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Aspirations, achievements and commitment
One of the first students to come through our door captures what we’re doing in WTEC.
She’s a Latina girl who joined the program in 6th grade. She’s being raised by a single mom.
There’s no technology experience in her family. This girl had never considered a tech career.
But after a year in our program, being involved in tech became her identity.
She wasn’t an athlete or a cheerleader or one of the popular girls. She was a techie.
In her sophomore year, she won a regional award for outstanding achievements and
aspirations in computing and technology. In her junior year, she won a national award.
A lot of the other winners had parents involved in technology in some way—working at
Google or doing engineering. And here’s this girl, with none of that background, but with
aspirations, achievements and commitment as high as any of those kids.
She continues to work with our current program as a mentor. Her commitment to
bring inspiration back to her community is a big part of her identity, too.
Now she’s a senior and she’s being recruited like crazy—Stanford, MIT.
She can go anywhere. I’m proud that Watsonville TEC has made this
kind of success story possible, for her and a lot of our other students.
Jacob Martinez Director, Watsonville TEC
1,000 students enrolled over 3 years
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