Education

Students get scholarships, acceptance letters at Black College Expo

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — More than 15,000 high school students met with representatives from more than 200 colleges and universities.

Published

8 years ago

February 12, 2019

Oakland Post

By Shirley Hawkins

LOS ANGELES — Students from Riverside, San Diego and Orange County made their way to the Los Angeles Convention Center Feb. 2 for the 20th annual Black College Expo.

More than 15,000 high school students met with representatives from more than 200 colleges and universities including Ivy League schools and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) from across the country.

“The Expo started as a dream and a passion of mine,” said Theresa Price, founder of the expo who said that years ago, she was not aware that HCBUs even existed.

“Once I discovered historically black colleges and universities, I wanted to spread the history and legacy of these great schools,” she said. “It is great to see the students so happy and excited to attend the expo and I wanted students from all over the world to know about it.”

Some schools were able to check high school transcripts of students at the expo and hand out acceptance letters on the spot.

During a seminar titled “How to Get Money for College,” Gloria Ponce Rodriguez of the National College Resources Foundation said that there are billions of dollars available for high school students who want to attend colleges and universities, particularly if they come from impoverished backgrounds.

“There are all kinds of resources and money out there, especially for the African-American male,” she said while distributing a brochure filled with information about how to receive money for college.

“There’s state, federal, institutional and private scholarships available,” she added.

“If you’re currently enrolled in ROTC at your school, ROTC money is available. If you want to become a teacher, you can get a teaching grant as long as your grade point average is 3.2.”

“If your family makes less than $65,000 a year, you can go to Harvard, Princeton or Yale. There are also the Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant and the Pell grant, which offers students $6,095 in free money as well as schools that also offer work-study programs,” Rodriguez said.

“If a student really wants to go to college, the opportunities are definitely there,” Rodriguez said. “There are at least 80 colleges across the country that will offer you a pathway to acquiring an education, particularly if you come from a disadvantaged background.”

Rodriguez shared her own story, revealing that she only had a 1.1 grade average when she dropped out of high school to care for her six siblings.

“But I knew I was a smart cookie,” she said. “I finally went back to school and earned my GED.”

Rodriguez applied for and was accepted at Norfolk State College in Norfolk, Virginia. “After improving my grade point average, I received a full fellowship and majored in special education. I pursued my degree while I raised my special needs child,” said Rodriguez, who eventually became the admissions director at Norfolk.

“Don’t ever give up,” she told the students.

During the day-long event, a number of speakers who had attended HBCUs said that they formed close bonds with their alma maters that will last forever.

“I visited the University of Southern California and no one was going the extra mile to interact with Jawanza Harris,” said one speaker. “But when I went to Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia they said, ‘You’re great. We see something in you.’ The difference is your people surround you and affirm you,” he said.

“At HBCUs, they teach you about the rich legacy of African Americans that are not in the history books,” Harris added. “My HBCU experience taught me that there are great black people all around us.”

Amer Walton, who attended Bowie State College in Prince Georges County, Maryland, agreed.

“Most of your lawyers, doctors and judges graduated from HBCUs,” Walton said. “HBCUs help you to maximize your potential.”

Dozens of students flocked to a booth to pick up literature from Black College Tours, which was founded 30 years ago by Gregory and Yasmin Delahoussaye. The tour arranges for high school students to visit different colleges across the country each summer.

“I realized that young people would have a better chance to go to college if they knew that HBCUs existed,” said Gregory Delahoussaye, who estimated that nearly 5,000 students have taken the tour.

Seventeen-year-old Da’Shawn Lennan eagerly handed out literature detailing information about Miles College, an HBCU in Fairfield, Alabama.

“When I was still attending Pete Knight High School in Palmdale, I visited Miles College and they had the major I wanted, which was business,” said Lennan, who applied to Miles and was accepted at the school.

“I am so glad to see young people attending this expo,” said Lennan as he surveyed the crowd. “This is a great opportunity for seniors and juniors from high school to get acquainted with different schools from across the country.”

Eighteen-year-old Prosper Egbador, a student at Aquinas High School in San Bernardino who emigrated from Nigeria at 16, proudly walked away with an acceptance letter from Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Texas.

“It feels great to be accepted — this is a dream come true. Not a lot of people get this opportunity, but God helped me, and here I am — I’m going to college,” he said, eagerly clutching his acceptance letter.

Brandon Lee said that after checking his high school transcripts, admission personnel at Tuskeegee University in Tuskeegee, Alabama, also offered him an acceptance letter.

“I want to major in mechanical engineering,” said Lee, who traveled from San Gorgonio Hugh School in San Bernardino, to attend the expo. “I’m really looking forward to the atmosphere, culture and climate at Tuskeegee.”

Towards the end of the Expo, 25 high school students were led to the stage and presented with scholarships ranging from $250 to $2,500. They were greeted with loud applause from the audience.

“In order to win a scholarship, the students had to write an essay about why they wanted to go to college,” Price said.

Nicole Tinson, a speaker at the “Boom Careers” workshop, told the students, “Don’t be discouraged. You can have a 2.0 [grade point average] but you can recreate your grade point average. There’s lots of opportunities, internships, jobs and resources out there. You just have to make a plan and apply yourself.”

This article originally appeared in the Wave Newspapers.

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WCCUSD Joins Statewide Organic School Food Purchasing Cooperative

Other districts involved include: Alameda USD, Albany USD, Berkeley USD, Capistrano USD, Cupertino Union SD, Hayward USD, Laguna Beach USD, Lagunitas Elementary SD, Mt. Diablo USD, North Monterey County USD, Pajaro Valley USD, San Leandro USD, San Ramon Valley USD, Santa Clara USD, Sausalito Marin City SD, Tahoe-Truckee USD and West Contra Costa USD.

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2 days ago

October 13, 2026

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West Contra Costa Unified School District food services team members pose for a photo at Back-to-School Night. Photo courtesy of WCCUSD.

By Richmond Standard Staff

Seventeen California public school districts, including West Contra Costa Unified (WCCUSD), have joined a purchasing cooperative to pool their buying power and expand access to organic food in school meals.

The nonprofit Conscious Kitchen recently announced the launch of the Conscious Organic School Food Purchasing Cooperative. Its founding districts serve more than 300,000 students combined.

The cooperative partnered with food distributors UNFI and Sysco to expand the organic products available to participating districts. Combining schools’ purchasing demand helps distributors plan with suppliers while creating more dependable markets for organic farmers and food makers, according to Conscious Kitchen.

Other eligible California school districts can access the cooperative’s products and pricing through its existing contracts without conducting their own bids. Mt. Diablo Unified School District serves as the lead district for the cooperative’s grocery bid.

Barbara Jellison, WCCUSD’s executive director of food services, said the cooperative builds on years of work bringing fresh, organic food into school kitchens.

“The next challenge has always been how to make that possible for more districts,” Jellison said. “The Co-op gives schools a way to take what we have learned and move it to a completely different scale.”

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Asm. Corey Jackson Announces Launch of 24-Hour Childcare in His District

Assemblymember Corey Jackson has secured $2 million in state funding for a proposed childcare special district in Moreno Valley and Perris. This funding aims to establish a system providing 24-hour, seven-day-a-week childcare, which would be California’s first special district focused solely on childcare. The initiative seeks to address the area’s designation as a “childcare desert” and high costs for working families. The funding will cover startup, planning, and formation costs for the district. Read more about the specifics of this groundbreaking initiative.

Published

3 weeks ago

September 28, 2026

Post News Group

Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley). File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley) has secured $2 million in state funding to launch a proposed childcare special district serving families in Moreno Valley and Perris, paving the way for a system designed to provide childcare 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Moreno Valley-Perris Childcare Special District would be the first special district in California focused specifically on childcare, according to Jackson’s office. The state funding will cover startup, planning, and formation costs and help the district meet requirements set by the Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO.

The proposed district would coordinate a mixed-delivery childcare system that could include home-based and center-based care. The goal is to provide universal childcare for families who work overnight, early morning, or other nontraditional shifts.

Jackson’s office says Moreno Valley is a certified “childcare desert,” with licensed childcare spaces available for only 15% of children with working parents. Infant care in Moreno Valley averages $2,776 a month, or about 35.7% of median household income. In Perris, licensed infant care can cost more than 60% of an individual worker’s gross median earnings, according to the assemblymember’s office.

“Securing this $2 million in startup funding is a monumental victory for the working-class families of Moreno Valley and Perris who have been trapped in a childcare desert for far too long,” Jackson said.

The proposal follows Jackson’s unsuccessful effort to establish the district through Assembly Bill 2083. The legislation would have created the district as a dependent special district covering Moreno Valley, Perris and their spheres of influence, with Riverside LAFCO responsible for reviewing its formation and boundaries.

The new funding allows the district’s formation to move forward without requiring mandatory contributions from local school districts and other stakeholders, according to Jackson’s office. His spokesperson, Daniel Peeden, said Jackson hopes the district can be operating by 2028.

The proposal has faced questions from some local officials. Moreno Valley City Councilmember Ed Delgado, who is running against Jackson for the 60th Assembly District seat, said he supports affordable childcare but questioned how the proposed district would operate and how much it would ultimately cost.

“Basically, he didn’t have a plan. We didn’t see a plan,” Delgado said, adding that officials had questions about operating costs, insurance and eligibility.

“It’s going to take a lot more than $2 million to create a special district to provide affordable childcare,” Delgado said.

Delgado has suggested working with existing childcare centers to subsidize costs for local families rather than creating a new agency.

Jackson’s office says the program will lower barriers to “workforce participation” and reduce “affordability anxiety” for young families. This landmark District is poised to trigger a virtuous cycle of economic upward mobility and long-term regional prosperity in the 60th Assembly District, his office added.

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County Office of Education Says OUSD Finances Are Getting Healthier, Materially Stronger

The Oakland Unified School District’s recent budget submission has been deemed “materially stronger” by the Alameda County Office of Education, reflecting deliberate work by the new board and superintendent. Despite needing further cuts in the coming years, the district is progressing toward financial health, according to ACOE Superintendent Alysse Castro. This assessment counters critics who suggest a dire financial outlook for Oakland schools, acknowledging the district has made significant reductions and adopted a plan to address structural challenges. The ACOE commended the district’s efforts to get its financial house in order. Read more to learn about the details of these financial improvements.

Published

3 weeks ago

September 27, 2026

Post News Group

ACOE Supt. Alysse Castro; OUSD Supt. Dr. Denise Saddler. File photos.

By Ken Epstein

County’s letter counters critics who offer Doomsday scenarios for Oakland schools

The Oakland Unified School District, under the leadership of a new board majority and new superintendent, recently submitted a budget to the county “that is a materially stronger submission than the district has filed in recent years, (which) reflects difficult and deliberate work,” according to a letter to the district from Supt. Alysse Castro of the Alameda County Office of Education.

While OUSD still must make more budget cuts in the next two years, the district is on the road to financial health, according to a Sept. 15 letter from Castro to the district.

Under the California Education Code, Alameda County and other county offices of education (COEs) have the legal responsibility to review, approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove local school district annual budgets and interim financial reports.

“The Alameda County Office of Education wants to acknowledge that the district has submitted a budget that shows a positive fund balance, meets the state minimum reserve for economic uncertainty in each year of the multiyear project and is accompanied by a board-adopted commitment to close the remaining structural challenges,” the letter said.

“After two decades of state receivership and significant changes in OUSD’s budgeting practices,” it is understandable that there may be “considerable confusion” in the public about the district’s current financial condition, according to the letter.

However, the district’s current fiscal position and practices are “materially” better than prior years, though they “do not yet eliminate underlying structural challenges,” the letter continued.

Castro also commended the board and staff for working to get their financial house in order.

“There are three essential parts to addressing a structural deficit: staff must identify and bring

forward hard choices; the governing board must make those choices; and staff must follow

through and implement them,” she wrote.

“All three appear to be happening in OUSD, and that represents meaningful progress,” she wrote. “The district has made significant reductions to ongoing expenditures, increased its use of available restricted resources, and adopted a plan to address the remaining gap.”

According to the County, the district already has approved budget cuts of about $30 million in the current year. Additional reductions of about $30 million will be necessary next year, and another $11 million the following year.

These cuts are necessary, the county says, because “the district is still operating at a structural

deficit, meaning spending more every year than it brings in.”

In a statement released earlier this month, the district announced it had “finished the year with $170.1 million in its General Fund and an unrestricted reserve of $32.3 million, finishing $16.4 million ahead of what the district projected in March.”

The budget reflects progress toward putting the district in a stronger financial position to better serve students and families, said district leaders, while also acknowledging the need for significant reductions across the board.

“This turnaround happened because our board was willing to make difficult decisions rather than pass them along, and because our staff did the work,” said Supt. Dr. Denise Saddler. “None of this came easily, and there is more ahead of us. What these closed books show is that the direction is right.”

In October 2025, the board directed staff to prepare budget scenarios totaling $100 million in adjustments. In December, presented with a choice between borrowing to bridge the gap and making the reductions directly, the board chose the latter, the district statement said. As part of the reduction plan, the board approved cuts to more than 400 certificated and classified positions, along with a retirement incentive that converted some layoffs into voluntary departures.

“Closing our books is not the same as finishing the work, and we are not stopping here,” said Tara Gard,deputy superintendent of Business and Operations. “We will continue with the actions in our Financial Stabilization Plan because of where they lead.”

In a statement released on social media, Oakland Education Association (OEA) President

Kampala Taiz-Rancifer strongly criticized those who allege the district is collapsing and supported members of the school board majority who are working hard to stabilize the district’s finances while minimizing disruption for schools and employees.

Jennifer Brouhard (D2) and Valarie Bachelor (D6), who are running for reelection, “are moving the district toward a ‘materially stronger’ financial position than we’ve seen in recent years—all while investing in school sites and the employees who serve Oakland students,” she wrote.

“For years, we’ve heard billionaire-backed board members say they had to make ‘tough choices’ to balance the budget,” she continued. “Those choices almost always caused disruption and instability for our schools and communities. This is a different approach: financial stability alongside investments in students, schools, and workers. All in the effort to improve student outcomes.”

“The real hard work is tuning out the rage bait, the chaos agents, the attacks on unions and workers, and ignoring the loud corporate profiteers—and staying focused on what matters: improving outcomes for students while creating stable teaching and learning conditions,” said Taiz-Rancifer.

“Let’s not go backward into the days of manufactured panic.”