Happy Holidays!

VOL |33| December 2019

Message from Executive Director

In the course of our busy day-to-days, it’s easy to forget to pause and reflect on the gifts we receive everyday. The holidays can be that reminder: to take stock of the generosity and great efforts of our partners and the members of this community in which we invest and call home — generosity and efforts that catalyze dreams, pathways, and prosperity for the students who are our future. Our collaborative work enriches each one of us, and I am truly grateful for it.

We are able to make such positive impacts because of our funders, who give so generously of their resources; because of our community partners, who give tirelessly of their time and expertise; and because of our remarkable team who helps to keep our mission at the forefront on a daily basis.

May you all have a joyous holiday season, knowing that the work you do is valued and makes a vital difference in the lives of our students and our community as a whole.

Click here to learn more about The San Marcos Promise!

If you want to get involved , there are several ways you can help! If you are an SMUSD employee, it's not too late! You can still sign up to become a monthly donor too!

Volunteer of the Year

Fred Freedman, TSMP Board Member and President/CEO of Pima Medical Institute, was honored at this year's 2019 Volunteer of the Year Awards Ceremony for the North County Philanthropic Council.

We are so grateful for all Fred and the Pima Medical Institute team have done for The San Marcos Promise and the students in our district. Our Education Coordinators, Amanda and Roy, are making a huge impact and it wouldn’t be possible without this wonderful partnership.

Thanks for helping us “move the needle” and change lives!

San Marcos Connect to Careers

100 juniors from San Marcos, Mission Hills, and Twin Oaks High Schools and 50 professionals from the community joined together on November 14th for our Inaugural Connect to Careers event.

The afternoon kicked off with a welcome from Mayor Rebecca Jones and Superintendent Dr. Carmen Garcia, followed by our keynote speaker, Artem Sharoshkin, CEO of The Boxing Club. Artem immigrated to the United States at the age of 17. He spoke about his personal and professional journey of passion, perseverance, hard work, and self-discipline as he worked his way from janitor of The Boxing Club to now CEO. Artem's story was truly inspirational!

Students then had the opportunity to meet and ask questions of our professionals, learning about their particular industry and career journeys. We had representatives from 13 industries and students were able to network with three different industries at the event.

Lunch was provided by the MHHS Culinary Arts Program and floral arrangements provided by the SMHS Floral Design Program.

Thank you to our sponsors, Hunter Industries, Target River Marketing, and the City of San Marcos.

Dressed for Success!

Preparing our students to make their best first impression!

We are excited to announce that our TSMProfessional Career Closet is now open! Any high school student who needs professional clothing for an interview, networking event, internship, etc. can sign up to come to our office where our ambassadors will help each student pick out an outfit! Students work with our Education Coordinators at each high school on job and career readiness skills, such as resume preparation and interviewing, prior to receiving their outfit.

Thank you to all of our community members who have donated professional clothing!

Proudly pictured to the left is Jamileth, 11th grade student at Mission Hills High School. Jamileth visited the Career Closet before our Connect to Careers event.

“ I would like to thank all the wonderful donors that donated to the career closet. Without your donations it wouldn’t be possible for students like me to feel confident to attend interviews or events. The experience I had at the career closet was great from the moment I walked in. The closet offers a range of sizes and options for many students and I think it’s amazing how people came together to make this possible for students.”

Education Coordinator Corner

Our Education Coordinators have been busy helping our 9th grade students learn about their interests by giving and interpreting the Super Strong Assessment . The San Marcos Promise is committed to helping all students discover their strengths, interests and values, and using this information to help guide their future paths forward. The Super Strong is a wonderful resource for students, and TSMP has made the tool available to all middle and high school students in San Marcos Unified School District.

Thank you Friends of San Marcos Parks & Recreation!

Thank you to the Friends of San Marcos Parks and Recreation for your generous donation of $5,000 to The San Marcos Promise from this year's Double Peak Challenge. We truly value our partnership and are already looking forward to next year's event!

The check was presented by Kathryn Gray, President of the Friends of San Marcos Parks and Recreation at the San Marcos Parks and Rec Commission Meeting last month.

Spring LEAP

LEAP is expanding this spring! In addition to Knob Hill and Discovery, we'll have camps at Twin Oaks Elementary, San Elijo Elementary, and La Mirada Academy! Check here for updates!

Our Learning Enrichment to Achieve Promise (LEAP) program is one of the best afterschool and summer enrichment programs in the county for K-8 students.

LEAP helps students discover new interests and passions and helps them gain critical 21st century skills such as adaptive problem solving, collaborative communication, and digital fluency.

Not only is it taught by our extraordinary credentialed SMUSD teachers, the teachers are able to design a class in an area they are especially passionate about, with an emphasis on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Mathematics). Students are exposed to classes they might not otherwise have had the opportunity to take during their school day.

A huge added benefit of LEAP is that some of the proceeds go back to the school who hosts LEAP.

Warrior Village Project

TSMP is a proud fiscal sponsor to the Warrior Village Project , spearheaded by Mr. Mark Pilcher and coming to fruition at San Marcos High School in Mr. Chris Geldert's Woodshop class. The Warrior Village Project is helping to provide permanent, affordable housing to homeless veterans while training the next generation of homebuilders.

Thank you to our generous community supporters and volunteers, to Mr. Pilcher, Mr. McSweeney from BIA, Mr. Zeait at SMHS, and to Mr. Geldert who works tirelessly everyday sharing this amazing experience with his students.

This is a perfect example of the importance of connections and demonstrates the impact it can have, not only in the lives of students, but the community at large.

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Thank You for Your Donation!

Click the " DONATE " button for your one-time donation. Any amount is truly appreciated and helps us continue our purpose on Building Dreams, Pathways, and Prosperity.

FUNdraiser time!

When you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to The San Marcos Promise!

All you need to do is shop on smile.amazon.com and input our organization - The San Marcos Promise

Located in our Future Center offices off of Pico Ave. in San Marcos. The San Marcos Promise has the BEST freshly brewed coffee in the building!

Our sips for Scholars Coffee Cart is a 100% donation based program designed to support college & career readiness initiatives & scholarships for San Marcos Unified School District families.

Thank you to:

The San Marcos Promise is a non-profit 501(c)3 educational foundation providing college and career support for students in the San Marcos Unified School District. The San Marcos Promise operates on grants and charitable contributions from supporters like you.

With workforce development as our core goal, we strive to provide access to a wide variety of higher education pathways. By partnering with local businesses we inform students of critical workforce needs in our local economy, ensuring a return on their investment in higher education.