Skyline College hosted the 18th Annual President’s Breakfast on Thursday, March 22 at a beautiful new location, the Lake Merced Golf Course. A crowd of 250 donors gathered from across northern San Mateo County, including representatives from national, state and local government; the San Mateo Community College Board of Trustees; our sister colleges and fellow educators; and the local business community.
This year’s Breakfast was the most successful EVER, raising over $240,000 to support students through the Promise Scholars Program. In addition to providing student scholarships, these funds continue to support the innovative projects and initiatives of the President’s Innovation Fund – a mini-grant process that allows faculty and staff to launch creative and effective approaches to achieving Skyline College’s mission, vision and values. These projects continue to shape the landscape of Skyline College.
After a live student performance of the song “This Is Me” from the musical The Greatest Showman by the Skyline College Vocal Jazz Ensemble, attendees watched a short film highlighting the great work done by several of the President’s Innovation Fund recipients – work that is a direct result of fundraising from the breakfast.
This year’s guest speaker, Promise Scholar Elizabeth Hernandez Carreto, spoke about her struggles as a young person living with undocumented parents and how that affected her educational journey. The moving address underscored why the Promise Scholars Program is such a critical initiative to ensure that every student can attend college.
Elizabeth said it best in her own words while speaking to President’s Breakfast attendees:
“Even though you can’t hear all of them today, I know that every single Promise Scholar has their own unique voice with their own beautiful story. And each of those voices should get the chance to grow and develop and find their purpose because they are all worthy of a college education.”
Article by Connor Fitzpatrick
