Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Equity topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Student credits ‘Heritage’ equity program and HBCU trip with expanding college opportunities
Summary
A student told the San Bernardino County Office of Education that the Heritage equity program, targeted to African American students, and a recent trip to Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Baton Rouge helped broaden her outlook and pushed her to apply to college, including acceptance to California State University, San Bernardino.
A student speaking at a San Bernardino County Office of Education meeting said the district’s Heritage program — which she described as an equity program targeted at African American students — helped her prepare for college and motivated her to apply to universities, including California State University, San Bernardino.
The student (public commenter) told the board that equality — access to the same teachers, counselors and classes — was not sufficient to reach college-going goals for some students and that Heritage provided targeted support. “Heritage, I always tell them, meaning 1, heritage is an equity program. But equality is what we all have. We're all in a school. We all have access to our teachers, to our counselors, to all the classes,” she said.
She described a recent trip to Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as transformative, saying it exposed her to places beyond the High Desert and expanded her sense of possibility. “I could say just recently we had an amazing, amazing HBCU trip that we took. We went to Baton Rouge in Louisiana, so that was amazing. It has allowed me to see a different place,” she said, adding that she had never flown before the trip.
The student also credited a mentor she identified as Doctor Jackson for encouraging her to apply to college. “I just got accepted to a Cal State, Cal State San Bernardino, and some other ones are still coming in. And if it would not have been for doctor Jackson, I wouldn't have applied,” she said.
She described her home situation as being raised in a single‑mother household with limited family support and noted that the program provided a school‑based support network. “I'm a student who is in a single mother household, and I don't have not the best family support, but it's there. But the fact that I can come to school, which is outside of my home and still have that support and that family that can tell me when I'm doing wrong and I can that I can do better and that if I've fallen, I can get right back up,” she said.
The student framed Heritage’s goal as longer‑term “justice and liberation,” saying the program’s supports are intended to help students continue to trade school, four‑year university or career training and become self‑sustaining. “We want them to have justice and liberation. Right? We want them to be free in the long run. And that freedom will come,” she said.
No formal action, motion or vote related to the Heritage program or the remarks was recorded in the transcript. The comments were presented as personal testimony during the meeting’s public comment portion.
