“My daughter has grown a lot during her time in the program. This program has really helped and motivated her and it's helped me a lot as a parent, because I had a lot of questions and concerns.“
- FirstGen Parent
FirstGen College Counseling
Research from the Department of Education cites that over 60% of the first-gen college student population are Latino and come from lower-income households than their peers. Nearly 50% are more likely to enroll in two-year college than four-year institutions. At Corazón, we saw this happening in our community so we created FirstGen College Counseling to help students from Healdsburg High who will be the first in their family to attend a four-year college.
Led by Dr. Lori Rhodes, FirstGen prepares historically underserved high school students to gain admission to four-year colleges. Starting in 9thgrade, students get comprehensive one-on-one support through the entire college application process. Collaborating with school counselors and other college access partners, FirstGen works with students and their families to help them navigate the often complicated and overwhelming college application process.
FirstGen partners with Corazón Healdsburg’s Resource Center to support and educate parents through bi-monthly potluck dinners. Speakers are brought in to discuss topics such as financial planning for college and address concerns about students moving far from home.
Four family potlucks* take place throughout the school year:
- Opening Day Kick-off celebration August 27, 2019
- November 12, 2019
- January 14, 2020
- College Signing Day event May 19, 2020
Four parent workshops take place throughout the school year:
- Educational requirements and understanding different types of post secondary education September 30, 2019
- Paying for college
- December 11, 2019
- High school requirements and important milestones
February 12, 2020
*Potlucks are invitation-only but members of the public interested in attending can email us at info@corazonhealdsburg.org for more information.
Meet Lori
FirstGen program director Dr. Lori Rhodes has more than 20 years experience in education, teaching students from kindergarten to graduate school. Dr. Rhodes is currently on the faculty at Sonoma State University in the Education Leadership department and was previously the principal of Healdsburg High School. With a Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Columbia University, and an MA in History, and Ph.D. in History of Education from Stanford University, Dr. Rhodes expertise in the field and passion for educational equity makes her a great asset to our program and community.

MEET OUR GRADUATES

Giovanna Briano

Alondra Chavez Valencia

Yuliana Gutierrez

Bersaida Lopez

Stephanie Martinez Ruiz

Daniel Lopez Pardo

Roman Ortiz
IMpact
100% of seniors in our program from the 2019 graduating class were accepted to a University of California school.
Our 2019 seniors were accepted to 62 universities in total.
100% of our families participated in at least 1 family potluck.
29 of 31 FirstGen 9th-11th graders applied to and attended a summer academic program on a college campus during the summer of 2019.
SUMMER RESIDENTIAL ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES
9th Grade Students
Christian —UCLA Teen Archstudio Design Program
Viviana —Indiana University Journalism Institute
Daniel —COSMOS UC Davis Biophysics & Robotics & South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Robotics Program
Guadalupe —UCSD Rosetta Institute of Biomedical Research
Jennifer —Indiana University Indiana University Journalism Institute
Michael — South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Robotics Program
Elina — Sonoma State University Upward Bound
10th Grade Students
Alberto —Sam Houston State University Criminal Justice Program
Angel —COSMOS UC Davis Biophysics & Robotics
Bryant —Oregon State University Engineering Program and Stanford University International Studies
Diana —Stanford University Pre-Collegiate Summer Institute Introduction to Logic
Edgar —UCLA TeenArch Studio Design Program
Erik —COSMOS UCSD Earthquake Engineering
Hernan —Oregon State University Engineering Program
Jennifer —Bucknell University BASE Program
Mercedes —Bucknell University BASE Program
Nayceht —Oregon State University Engineering Program
Safalta —Oregon State University Engineering Program
Maira —Oregon State University Engineering Program
11th Grade Students
Joana —SRJC Health Academy & St. Mary’s College 10KD Summer Institute
Alejandro —Sacramento State Boys State & Georgetown University Junior State of America & St. Mary’s College 10KD Summer Institute
Jerry —University of South FL STEM for Scholars & St. Mary’s College 10KD Summer Institute
Eva —Bryant University PricewaterhouseCoopers Accounting Careers Institute
Itzel —Latino Service Providers Promotores Program & St. Mary’s College 10KD Summer Institute
Samantha —Latino Service Providers Promotores Program
Kaela — University of South FL STEM for Scholars & St. Mary’s College 10KD Summer Institute
Mariano — St. Mary’s College 10KD Summer Institute & EdX Calculus B/C Online
Alan — St. Mary’s College 10KD Summer Institute
Donate
Support FirstGen Students!
Your investment will help cover SAT Exam Preparation Courses, student travel stipends to attend summer academic programs on a college campus, and travel expenses for families attending college tours with their high school student.
We are incredibly grateful to our donors and sponsors of the FirstGen program:
Apply
Eligibility Requirements:
Student participants must be enrolled in college preparatory (Honors or AP) classes at Healdsburg High School and plan on attending a four-year college. These students must be excelling with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
COntact
For more information please contact Dr. Lori Rhodes at:
Rhodes.Firstgen@gmail.com or call 707.385.1095
FirstGen College Counseling
FirstGen College Counseling helps prepare historically underserved but high-achieving Healdsburg high school students to become the first in their families to attend four-year college with one-on-one support through the entire application process.
Donate
Thank you for your support