CTN GIVES THANKS TO ALL CONTRIBUTORS
CTN Gives Thanks to All Contributors
In this season of Thanksgiving, Catch the Next, Inc., would like to extend our appreciation to our CTN familia who have made this program a rousing success.
We are indebted to the commitment of our CTN Board of Directors and Advisory Board for supporting our organization designed to improve the educational outcomes of Latinos and other underserved- first generation students. In particular, we want to highlight our board chair, Dr. Luzelma Canales, and our advisory board chair, Dr. Patricia Gandara. We are also grateful for the vision and indomitable spirit of Dr. Maria Martha Chavez, our CEO and program leader.
We are thankful for the leadership at each of our colleges, from the presidents to the administrators leading our efforts. Your vision and faith in our program have led to the success of your students. We are thankful for instructors and staff who believe in the program and offer much more than knowledge to their students. They nurture and motivate them, and in so doing, create a “home away from home.”
We are thankful for our students who, against all odds, have proven that success is possible with hard work, determination, and support from familia (family).
We are also grateful for the opportunity to gather with veteran instructors, training new leaders at our annual CTN Leadership Fellows retreat which included: Lisa Treviño, Dr. Rafael Castillo, Dr. Yolanda Reyna, Dr. Dan Rodriguez, and Diane Lerma from Palo Alto College; Olga Eckert (Riverside Campus), Ariel Flores (Riverside Campus), Rosa Alvarez (Riverside Campus), and Pedro Merced (Highland Campus) from Austin Community College; Angelica Cerda (Pecan Campus), Florinda Rodriguez (Pecan Campus), Esmeralda Macias (Mid-Valley Campus), and Anna Alaniz (Starr Campus) from South Texas College. Missing: Ety Bischoff and Juan Ramirez (STC) and Angelina Nunez (El Paso.)
We are grateful for the CTN Leadership Team: Allegra Villarreal, Dr. Lydia Cdebaca, Dr. Erin Doran, Dr. Rafael Castillo, Valentin Sandoval, Debra McBeath, Andrea Castro, Dr. Stacy Ybarra and Dr. Jon Herrin.
We are thankful for the scholars, authors and community leadership mentors who work with us on our professional development institutes and webinars. We are grateful for our scholars serving on the Editorial Board of our Journal of Ideas and Pedagogy and for serving on our Research and Evaluation team/ Knowledge Development Working group and Training Institutes.
A special thank you to Dr. Rogelio Saenz, Dean of the College of Public Policy at The University of Texas at San Antonio, and our keynote speaker at the 2018 Ascender Fall Seminar in Austin. We would like to acknowledge Sergio Troncoso, award-winning author and Harvard and Yale alum, who gave a special reading performance of his work and gave us some insight on becoming a better writer with an informative workshop. Both were a major success. We also want to thank Dr. Laura Rendon (UTSA); Dr. Norma Cantu (Trinity); Dr. Cecilia Enriquez (U-Michigan); Dr. Kip Telles (UC Santa Cruz);Dr. Victor Saenz (UT Austin); Dr. Uri Treisman (UT Austin);Dr. Olga Ramirez (RGV); and Dr. Cherie McCollough (Texas AM- Corpus Christy) who have presented at our institutes.
Special recognition goes to our CTN Alumni who have shown admirable dedication to the expansion of our program through our Facebook page, created by Stacy Ibarra.
In particular, we want to congratulate Juan Higa who is completing his Bachelor’s degree next month at UTSA. Juan is from the original CTN cohort from Palo Alto College. He has been a CTN intern and is a crucial part of our team. Not only does he present at our institutes, he works behind the scenes making sure computers are set up, running errands, printing certificates, manning the registration table and so much more. He has attended meetings with Dr. Chavez and been her chauffeur when needed. He taught our Director of Communications how to use mailchimp. We have been truly blessed to have him on our team.
We also want to recognize all of those students completing their associate’s or bachelor’s degree this December.
Finally, we like to recognize our CTN Partners:
-The Greater Texas Foundations, which financially supports efforts to ensure all Texas students are prepared for, have access to, persist in, and complete post-secondary education. The foundation puts particular focus on helping underserved and disadvantaged populations given that only one in five Texas youth who enter high school complete a postsecondary degree or credential. The GTF pursues its mission by forming partnerships, supporting research, sharing knowledge and making grants. The Greater Texas Foundation, through its funding, is helping to create greater connections among regional systems that support the ability of all students to succeed.
-The Meadows Foundation whose mission is to assist the people and institutions of Texas in improving the quality and circumstances of life for themselves and future generations. One of its three major initiatives is education.
-The Tijerina Foundation whose primary focus is on the youth, education, literacy, health and wellness, community development and services, culture, arts, history, heritage, nature and environment conservation of South Texas.
Other key partners who have undeniably assisted in CTN’s commitment to closing the achievement gap across Texas include: The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB); The University of Texas Department of Educational Leadership and Policy; the University of Texas Division of Diversity and Community Engagement; The Texas Education Research Center; the Dana Center Mathways Project at UT Austin and Excelencia in Education. The scrupulous generosity and dedication by each of these partners is a testament to our program’s success.
We also want to thank the public at large for their donations to CTN.
