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City Beat
Foundation helping prepare students for future
Second annual phone-a-thon brings in $25,000
By Kate Carter
The goal was college for many of those making phone calls on behalf of the Willow Glen Middle and High School Foundation last week.
About 50 volunteers gathered at Lincoln Avenue's Peak Travel the evenings of Feb. 6 and 7, to raise $30,000 for the schools to help students be more prepared for higher education. The foundation supports the schools' stated goals of helping as many of their students get to college as they can, said fundraiser coordinator Pam English.
"Our objective is to have a college guidance counselor at both the middle and high school," she said.
Foundation treasurer Peter Cocotas said the foundation raised $25,000 from its second annual phone-a-thon, adding to the $10,000 it has already raised during this year's campaign.
The foundation sends out mailings to thousands of its supporters beginning in November, asking for donations and alerting people to the coming phone-a-thon in February. Donors can contribute before the fundraising event and not receive a phone call, or be prepared for the call when it comes. Volunteers placed calls to hundreds of people who were previous donors, parents of students at the middle and high schools, parents of fifth-graders at feeder elementary schools, and school alumni, Cocotas said.
Last year, the foundation called all the residents in the 95125 ZIP code, but Cocotas said it has decided to concentrate on those who are already familiar with the foundation and its programs.
"We target on people we currently know who have some kind of investment in the school," he said. "We think it's much more productive to do that--we don't have to introduce ourselves."
The money that is raised will not only go to hiring full-time guidance counselors, which the schools do not yet have, English said, but also toward expanding the tutoring program at the schools and upgrading the schools' shared media center.
High school Principal Pat Day was able to secure funding to hire a half-time counselor at the school for this year, foundation President Lise Shannon said.
"The foundation has turned out to be a catalyst for these good deeds," she said. "We feel that we've been able to elevate needs and priorities."
In addition, the foundation is encouraging students to think about their future by holding a career fair this spring.
"The students will get to talk to people to help them in planning their post-high school education," fair organizer Karen Clinton said. "We want to cover a whole gamut of possibilities from those kids who are college bound to those who aren't sure what path they want to take."
Students will get to visit booths for up to 50 different careers, manned with volunteers in those careers who can provide the students with information, ask questions and offer advice about what kind of schooling and training to receive, Clinton said. The half-day fair is modeled on Leland High School's career day but is significantly shorter and smaller, taking place April 16 from 7 a.m. to noon in the school's cafeteria.
"It will all hinge on the response from the community," she said. "We're hoping to have enough volunteers."
The foundation surveyed the high school students about their preferred careers last week, Clinton said, and will then send letters home to parents asking for volunteers to represent the preferred careers. The foundation is also paying the costs of the fair, which Clinton expects to be about $1,000.
Shannon said the foundation is also building relationships with local businesses, in particular Washington Mutual bank at the intersection of Lincoln and Minnesota avenues. The schools will begin a banking and finance curriculum, and the bank will employ two student interns, she said. In addition, the bank is permitting the schools to use its exterior area for announcing school events, and may be contributing donations to the schools, as well, Shannon said.
"We're just looking at all the possibilities to partner," she said.
Cocotas said he expects money to begin entering the foundation's coffers between March and May. The foundation hopes to raise another $250,000 over the next few years, he said, to achieve its goals. Last year, the foundation raised about $40,000 from its mailings and phone-a-thon.
For more information about the foundation and to contribute, visit www.sjusd.ca.us/WillowGlenFoundation/. To volunteer at the high school career fair, call Clinton at 408.265.2805.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
