2022 YEAR END UPDATE

Eddie Rodriguez
Executive Director

As 2022 comes to a close, I’m incredibly proud of the great strides our team and partners have made to ensure more students in El Paso are receiving the education and support they need to graduate high school college-ready and pursue a post-secondary education. CREEED doubled down on our parent engagement efforts. We saw tremendous growth in our teacher initiatives, and we continued our work to increase the number of high performing schools and high quality educational programs. 
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In 2022, we also received a comprehensive assessment on how students were recovering academically from the COVID-19 disruptions that truly impacted student learning. While test scores are on an upward trajectory, student learning is nowhere near pre-pandemic learning levels. As a community, we have a lot of work ahead to help students get back on track. Read on to learn about some of our key accomplishments and milestones throughout 2022.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! ​

CREEED IN THE COMMUNITY

To date, CREEED’s Parent and Community Engagement efforts have facilitated over 34 focus groups and workshops that have welcomed over 281 parents from the Borderplex region to discuss topics that help parents and community leaders understand the ins and outs of the education system. CREEED’s partners in these efforts have included El Paso Community College, the UTEP Financial Aid Office, the UTEP Center for Community Engagement, Project Vida, Headstart Region 19, UTEP College of Education professor Dr. Elena Izquierdo, United Way of El Paso County, Project Arriba, the YWCA and more.
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Additionally, CREEED continues to engage elected officials, rotary groups, and other non-education based entities in order to build relationships and identify opportunities to expand support and advocate for increasing student performance and equity for all students.​

DEVELOPING OUR REGIONAL EDUCATOR TALENT - NEW GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT

CREEED and the El Paso Community Foundation announced the third consecutive investment from the Prentice Farrar Brown & Alline Ford Brown Foundation (Bank of America, N.A. Trustee) to support their efforts as part of the El Paso Educator Pipeline Taskforce. The new $1 million grant will support and sustain existing programs, including the UTEP Miner Residency Program and Miner Teacher Mentorship Program, as well as establish a new initiative focused on increasing the number of high school counselors in the El Paso region, the El Paso Pathways into Teacher program. Investments in these areas are critical in inspiring new educators to the profession, ensuring they have the opportunities to pursue a pathway to the classroom, and providing high-quality support and coaching within their first five years as an educator. ​

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT - SYLVIA HOPP SAN ELIZARIO COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP

For the fifth consecutive year, we awarded the 2022 Sylvia Hopp San Elizario College Scholarship to a graduating senior during San Elizario High School’s Rose Ceremony. This year’s recipient, Iliana Vigil, earned college credit through Advanced Placement and dual-credit coursework and participated in numerous community service, extracurricular, and athletic activities while in high school. She is now attending the University of Texas at Austin as a biochemistry major with hopes of attending medical school to become an anesthesiologist.

​2023 TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION: CCMR (COLLEGE, CAREER & MILITARY READINESS)​

College, career, and military readiness is important from elementary to graduation and is about preparing students for life after graduation.  It is made up of curriculum, resources, programs and activities that help students have the tools they need to enter college or the workforce and begin a career.  Promoting CCMR for every El Paso student is key to Texas’s 60x30TX goals and CREEED is working with the local districts on these important initiatives. Contact your teacher, principal to find out about key resources for you and your child to review.   

STTE FOUNDATION AWARDS - HONORING EDUCATIONAL LEADERS​

In June, CREEED and EduLab Capital Partners co-sponsored the STTE Foundation’s LatinX EdTech Summit that connected leading national edtech companies, teachers, and education leaders to develop sustainable and resilient solutions that generate actions. EduLab Capital Partners brings together world leaders to scale the future of learning.

NEW CREEED TEAM MEMBERS - ADDING KNOWLEDGE AND SUPPORT​

CREEED's work would not be possible without our excellent team.  Meet Nadia Telles, our new Choose to Excel Director and Mariana Gutierrez Vega, our Parent and Community Engagement Coordinator. You can read more about Mariana and Nadia joining our staff in the El Paso Inc.

NEW CREEED BOARD MEMBERS - EXPANDING GUIDANCE AND PERSPECTIVES​

In addition to expanding our staff, we have welcomed two new board members over the last year and a half.

​Duane Murphy, president and founder of Gamer Logistics; and Renée Jiménez, president and CEO of MNK Architects. Duane and Renée’s unique perspectives will help us continue our commitment to increasing educational attainment in the region. Read more in our announcement of Duane and Renée here. ​