Plaid shirts, toowere to end. short slacks, suspenders, and thick“I loved it,” he says. “I couldn’t lensed glasses abounded as Truong wait to come back in summer.” and fellow seniors judged costumes for Revenge of the Nerd Day. Pat Soberanis <soberanis@usfca.edu>, The chapel grew quiet once again earned a teaching credential from that Wednesday morning when Mr. Mills in 2006. She is a writer based in Garcia announced, “If you don’t do San Francisco. your best, our funding might be cut.” Fall 2006 M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY
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