2017 SUMMER PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Kid City Hope Place's college access program started with formal college access programming the summer of 2012.  Five years later, through support from our community and donors, Kid City not only continues this tradition but is now additionally able to provide summer programs to keep students engaged and motivated all year long... in air conditioned rooms!  

While traditional program activities like SAT Math prep continue throughout the summer, Kid City's summer program offers special opportunities unique to SoCal residents. Summertime, free of pop quizzes and paper deadlines, allows high school students and university interns opportune time to engage with one another and delve into Kid city programs with a sense of relaxation.  

That said this summer was rife with activity! Many went on hikes with the Sierra Club, visited the Long Beach Opera, and took part in dance classes, yoga, and cooking workshops. Thanks to our partnership with Hire LA Youth and Holman CDC, Kid City hosted 22 working interns! High school students and college interns worked all summer long to serve on the 7th annual Splash of LA Committees and ensure that our August 5th event was a hit.  Peer mentors established life-long friendships this summer thanks in part to Kid City Alum, Alma Sanchez, and USC's Alpha Phi Omega volunteers, Jennifer Kim and Julianna Paul.

Fun and games aside, our 2017 summer participants demonstrated remarkable strength, courage, and maturity partaking in professional development and academic enrichment activities. Summer started with a "Decorate Your Cap" afternoon for high school grads. Program staff attended 10 high school and college graduations, and a senior Kid City Band Recital. At Ultreya, we celebrated 18 new college graduates. And in June, a very impressive bunch attended a Sacramento Lobby Day, exercising their voice for equality in higher education. 

And, thanks to kind individuals such as Evelyn G. Aleman and Joe Macias, three recent college graduates, Saul Nolasco, Frances Melchor, and Alma Ventura, received a professional attire scholarship.  Together, recipients shopped for business attire at the Burlington Coat Factory in Downtown Los Angeles. 

While much of Kid City's programs focus on high school and college completion, of their own volition, this summer students actively took steps now to have an auspicious start into adulthood. We here at Urban Foundation and Kid City couldn't be more proud.  We're honored to have such amazing students in our lives.  It was a very special summer, and it's bittersweet to leave the season. As our warm summer days turn into crisp autumn nights, we have the privilege to foster a new cohort of students into a fresh new school year. Onwards. Abound with summer's energy, Ultreya!