Planning an event is hard—just ask Pioneer Valley High School (PVHS) student Coryn Nodal, who organized the Carnival in the Park charity event on May 21 at Santa Maria’s Robin Ventura Park.
Nodal and five other PVHS students who are part of a school college readiness program raised $1,000 during the three-hour event, she said. The funds will go to Mission Hope Cancer Center in Santa Maria. Students Michael Lainez, Candice Morales, Jordan Vasquez, Louis Gonzalez, and Andrea Meza were also responsible for organizing the event.
The students are a part of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), which is a program that prepares high schoolers for college. More specifically, AVID is intended to help low-income students who are the first in their families to attend college, PVHS math teacher Michael Wolsenholm said.
AVID is actually a program that’s been adopted by primary and secondary schools nationwide. AVID is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1980 by educator Mary Catherine Swanson in San Diego.
Teachers and students choose to be a part of the program, Wolsenholm said, adding that all instructors in the program also teach regular classes at their schools. Every grade has an AVID teacher; Wolsenholm is the PVHS program’s teacher for the 11th grade.
Students at PVHS are accepted into the program when they’re freshmen and stay together as a group with the same teacher throughout high school. The intent is to build camaraderie and community spirit among the group of students, Wolsenholm said, who himself is a first-generation college graduate.
Nodal enjoys the program because it doesn’t just prepare her for college, but it has given her a group of friends who share common values.
Nodal, who is a PVHS junior, estimated that there are about 60 students in her grade and about 300 in the high school who participate in the program.
“It bridges the gap for students who come from non-traditional college-going families,” Wolsenholm said, and wished he could’ve had the same program when he was in high school. “I think it would have been a really fantastic thing to be involved in.”
The Carnival in the Park was a community service project and the culmination of the students’ experience in AVID, which they are required to plan themselves. The point is to stand out from the rest of the group, Wolsenholm said.
In this case, Wolsenholm said it was Nodal who spearheaded Carnival in the Park and researched nonprofits in the city. She decided on Mission Hope because she said they not only help patients, but also provide support for families.
Arranging the event was time-consuming work. Nodal thinks she spent time just about every day for a month calling businesses and handing out fliers to everyone in the community. She was able to roundup several vendors, games, food trucks, and live entertainment. Food trucks included Island Mix and Kona Ice, which donated some of their profits to Mission Hope. Local band Joe Daddy and the Sumthins performed live that day.
All-access wristbands were sold at $6 apiece. All total, Nodal said she was able to sell 68 wristbands, and about 150 people attended.
A separate event to present the check to Mission Hope will be planned, Nodal said.
“It was definitely something that showed the responsibility between us as students and it was a really cool thing,” Nodal said. “It was really nice knowing we can have an impact on the community.”
Mission Hope Cancer Center is located at 1325 E. Church St., Santa Maria. For more information, call 219-4673 or visit missionhopecancercenter.com.
Highlights
• On July 12, from 7:30 to 9 a.m., Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino and City Manager Rick Haydon will deliver the annual State of the City address at the Radisson Hotel. Admission costs are $20 for members of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce and $30 for non-members. For more information or to register for the event, send an email to register@santamaria.com.
• Southern California Gas Company announced on May 25 that it will begin several pipeline safety upgrades starting this summer in Santa Luis Obispo and Lompoc. The upgrades are intended to enhance the region’s pipeline system, which serves about 73,000 customers in the region, including Vandenberg Air Force Base. The project is expected to cost at least $14 million.
Staff Writer David Minsky wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
Correction: This article has been edited to correct the date of the State of the City address.
This article appears in Jun 1-8, 2017.