Lancaster Partnership

Wachovia Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation Alcoa Mill Products Lancaster Newspapers (The Steinman Foundations) Y&S Candies (Hershey Foods Foundation) Pepperidge Farm, Inc.(Campbell Soup Foundation) PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. High Foundation Tyco Electronics Foundation Armstrong Foundation The Securus Group Fulton Bank Sovereign Bank William Randolph Hearst Foundation

LPP FACTS

• 1993 - First LPP cohort grad uated from high school and entered college • 925 students have been through the program • 71% have gone on to higher education— Millersville University accounting for 52% of those students. • Corporate partners have contributed more than $1 million so far. 20 Years Gertrudis Sanchez ‘09, Will Redmond, Cameron Powell, a junior, and freshmen Jose Piosado and Erika Stewart. 20 Success Stories

The lancaster Partnership Program (lPP), was designed to increase the high school graduation and college participation rates of students enrolled in the School district of lancaster (Sdl).

Supported by corporate partners and foundations, the program targets Lancaster students who have been previously underrepresented in higher education—namely African Americans and Latinos. In the past, students from these groups have had below average high school graduation rates.

According to Minor “Will” Redmond, assistant vice president for academic services, who oversees the program, “The program was never intended as a ‘hand out’ but as a ‘helping hand’ with many students rising to the challenge.”

Starting in the tenth grade, students in the program are paired with their own LPP mentor. Students are required to sign a contract to formalize their commitment to the program, and parental involvement is also expected. The results prove the program is working.

“The program wouldn’t be possible without the commitment of the corporate partners,” said Jerry Eckert, vice president for Millersville University advancement, who assisted in creating the LPP.

LPP students who graduate from J.P.McCaskey High School and enroll at Millersville receive financial assistance with their college expenses from the corporate partners, who also provide summer employment, internships, and opportunities to interview for positions upon graduation from Millersville.

Students who have participated in the program admit that, without LPP, they do not know where they would be if they had not taken the path of education.

In twenty years, LPP has offered a helping hand and an opportunity for education to hundreds of young people. It has done nothing short of changing lives—not just for those who earned a college degree, their families, future generations and our community. Many of the people are now business executives, educators, counselors, and mentors.

Here are brief success stories of just twenty LPP graduates. There are hundreds more.

Angela Pereira-Bailey ’07

is a newscast director for WGAL TV 8. She says, “Going to Millersville made me aware that the variety of courses I had taken (even general electives) could be utilized in so many aspects in my life. It is a fact that you never know when you would need to use some of that extra knowledge and how it can correlate with so many things that you do everyday.”

About getting a degree, she says, “I was the first in my family to do so. I’m very proud of that and I remind my nephews and nieces all the time that they are next in line to get that important and valued piece of paper because I know that I am a role model for them. ...best of all, I received an education that can’t be taken away from me. I earned it! And Millersville University was the perfect place!

Alex Alvarez ‘04 graduated with a degree in business administration. He works for Fulton Bank as a branch manager in Lancaster.

Guillermina (Gidget) dejesus

‘04 is an 8th grade science teacher at Lincoln Middle School in Lancaster. She says that LPP made the dream of going to college real for her. It helped her to believe and see that she could go to college regardless of the fact that her parents were not able to send her to college.

Peggy Henderson ‘04 is the lead respiratory therapist and safety officer for the Select Medical Corporation in Philadelphia. She is scheduled to complete her master’s in business administration in health services administration from Strayer University in 2010. She says, “I’m grateful to the LPP. It certainly opened up possibilities for me.”

Kijuan Felder ‘02 graduated with a degree in secondary education, English. Now Kijuan is the founder, director and

co-owner of the Felder &

Wright Corp., a business that provides independent living, transitional living, and aftercare services for young men and women.

Jasmyne King ‘09 is working one full-time and two part-time positions. She works as a parttime counselor with young teen mothers with two or more children, as a Red Cross worker and as a permancy specialist with United Families Network.

Yanira Alvarez ‘99 is a job

accountant for R.R. Don-

nelley, in Lancaster. She was the first in her immediate family to graduate from college.

Tina Shell ‘98, ‘00M is a

school counselor and

psychologist for the School District of Lancaster and is also a doctoral candidate. She says that Millersville gave her the technical and theoretical skills to complete graduate school and the ability to effectively help young people.

delores ojeda ‘01 is an as-

sistant branch manager

at Fulton Bank. She credits her education with giving her the skills to work effectively in international banking with diverse customers from all over the world.

danielle Brown ‘01, ‘09M is a

math coach for the School

District of Lancaster and is the interim chief academic officer for Project Forward Leap.

Gertrudis Sanchez ‘06 is a graduate student in Millersville’s school counseling program, and will graduate in 2010. She works as a graduate assistant for the Housing and Residential Programs office and is a mentor with the Lancaster Partnership Program for high school students. She says that without LPP, “I wouldn’t be in college. The help is not only financial help, but also the workshops for parents and students about going through the process of college.”

Emiyaril “Emi” Andino ‘06

is a graduate student in Millersville’s school counseling program, and will graduate in 2010. Emi is an assistant in the University’s financial aid office and works with the LPP mentoring high school students. She says, “It is because of the Lancaster Partnership Program that I stand where I am today. It has afforded me with a multitude of opportunities to not only better myself, but my educational goals as well.”

Christina ortega ‘04 is a probation officer for York County Juvenile Probation.

Evans Elias ‘08 has a degree in business administration and is working in Fulton Financial

Corporation’s manage-

ment training program. Evans recently began work with the LPP as a corporate mentor. “I wanted to go to college, so I could have a better life than my father experienced.”

Amadi Ramos ‘98 is a senior

design engineer of rocket

propulsion systems for ATK Mission Systems. His degree from Millersville led him to another undergraduate degree at Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Villanova University and plans to complete his Ph.D.

Marisol Mendez ‘06. Until recently, she worked in customer service with the Jay Group for 2½ years. She says, “I have to thank the Partnership Program for providing the opportunity to go to college. Without its help there was no way I could have gone. It provides students the opportunity to know there is the possibility to go to college. I was the first person to go to college and complete a four-year program in my family.”

Elizabeth Rodriquez ‘00

majored in finance and business management. She is an associate

accountant at Armstrong

World Industries. She says her education gave her the superior tools to excel in her present professional work.

Makeda nobles ‘06 is a transition coordinator in an independent living unit for the York

County Children and Youth

Services. She is responsible for helping young adults with securing housing and attending college. She says, “I would not have been able to go to college without the help of the Lancaster Partnership Program. LPP gave me the guidance and support to finish my degree program. Now I am planning to start graduate school in September 2010.”

Carlos Munoz ‘07 received his degree in international business and is working for Boeing Corporation as a scheduler specialist. He is slated to be in a rotation for Boeing’s business finance group and head to Europe for additional training. The business research training that he received at Millersville has helped him to excel in the work in his division at Boeing. He says, “I would not be where I am without the Lancaster Partnership.”

Tina Moore ‘01 is a social worker for Families United Network. She is a senior policy permanency specialist in adoption and foster care. She believes that the caliber of her undergraduate program at Millersville helped her to complete a master’s degree in social work in one year as opposed to three years.