Promise Scholars Day Draws 320 Students to La Verne

Serrano Middle School Principal Mauricio Gormaz remembers watching his mother work as a housekeeper when he was 3-years-old. He thought it was a dream job, but what he did not know at the time was that it was the best she could find as an undocumented immigrant, and she hated it.

He discovered the truth when he found her crying in a restroom at work one day.

“She told me, ‘You have to promise me that every day you go to school you have to do your best, and you have to make me proud,’” he said.

Gormaz shared his story with 320 eighth graders and 18 parents from his school during the Fifth Annual Promise Scholars college tour at the University of La Verne on Feb. 4. Promise Scholars, operated by the Ontario Montclair Schools Foundation, strives to increase the number of Ontario-Montclair School District students graduating high school and going to college. An element of the initiative is exposing students to the college experience through tours starting in the fifth grade.

Leslie Sorenson, resource development administrator for Promise Scholars, told students if they do their part, college will become a reality with the help of the program and its partner colleges.

“Our first commitment to you is that there is a place, a promised spot for you in college,” she said.

La Verne, which signed an educational pipeline agreement in May 2015 with Ontario-Montclair to benefit Promise Scholars students, will waive its application fees for qualifying students, and provide scholarships through the partnership.

Serrano Counselor Anna Amaro said the support is needed. About 80 percent of students at the school are the first in their families to go to college, and nearly 50 percent have parents who did not graduate high school.

Students had been looking forward to coming to La Verne for weeks.

“They were really, really excited and some of them were nervous because (college is) not that far away,” she said. “Four years away is not very long.”

For Serrano student Marissa Solorzano, 13, college is crucial and she welcomes the support as a first-generation student.

“My parents want me to succeed,” she said. “They want me to go to college because that’s something they didn’t do.”

Marissa, who has toured several other college campuses already, says she keeps an eye out for class size, the size of the library and also the vibe of the students.

“I can tell whether people are really nice and if they’re learning a lot,” she said.

Her friend, Susana Oyarzabal, 14, states with confidence that she will be a lawyer one day and going to college will be one of many steps to reach that goal. But for now, she is enjoying seeing colleges and weighing her options.

“I actually like it,” she said of La Verne. “It’s really pretty and I heard it’s a good school.”

Promise Scholars tour day also includes panel discussions by La Verne first-generation students, who share their experiences with middle school students who will also be the first in their families to go to college.

Maribel Hernandez, a freshman business administration major, considered it an honor having the opportunity to share the importance of higher education.

“I think it’s really important,” she said. “It’s one thing to hear it from a teacher or professor, but it’s another to hear it from another student.”

Sean O’Cain, a sophomore anthropology major, said being a first-generation student caused him to delay applying for college for several years because he did not think he could succeed. But the confidence he has gained since then is something he wants to instill in younger students.

“I want to help the younger generation succeed,” O’Cain said.