To: Earlene Gonzales - Director of Child Development Center, Norma Castillo - Administrative Associate II, Child Development Center
From: Katie Pace - Education Issue Council Associate, United Way of San Antonio & Bexar County

Good morning Norma and Earlene, I wanted to share with you both an excerpt from the personal statement of a 2010-11 United Way Childcare Scholarship Recipient. This is from his application this coming year and I think it really underscores the great work Norma has been doing.

While it is true that I also received monetary support from other scholarship as I worked toward my undergraduate degree, the UW Childcare Scholarship provided me an additional flyer of support that my other scholarships did not, the referral agent. The simple act of checking on my progress gave me an extra sense that someone actually cared that I completed my goals. While I believe I had the personal motivation to continue, I often felt isolated an little hopeless. I truly believe Norma Castillo, from the UTSA Child Development Center, went above and beyond her role as a referral agent and rather than just ask me the required questions, she took the opportunity to give me a monthly pep talk, that gave me that extra kick I needed to finish strong. Ms. Castillo is a true asset to the scholarship program and to the UTSA CDC.

Thank you so much, Norma. Your hard-work is appreciated at United Way too!

Best,
Katie Pace
Education Issue Council Associate
United Way of San Antonio & Bexar County

To: Michelle Montanio - Assistant Director of Student Activities
From: William Octavio Wise - Mexican American Studies Student Organization



On behalf of MASSO, we would like to thank you for your helping hand, your guidance through administrative channels and for always checking up on MASSO.

Your commitment to helping us raise money and/or helping us with Culture.Community.Consciousness: A Youth Conference for Higher Education is sincerely appreciated.

We are proud to report that our very first Youth and High School Conference was a great success. Approximately 60 students attended three workshops, engaging panel and plenary discussions about education, health, consciousness, and creative expression. The conference theme that links the significance of Mexican American culture and community activism to academic success provided a rich and alternative perspective for advancing their education.

Each year MASSO continues to advance its mission of serving as an academic as well as cultural organization. Our mission is, also, to encourage cultural pride, awareness and community activism among social cultural and academic accomplishment of fellow Chicanas/os, Mexicanas/os and Latinas/os both in the U.S. and other parts of the world. MASSO’s goal is to continue to make a difference in our and the youth’s success in academia, community and home.

With the help from supporters such as yourself, we will continue to see the growth of Mexican American Studies at UTSA.

Thanks again for your generous support of our efforts to promote Mexican American Studies, higher education and better communities.

Best wishes,
William Octavio Wise
Mexican American Studies Student Organization

I happened to meet a parent who worked where I bank and we got into a conversation about our children. Her family just attended Orientation last week and she said they enjoyed it so much it was actually fun. She added that she particularly enjoyed the part about the Family Association and "the lady who got up there and talked about how parents can still be involved". She says she thinks she said something about a council where parents can join. She added that her son enjoyed the orientation as well and it made him excited about attending in the Fall and feel as though he made the right choice about attending UTSA.

Apparently, a terrific job was done by the gang and I just wanted to share that everything you all are doing is definitely working!

Yvonne Cantu
President of the UTSA Parent Council