Charlotte-based nonprofit Circle de Luz is celebrating its 15th year this week with a coming-of-age party — a quinceañera ball. The organization is dedicated to getting more Latina girls on track for college.
Its impact can be seen in stories like that of Cindy Medrano. Seven years ago, an announcement came over the intercom at Charlotte’s Eastway Middle School. It was a pivotal moment in her life.
“Back in seventh grade, in band class, they made a random announcement [calling] ‘all Circle de Luz girls,’” Medrano recalled. “My teacher pointed at me. I was so confused.”
In the study hall, she met with a small group of people, some of them new to her, and heard something that left her in disbelief.
“They said it right there, that you were nominated by some faculty at your school that saw potential in you for a scholarship. And I'm like, wow,” she said.
“I was recovering from being a victim of bullying really recently. So, my self-esteem was really low. I was more on the introverted side, really quiet. And then when I heard that, it was just like a sense of pride, knowing that someone actually saw the potential that I thought I lost.”
Now the 19-year-old is in her first year at Queens University, studying health sciences on a full scholarship. She says a major reason she got to this point is because of the six years she spent in the Circle de Luz mentorship program.
“I am a first-generation student,” she said. “My parents didn't go to college, my grandparents didn’t go to college. The only one that I do know that went to college is my sister and now me.”
She decided to enter healthcare because she wants to serve people like her parents, who immigrated from El Salvador.
“Whenever I went to the doctor’s or when my family went, there weren't that many Spanish-speaking doctors and I want to make that more open because Charlotte is growing, and we're a diverse city,” she said.
Jocelyn Negrón Ríos has been with Circle de Luz, a mix of Spanish and English that means Circle of Light, since the organization started 15 years ago. She says Medrano is the type of student that the organization is looking to support.
“We're not looking for the girl who has the highest grades,” Negrón Ríos said. “We're looking for the girls that are on the cusp that could go either way — the girls who maybe are struggling socially but academically are doing really, really well, or the girls that are struggling academically and socially they're doing fine.”
The organization selects eight seventh grade girls from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools each year. With the support of sponsors, those girls enter a program designed for immigrant and Latino families.
“We’re serving young women who were very much like I was at that age, some undocumented, some the children of immigrants who were often first generation and there were no conversations about college or further education being a possibility,” she said.
According to the Education Trust, about a quarter of Latinas have a college degree. That's about half the rate of white, non-Latina women. Circle de Luz hopes to bridge that gap in Mecklenburg County.
Tere González García recently came on as the nonprofit’s first executive director. She says the types of support Latina students need can be complex. It might mean helping immigrant parents understand financial aid paperwork or assisting with essential items like groceries.
“We work with the whole family unit, the whole household, not just with the students. Because we know that grades are just the tip of the iceberg, right?” González said.
“Something that Circle de Luz did is hire a social worker, a case manager that works with the entire family, focusing on the student succeeding and creating the best environment possible for them to do well in all aspects of life.”
Circle de Luz is celebrating 15 years of mentoring Latina students this week. They plan to honor the milestone with a coming-of-age party for alumni and mentors at Project658.
“A quinceañera is a celebration of coming into womanhood,” explained Negrón Ríos about the gala’s theme. “In other cultures they have a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, or Sweet 16. It's sort of a coming of age, and for us, 15 years is a big deal.”
Negrón Ríos also hopes it will be a catalyst towards expanding the organization’s mission of getting more Latinas into college.
Medrano is scheduled to present a poem in English and Spanish during the celebration. She said she was able to take on the public speaking opportunity because Circle de Luz helped her build confidence.
This story was produced through a collaboration between WFAE and La Noticia. You canread it in Spanishat La Noticia. Puedes leer la nota en español en La Noticia.
