Summer is a great time to mentor

A Message From Our CEO Nancy Lindholm
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Could you carve one hour per month out of your schedule to positively impact an Oxnard student's future? If so, Channel Islands High School has the perfect program for you. It's called Upward Bound.

Upward Bound Channel Islands (UBCI) is a year-round comprehensive pre-college preparatory program funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The program is designed to assist students from Channel Islands High School with college readiness and planning, career exploration, social and cultural enrichment and motivation necessary to complete high school and pursue a college education. Program services and activities are free to qualifying students. Students can even earn a monthly stipend for their active participation. The majority of the students in UBCI will be first generation college attendees in their families.

Employers are consistently experiencing challenges finding qualified workers, so this is a great opportunity to be part of a solution. Mentors are needed for the UBCI students. The commitment is as little as one hour per month, and that one hour can have a remarkable impact on a student's future.

Upward Bound students are exploring careers in all STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields, healthcare, computer science, and agriculture. Mentors are not limited to those fields, though. Any professional willing to mentor a student is welcome to volunteer. Mentors are asked to invest one hour per month – a very small price to pay for a student's future and the future of our workforce!

To sign up, contact Upward Bound Director Dr. Maria Elena Cruz or her assistant, Diana Magana.

Along with the U.S. Department of Education, UBCI is an initiative of LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) National Educational Service Centers. There are 16 centers in the United States and Puerto Rico. Two of those are in California – San Diego and Oxnard.

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"CRC employees took a special interest in this mentoring program to be a catalyst for increasing workforce opportunities for students, and also to show how the oil and natural gas industry has improved the lives of people from their communities.  I have thoroughly enjoyed being a mentor to three Channel Islands High School students. We discuss core academic subject areas, college preparation, STEM career exploration, and cultural events.  I have seen enormous increases in their levels of confidence and leadership development and hope that sharing my work and school experiences have helped them navigate some of the roads to higher education."

​- Amy Fonzo, California Resources Corporation and past chair of the Oxnard Chamber