BLCI Alumni Reunion

On January 4th BLCI organized an “Alumni Kickback” which reunited our current seniors and 35 alumni. A “kickback” is essentially a get together with friends. The alumni kickback was an opportunity to reunite our alumni, many of whom have never met each other. The event served as an opportunity to strengthen the importance of continued alumni engagement with BLCI and instill the importance of their leadership within the community. The event was crucial in strengthening a sense of community among alumnus and provided visibility to BLCIs alumni services component of the College Success Program.

The event was held at The Roots Factory, an art gallery and performing arts venue in Barrio Logan. The Roots Factory is a grass roots organization which hosts screen print workshops and classes. Their purpose is to promote culture, self-empowerment, tolerance and awareness through art. By hosting the event at the Roots Factory our alumni were exposed to the thriving arts district within Barrio Logan, local artists and the art of silk-screening.
Silk screening is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh onto which a design is imposed and the open areas on the screen are coated with ink transferred onto the printing surface creating a print. The artists at the Roots Factory created a custom print for BLCI. Each alumnus was given a black hoodie by BLCI and the artists from the Roots Factory showed our students how to silk screen our custom design onto their hoodie.

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Thanks to our friends at the Roots Factory for supporting BLCI.  Check out their website by clicking here.

BLCI Holiday Party

The sweet scent of hot chocolate, tamales, tea, and delicious pan dulce filled the air at BLCI’s Holiday Party. This year Hewlett Packard (HP) graciously sponsored our holiday party and even had their employees purchase gifts for every BLCI student. BLCI staff, the students, parents, and HP employees all gathered together for a few hours of festivities and enjoyed the holiday music as they took pictures with  Santa Claus, got their face painted, and participated at the arts and crafts table. BLCI staff, students and families would like to thank Ron Coughlin, Tara Agen, Jamee Lynn, Juan Salazar, Santiago Davila and the whole team at HP for making our family’s Christmas a wonderful one.

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Tamale Parties Hosted by Friends of BLCI and Prepared with Love by BLCI Parents

At our 15^th Anniversary Celebration last June several friends of BLCI bid on an all inclusive Tamale Party for 30 guests prepared with love by BLCI Parents. The families of BLCI wanted to help raise money for their kids’ education, while thanking the generous people throughout San Diego that help make their children’s college dreams a reality. Two parties were auctioned off and both took place before the end of the year.

On October 8^th  Cliff Schireson, John Venekamp and Machel Allen hosted the first party at Cliff and John’s  recently remodeled home in Rancho Santa Fe. Guests learned to make tamales and fresh tortillas and got to eat them! Soft Latin American rhythms played throughout the beautiful home as guests enjoyed each other’s company with cocktails, great food and stories from BLCI parents.

The second party took place at the beautiful ranch-themed home of co-hosts Alicia and Charles Foster on December 3^rd.  Eileen Haag and Carolyn Phelan also co-hosted the party. Guests (many of them women from the San Diego Women’s Foundation) enjoyed the great food prepared by parents and special desserts with their coffee and champurrado (a Mexican creamy and sweet hot drink). Parents told stories about their children’s adventures on the path to college and guests laughed with enjoyment.

Lucila Hernandez, lead parent for the Tamale Parties and BLCI Board Member said, “I was nervous at first, but after the guests arrived, I felt like I was among family.”

Thank you to the friends of the organization that made this possible through their donations and to the parents of BLCI students who donated their time to make it all happen.

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BLCI’s Circulo de Mujeres & Circulo de Hombres

At BLCI, we value our students’ ability to explore their own identities and their backgrounds to help them better understand the importance (and the impact) of their educational journey.  We encourage our students to understand where they came from to see where they are going.

This semester our students participated in a “Circulo de Mujeres” and a “Circulo de Hombres.” The purpose of the “Circulos” is to provide students with a space to explore their identities as male, female, Latina/o, first generation, and other identities that can often give them strength or make them feel judged for at times.

With the help of University of San Diego undergraduate students, we were able to provide students with activities and discussion topics that led to very meaningful dialogues about topics such as education, class dynamics, struggles, and inspirational stories.

We culminated the “Circulos” at the University of San Diego where the Ethnic Studies Department Chair, Dr. Pulido, and his class planned an evening filled with dinner, dialogue, a college tour, and a review of the impact of the “Circulos.”

We find it very important to provide this valuable space to our students and we will continue our  “Circulo de Mujeres” and “Circulo de Hombres” next semester.

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“Shop with a Jock”

On December 6, ten of our Middle School and High School students had the opportunity to participate in “Shop with a Jock,” a yearly event sponsored by the Junior Seau Foundation. This event provides students with the opportunity to shop for gifts for their family with a San Diego athlete. Our students were very excited to have this opportunity and they spent a wonderful evening filled with music, entertainment, different arts and crafts followed by an hour of shopping with an athlete.

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Our students were very energetic by the end of the night, and they were very grateful to have been given the opportunity to shop for their families. We received great feedback from the students about the event! BLCI would like to thank Jamie Ellis and Junior Seau and everyone at the Junior Seau Foundation for giving our students such a wonderful experience!

Holiday Cards for the Elderly

In the spirit of giving, our Middle School students came together this past Friday to make Holiday Cards for the elderly at St. Paul’s PACE. St. Paul’s PACE is an affiliate of St. Paul’s Senior Homes & Services and it provides chronically ill seniors with a community, care, company, and activities that serve to motivate and help the elderly.

A group of Middle School students met at BLCI and we provided our students with construction paper, glitter glue, ribbon, and other materials for our students to create beautiful pieces of art. We took the Holiday Cards to St. Paul’s PACE with the hope that the gesture will provide joy to those who receive them. We hope to make future visits to St. Paul’s to encourage our students to value the act of giving back to different communities.  

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BLCI Students Attend “Traditions of Christmas” Musical Spectacular

A group of elementary and high school students were fortunate enough to see the grand opening of “Traditions of Christmas”  a musical spectacular held at the Lincoln Performing Arts Center. The musical took our students on a journey around the world to see how different cultures celebrate the holiday season. Here is what one of our students had to say:

“I liked the part when they explained that Christmas was about Jesus.  I also liked the beginning of the play when Santa Claus came out with the Coca Cola sign.  I also liked how they read and sang  about how the Grinch stole Christmas.”  -Ruth R., 4th grade

This event was made possible thanks to Patty Chavez, President/CEO of PC & Associates, and a dear friend of BLCI. Thank you!

BLCI’s 9th Graders Visit Hewlett Packard

On Friday, November 11th, our 9th grade class was able to visit Hewlett Packard (HP) and learn about the type of work they do. Here is what two of our students had to say:

“Today I learned that HP is more than just computers and printers; they are split into five branches which include: the cloud, financing, solar panels, printers, and computers. The thing that really caught my attention about HP was how they are spread all over the world. This shows the impact they have on people and how much they influence the daily activities of individuals both in the workplace and at home.” -Vanessa Radilla, 9th Grade

“One of the things I learned during this trip is that HP has one of the largest solar panel fields in Rancho Bernardo. They have about 6,000 panels that generate enough electricity to power about 3,800 homes. This ends up saving the company about $750,000! These panels provide about 10% of the power HP needs. It is easy to see why HP is a leader in technological innovations.”

- Alexis Diaz, 9th Grade

Aztlan Car Club Raises Money for BLCI!

Aztlan Car Club, a long time partner of BLCI, held its 5th annual car show this September.  The day of the car show, Aztlan members, BLCI staff, students, and families helped serve food and sell raffle tickets.  The proceeds made during the car show were donated to BLCI.  This past month Aztlan members paid a visit to BLCI and presented a check to our students for $1,200! BLCI would like to thank Aztlan Car Club for their continued support!

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BLCI Gets a Makeover!

BLCI is very grateful for the hard work and generosity of volunteers and donors who recently helped to give BLCI a “Makeover.” In late summer, our friends Catherine Stiefel and Keith Behner had brand new carpet installed at BLCI, so that the kids would have a more uplifting learning environment. Several months later (Saturday, November 5^th to be exact), Rebuilding Together San Diego partnered with HD Supply Facilities Maintenance to brighten up our facility. Dozens of volunteers from HD Supply teamed up with BLCI parents, board members and staff to paint the walls, varnish the stage, install partitions for a parent room, make a display case for our awards, and spice up the façade with fresh paint, plants, and an awning. All this came just in time for our Open House on November 17^th.  The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay  Nation donated the food for the volunteers, which was served by grateful BLCI parents. We had fun and got a lot done in one day. Thank you to all the amazing people who worked hard to make BLCI a more beautiful place to learn and grow!

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