Dear Moreno Valley Residents:
Education is the key to so many wonderful things. It provides you with the skills to climb the corporate ladder, the tools to improve your socioeconomic status, and the ability to seek out new opportunities – and make choices to create a life you love.
Many of us have faced barriers to receiving that education.
I have.
Thankfully, I was able to overcome those barriers and become the first member of my family to graduate from college. I continued to pursue my education, earning my masters and my doctorate.
Today I am a teacher – for Moreno Valley Unified School District – and at Moreno Valley College.
I spend my life breaking down barriers to education for my students.
On Friday, I had the chance to break down barriers for 30 Moreno Valley College students, surprising each one of them with a $1,000 stipend – just for going to school.
These students have been selected to embark on a bold experiment with the City of Moreno Valley and Moreno Valley College: The Mayors Challenge.
This competition was created by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The concept is this: task cities across America with identifying their biggest challenges and come up with daring new ways to tackle them. The winning City will receive $5 million and four others will receive $1 million.
I am proud to say that out of hundreds of applications Moreno Valley was named just one of 35 Champion Cities in the initial round.
As a City, our idea – and our solution – stood out amongst the rest.
We are working hard to “Test, Learn, and Adapt” during the next phase of the competition as we pursue the ultimate prize.
Our project – MoVaLEARNS – looks to address the Earn vs. Learn dilemma that so many of our residents face. Too often Moreno Valley residents are forced to choose between an education and earning a living.
We want them to have both.
Hopefully the $1,000 will help ease the burden for these students. The $1,000 is theirs to spend as they see fit – food, gas, rent, school supplies. Whatever is going to make their lives easier. No strings attached.
It’s the City of Moreno Valley’s way of helping these students pursue their education – and open doors to their future.
We’ll track what they spend the money on – and what we learn will help us reshape our program to apply for the Mayors Challenge grand prize of $5 million.
I want to thank each and every one of these students for joining us on this journey.
Together, we are creating something to break through those barriers to education.