On Saturday, April 13, 2019, we took the students to Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California. This activity was a super fun way to learn about planes and spend time developing relationships with each other. Many thanks to Jack, Jason, Lotta, and Sierra for coming with us.

A notable quote from Kevin: "The museum just has the outdoor airplane for the 'likes.'"

We are so grateful for everyone who has been serving by tutoring, mentoring, and discipling through the low-income tutoring ministry over the years. Last year, 2018, marked the 20th anniversary of when the first group of volunteers moved into different apartments (355 and 360) on O'Keefe Street back in 1998 and started hanging out with the kids.

There have been so many changes over the past 20 years, but God has remained faithful through it all. We are so grateful that he continues to draw people to the neighborhood and the tutoring program. We are praying for all of the volunteers and the families they touch!

On Saturday, December 8, 2018, we took 8 of our students and 6 tutors to Monterey Bay Aquarium. Everyone had a fun time!

This month school started back up, and so did our weekly tutoring program for the elementary and middle school students.
 
Please pray that we’ll have sufficient volunteers helping, especially with leading the middle school students. One of our key leaders departed after faithfully serving for the past few years.

On Saturday, September 29th, we took the students and their families on a field trip to Año Nuevo. This is one of the most awesome state parks in the Bay Area, featuring sea lions!

The students are on summer break, but that doesn't keep us from wanting to spend time with them! On August 1st, we hosted a backyard barbecue with the tutors, the students, and their parents. It was also a great time to celebrate some special occasions for a few of our key volunteers—an upcoming wedding and a birthday!

​May 14, 2018, was our last day of tutoring for the school year. We hosted several celebrations for our students and appreciation parties for our volunteers.

We are so grateful to serve the community of East Palo Alto. The hard work that each volunteer did this school year and last summer made a huge impact. It was a blessing to work with them. 

This school year, we were blessed with an influx of new students and new tutors. In fact, the apartment has gotten so crowded that we’ve moved our 5th graders across the street with the middle school students. ​

We also arranged several fun activities for the students, especially around the holidays. We took a field trip to the Bethlehem experience and hosted a Christmas party with gifts.

​What do these colleges all have in common? They are schools that our students aspire to attend. 

Our low-income tutoring program serves elementary and middle school students, and some of our previous students are now in high school. But we can tell how the East Palo Alto students who have attended our program have college ambitions that differ from their peers in the area. It is very exciting that we have the privilege of encouraging these students at such an early age.

Marcus Givens, the Development Officer of O'Keefe's parent ministry BCM, shared the following: 
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I want to share with you a very encouraging conversation I heard, when I recently visited CREATE Studios, our STEAM (science, tech, engineering, arts and math) program. Kids were doing their homework, and I had the fun of helping a very bright young lady, whom we’ll call Delfina*, with her algebra.

Maybe what stood out the most was the seemingly everyday conversation about colleges. I sat next to Delfina, who wants to be an engineer or maybe a doctor. She wants to go to Stanford, but knows it's tough to get into. This didn't phase her of course. She began to explore other schools, and other students, while working on their homework, chimed in.

On Monday, December 18, 2017, we had a great turnout for our Christmas party! Many thanks to Sierra for organizing and prepping all the presents! Thank you to all the tutors for helping out. We are so blessed to have you! Merry Christmas everyone, and hope you enjoy the holiday season!

​​Learning is fun when it’s under the sea! On Saturday, November 11, 2017, a group of 18 of us went to Monterey Bay Aquarium for a 3-hour field trip. We had 2 middle school students, 10 elementary school students, and 6 volunteers.

​We had the fortune of being accepted to the Free-to-Learn program at the aquarium, similar to last year. This provided us with tickets for all the students and tutors.