After 10 years, CREEED remains committed to ensuring all students receive a high-quality education and can succeed in 21st century jobs.
Ten years ago, a dedicated group of El Paso business and community leaders came together to reflect on our region’s future. After reviewing local graduation and college enrollment rates, they recognized that the community could be doing more to ensure our students are prepared to excel in school, life and 21st century jobs.
Those leaders created CREEED to unite the El Paso community – educators, parents, business leaders, and civic leaders – around proven initiatives that improve education outcomes, prepare all students to succeed in college, and generate economic growth for El Paso. The core belief behind CREEED is that we knew we would make progress if we supported our school districts in their mission to prepare students for higher education and a competitive job market.
A lot has happened in the past decade, including a global pandemic that disrupted education for more than a year, but our community has made incredible progress. Today, El Paso K-12 schools continue to improve their STAAR results, and we lead the state in student enrollment in higher education. As CREEED approaches our 10 year anniversary, we are proud to look back on the impact we have had, and continue to have, on students’ lives and in our collective future. Some of our greatest accomplishments include:
- Improving college preparation for more students. Our first $1M investment back in 2015 – the Accelerated Certification of Teachers (ACT) El Paso – established a scholarship program for teachers across El Paso to obtain certification and be able teach dual credit and early college courses. These courses help students get a head start on their college education, by taking college-level courses in high school and earning college credit if they successfully pass these courses. By supporting hundreds of teachers obtain dual credit certification, we have seen an increase in the number of students being offered and enrolling in dual credit and early college classes. Thanks to this investment, we are seeing more students graduate from high school with six to nine to twelve college credit hours, which doubles their prospects for timely completion of post-secondary education; and more students pursuing – and completing – college degrees.
- Ensuring students have strong teachers. We collaborate with local school districts, UTEP’s College of Education, and the El Paso Community Foundation to ensure every classroom has strong and supported teachers who can help students reach their full potential. Thanks to CREEED-backed innovations like the UTEP Miner Residency Program, more than 200 aspiring teachers have received the hands-on training needed to become certified and “day-one” ready.
- Empowering parents to become education advocates. Nobody knows the needs of students better than their own families, yet navigating and understanding our education system isn’t always easy. Our Parent Leadership Fellowship and Parent Workshops have helped transform parents – many of whom were unfamiliar with our education system and who are not native English speakers – into advocates comfortable attending school board meetings, meetings with their school administrators and crafting solutions to improve educational opportunities for their children. More than 100 parents and counting are now leaders in their neighborhoods and in their children’s schools.
Of all the things that CREEED has helped transform within El Paso’s educational landscape, the one that we are most proud of is changing expectations. Today no one doubts that every student should have the same opportunity to receive a high-quality education that prepares them for skilled, well-paying jobs by attending college.
The foundation of great cities and economies is a strong education system. We thank our dedicated board members, public school partners, investors, and supporters for making the last decade a truly transformative one for El Paso’s students and families. Together we will build on this momentum and make sure we bring economic prosperity to El Paso.
