As the 2022-2023 school year reached its end and we congratulated graduating Seniors on their achievements and moving on to the next step in their lives. We are honored to have been able to support some of these graduates in the EPLN Scholars program. With the new school year just around the corner we are thrilled to announce application for the EPLN Rising Scholars mentorship program are now open!
We are excited to introduce the new growth in our programming and plans for the coming year as EPLN establishes a new chapter. Our new board has settled into their roles working hard this past year to bring you the overhauled website you see today, develop and relaunch our mentorship program, establish our collaborations with "Cultivating Tomorrow" and "College Mindset Academy", and prepare for upcoming projects and improvements. As such, we hope for your continued community support, participation, and donations, and welcome those who would like to get involved with our mission and services to reach out.
Our goal is to become an organization that provides the community with the resources you need for educational attainment, professional development, and the enhancement of El Paso. So students, parents, educators, school administrators, and El Paso community
members, let us know what kind of material you want to see by filling out this survey!
Career Exploration
Our first episode in a new series, in collaboration with Cultivating Tomorrow, of career exploration webinars was hosted on Sunday, May 21st. The first episode focused on engineering and welcomed several young professionals from El Paso who spoke about their career journey's and advice for young El Pasoans starting their own journeys. You can find these videos and other under the EPLN+ tab which houses all our educational videos with more on the way.
We are also pleased to announce we have added a "Professional Opportunities" page under the "Resources" tab. EPLN has collected some volunteering/internship opportunities available locally. We will be updating this page as we find new opportunities to list, and encourage professionals to reach out to us about career opportunities, so we can share them with the EPLN community.
In relation to opportunities, EPLN has also been in communication with Hospice El Paso to provide job shadowing opportunities for high schoolers.
Growing Network
We are proud to be partnering with College Mindset Academy (CMA) in creating a continuous college preparation pipeline from their opportunities for sophomores to EPLN's mentorship and resources for high school juniors and seniors
Founded in 2014, CMA is another 501 (C)(3) non-profit organization for the provision of educational opportunities for the El Paso community. The organization aims to promote college readiness and provides high school sophomores insight into college options and the opportunity to tour Ivy League schools. Some of the key aspects of the program are the blend of academic instruction, personal development, and community engagement. With this new collaboration, those who have participated in this program will be able to receive continued support by moving on into the EPLN scholar's program. Likewise, current EPLN Scholar juniors and seniors will have access to CMA information and guidance in their college search and application process.
Adjustments to the Mentorship program
In the fall of 2022, to make our college preparation program more accessible and measure engagement we are publishing a flexible, self-paced online program with modules customized for Junior and Senior years. Based on the feedback we have received from outreach surveys, we will be adjusting the Scholars program to focus on mentorship and creating relevant supporting content. The online program will remain as an optional tool that can be used to support learning in the Scholars program and be available as a self-paced learning module for those who do not want or have a mentor to still be able to receive guidance resources. This means the online program will now be available for the general community and may also be used as a tool for use in the classroom.
Don't Forget to Apply and Join!
Applications for the mentorship program are open and we encourage high schools students of all academic standings to fill out the mentorship form or participate in the EPLN college readiness program. We are also looking for more El Pasoan college students to apply as a mentor so we can expand our reach and help mentor and support even more El Paso high schoolers.
Thank you!
- EPLN
*Like many non-profits EPLN is an organizations run by volunteers so we appreciate any donations or support provided by the community so we can continue providing the resources and programs you can find on our website.