Press Release – Pico Rivera/Los Angeles, Calif. (Jan. 20, 2017) – Generation 1st Degree-Pico Rivera (G1DPR) a non-profit organization that provides college readiness and access programs to K-12 students in Pico Rivera, announced today that Bethania Perez, a senior high school student at El Rancho High School and G1DPR student, will be recognized by the City of Pico Rivera on Tuesday, January 24, 2017 for her recent appointment as one of 17 students to serve on Michelle Obama’s Better Make Room National Student Advisory Board.
Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2017
City Council Meeting, City of Pico Rivera
6 p.m.
Location:
6615 Passons Boulevard, Pico Rivera (located between El Rancho High School and the Sherrif’s Department)
Better Make Room, which targets students ages 14–19 to celebrate education, change the national conversation, and provide students a space to navigate the college-going process, was launched in October 2015, as part of the former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Initiative. Better Make Room is housed within Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Last fall approximately 300 student leaders throughout the country applied for this opportunity to help Mrs. Obama build this movement from the ground up through the Better Make Room Student Advisory Board. The inaugural Board has twelve high school students and five college students, and the board members come from all over the nation, representing 13 states. Out of the 17 students selected only two are from California, including Bethania Perez.
“My parents didn’t continue onto college, so I’ve always felt motivated to be the change in my family and reach higher,” said Bethania Perez, 17. “As a peer advisor at El Rancho High, I work with students who are also trying to realize the dream of attending college – many of us will be the first in our families to do so. My goal is to continue to emphasize the importance of attaining a college education, especially in a community like mine where the college graduation rate is low. I know that being part of Better Make Room’s Student Advisory Board allows me to continue to spread the message of reaching higher, but on a much bigger level.”
Bethania is a first-generation Latina student from a low-income household who aspires to become a biomedical engineer and strives to make a positive impact for females in the field of STEM. She is the president of her school’s California Scholarship Federation organization, which promotes scholarship and service and raises funds for scholarships and field trips.
“The fact that Bethania was chosen out of all of the applicants, and represents one of two students from California, speaks volumes of the caliber of leadership she will bring to the Better Make Room Student Advisory Board,” said Jacki Cisneros, founder of Generation 1st Degree-Pico Rivera. “The Better Make Room Student Advisory Board had a chance to meet with and hear Michelle Obama’s last speech as First Lady, and I feel confident that this group of smart, ambitious, compassionate and fearless next-generation leaders will continue to voice Mrs. Obama’s message for students to reach higher.”
The Better Make Room Student Advisory board’s mission is to: (1) create a college-going, college-persisting and college-graduating culture at her school; and (2) connect fellow students to any information and resources they might need to succeed. They wake up every day with a mission, working towards a vision that sees every student at their school enrolling in and completing their education past high school — whether that’s a professional training program, a community college, or a four-year college or university.
“These students are deeply and personally committed to the mission of Better Make Room and have already demonstrated their remarkable ability to create change in their own communities,” said Don Yu, director, Better Make Room Campaign at Civic Nation. “In the months to come, Better Make Room’s Board members will be mobilizing their peers to build college-enrolling, college-persisting, and college-graduating cultures at their schools and on their campuses. As proven leaders, organizers, changemakers, and innovators, these students will help the country achieve President Obama’s North Star goal — that our nation will once again lead the world in college completion rates.”
ABOUT GENERATION 1ST DEGREE-PICO RIVERA
Generation 1st Degree-Pico Rivera’s mission is to help provide support services for students at El Rancho High School, in the hopes that one day every child has the opportunity to obtain a college degree. Our nonprofit provides seven different university-focused preparation programs to help students become better prepared for a higher education.
