Press Releases Spring 2005

CONTACT: Cathy Summa, Director, Marketing & Communications
(831) 479-6158
casumma [at] cabrillo.edu

April 21, 2005

CAP Graduate Plans to Teach Toward Her Dream

APTOS – April 21, 2005—As a little girl struggling to learn English, Maria Rodriguez wanted to be a teacher but she didn’t believe it was possible.

“My parents were farm workers and they could have never paid for college,” says Rodriguez who is completing a master’s degree and earning her teaching credential at Stanford University. The keynote speaker at the annual Cabrillo Advancement Program (CAP) Reception Rodriguez is a role model for the hundreds of CAP students now working toward their college goals. The Cabrillo Advancement Program (CAP) Reception is Thursday, April 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the Student Services Center, building 900, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos.

Of the 50 graduating CAP seniors participating in the ceremony, approximately 35 will be coming to Cabrillo and 15 will be going on to the following other colleges, including Georgetown University, UCSC, SJSU, CSUMB, Fresno State and the California Culinary Academy.

Rodriguez was one of dozens of early participants in the unique scholarship program that provides academic support and mentorship to at-risk Santa Cruz County students. Now fifteen years old, CAP may very well be the longest running, most successful program of its kind. It has helped shepherd hundreds of students through their high school education. Many of them have gone on to Cabrillo College and then transferred to universities. About 100 sixth grade students are admitted into the program each year.

CAP is an almost entirely community-supported program that holds out a carrot—an interest-accruing $1,000 scholarship – to students in middle and high schools who participate in the program and study at Cabrillo. In addition to the money, however, there is day-to-day support from CAP counselors as well as extra curricular academic activities such as summer programs and tutoring. A CAP coordinator/counselor helps students review class schedules, monitor academic progress, provide career counseling and assists with college applications. The family-oriented program includes parent education workshops, parent handbooks and newsletters.

The first college graduate in her family, Rodriguez is the youngest of five children. She worked in the raspberry fields with her family. Her mother continues to work as a farm worker, migrating each year with the crops. Her father’s poor health prevents him from working at this time.

“I thought my future was going to be working in the fields and being married with a bunch of children around the house, just like the typical Mexican family,” Rodriguez says. “Eva Acosta (then a CAP counselor) began to talk to me about college. That was the first time I considered college as a possibility. I was in 11th grade.”

Rodriguez graduated from Watsonville High School with honors, ranking 10th of 488 students in her class. She went on to earn a two-year degree at Cabrillo where she joined the Teachers for Tomorrow Program tutoring and mentoring young students.

Last year, she graduated from Santa Clara University with a bachelor’s degree in history and she is currently earning her teaching credential and a master’s degree in Stanford’s Teacher Education Program. She plans to teach history at a Watsonville high school.

“Others will follow, but she is one that will stand out of the crowd,” says Acosta, who is now a Cabrillo academic counselor. “She’s going to have high expectations for her students. I have no doubt Maria will be a tremendous asset to the teaching field. She will make an enormous impact on the students and staff that she will work with.”

The CAP ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Cabrillo College Student Center, Building 900, 6500 Soquel Drive in Aptos. For more information about CAP call Program Coordinator Liz Dominquez at 831-477-5637. For information about donating to CAP call the Cabrillo College Foundation at 831-479-6338..

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