Every Student, Every Family

United Way of San Diego County is committed to improving the quality of life within all of San Diego’s communities by eliminating racial disparities and educational gaps. The Every Student, Every Family vision extends our work to facilitate more equitable systems, providing every student and every family access to education and opportunities to succeed. Through close-knit relationships with community partners, UWSD has identified and built educational programs in the San Diego County regions that need it most: Escondido, City Heights, Lemon Grove, and the Lincoln Cluster in Southeast San Diego.

Level Up

Every Student, Every Family: Level Up was a free after-school extended learning program tailored to middle and high school students in Southeastern San Diego that served 65 San Diego Unified middle and high school students. The highly interactive, hands-on program, held Monday through Friday at the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA Teen Center, gave students the perfect combination of self-discovery and exploration into various high-demand careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM). The program fostered unique learning opportunities proven to accelerate youth development, career pathways, sports/fitness, and outdoor/nature experiences. Six different community organizations led sessions with students including podcasting, coding, and a book group. Drawing back to the UWSD Community Learning model, the program provided a community hub for family engagement. In total, Level Up organized three engagement nights, with food and entertainment provided. This program was made possible thanks to grant support from San Diego Foundation.

PARTNERS: Cloudcast Media, Fleet Science Center, Jackie Robinson Family YMCA, Knox Middle School, Lincoln High School, Millennial Tech Middle School, Traveling Stories, Words Alive, YMCA Childcare Resource Services