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OneGoal – Massachusetts Inducts New Class of Fellows

Education nonprofit celebrates nearly 300 high school students as they commit to college

BOSTON, Feb. 6, 2018 – OneGoal – Massachusetts welcomed nearly 300 high school juniors into its program at an induction ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the University of Massachusetts Boston. An educational nonprofit working to close the college degree divide between students from low-income communities and their peers from high-income areas, OneGoal – Massachusetts has been serving the region since 2015.

Notable attendees included University of Massachusetts Boston Interim Chancellor Barry Mills, as well as Paul Francisco, Chief Diversity Officer and Head of Workforce Development Programs at State Street Corporation and former New England Patriots player.

During the ceremony, Patty Diaz-Andrade, founding executive director of OneGoal – Massachusetts, shared her own college experience with attendees and offered words of encouragement for the students.

“OneGoal is a national community of people actively and intentionally dismantling systems of oppression that too easily discourage our brightest future leaders from staying the course and earning that college degree by any means necessary,” she said. “A college education is possible for you. It is attainable even if it won’t be easy.”

The organization’s three-year model includes a credit-bearing class during students’ junior and senior years of high school. Once the students, or Fellows, enter college, teachers known as Program Directors help students bridge the transition from high school to college by providing one-on-one intensive coaching remotely through the first day of Fellows’ sophomore year of college.

Luena Teixeira, a senior at Community Academy of Science and Health in Dorchester, shared her OneGoal story with the region’s newest class of inductees.

“As my strength grew, I began to think about my future and I started to plan a better life for myself. OneGoal also helped me make this change,” she said. “Now, I know nothing can stop me and I will not stop until I reach my goals for the future. Even if I have a lot of rocks on my back I’ll still stand on my feet.”

Locally, OneGoal partners with 10 high schools in the school districts of Boston, Revere, Fall River, New Bedford and Lawrence, and will reach 820 students by the end of the school year. Additionally, OneGoal works with a number of postsecondary institutions to bring the teacher-led, proven model to the communities that need it the most.

About OneGoal
OneGoal makes college graduation a reality for all students. We collaborate closely with public schools in low-income communities, providing teachers with a robust curriculum, technology, training and coaching to implement our three-year model with a group of 25 students (called Fellows) per cohort. Teachers (called Program Directors) support the same group of Fellows beginning in their junior year of high school and bridge the gap through their first year of college. In communities where students typically have a 22% chance of graduating from college, 82% of OneGoal Fellows are enrolling in college and 78% are persisting in college or have graduated. OneGoal works in Chicago, Houston, Massachusetts, Metro Atlanta, New York and recently expanded to the Bay Area.

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