** Let the Summer Begin!
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Graduation Wrap-Up, First Star's ASU Academy, Expansion News, National Staff Spotlight, 20th Anniversary Celebration
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Before the summer fun begins, let's celebrate our 2019 First Star graduates one more time. Our South Jersey Collaborative has a very special message to share!
First Star Academy Spotlight:
The First Star Arizona State University Academy
Our First Star ASU Academy just completed their first summer session under the helm of Academy Director Gabriela Jimenez. Since taking over the program in the fall of 2018, she has been able to triple the number of scholars the Academy serves and expand First Star's reach in Arizona. Her scholars are now from 40 different schools within 20 school districts across Maricopa County and beyond.

This year, the summer session took over ASU's Polytechnic Campus, providing our students with the space to get down to work and have some fun too. A trip to the State Capitol, the Musical Instrument Museum, and volunteering with Jacob's Mission Community Center meant our scholars were ready for time at the Sun Devil's Recreation Center, camp, art class and movie nigh
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Our ASU scholars also took advantage of the amazing resources that the ASU campus provides, which included a workshop with SafeZONE to celebrate diversity on campus and discuss the issues faced by marginalized students. Bridging Success is a program for current ASU students who have been in foster care. Many of these students served as youth coaches and mentors to our scholars this summer and will continue to act as role models throughout the year. SPARKS is a student-led program at ASU that is dedicated to increasing college-readiness and awareness for students in K-12. Ambassadors from the program came out to lead our scholars in a workshop on networking and professional development.

ASU Prep Digital is an online high school that gives students the opportunity to take both high school and college classes, putting them on an accelerated path toward university admission. This summer, the ASU Prep Digital team were able to create a curriculum that was tailored to the experiences that our First Star scholars were enjoying, in real time. For example, our ASU scholars had a great visit to the State Capital, where they got to see first hand how laws are voted on through a mock legislature session with Rep. Raquel Teran and her staff. To prepare for their trip, our scholars had a lesson in government and civics that was customized for the experience.

Pictured: Gaby Jimenez, ASU Academy Director and Betsy Fowler, ASU Prep Digital's Director of Curriculum & Instruction.

WellCare Community Foundation
2019 Appreciation Day
On Wednesday, June 26th, First Star and our ASU Academy were able to honor the WellCare Community Foundation for their generous donation of $500,000 to expand our impact in Arizona. The day started off with a fantastic 'Project Runway' performance from our scholars. During their afternoon art class, the scholars split up into teams to design outfits out of newspapers, tissue paper and cardboard. We had the pleasure of witnessing their work (and courage!) as they strutted down the catwalk in style. Afterwards, we thanked our honored guests from WellCare's Arizona team, noting the profound impact their donation has made to the program and ultimately to the foster youth of Arizona. To top it all off, we enjoyed an ice cream social to cool ourselves off from the Arizona summer heat!

Representatives from WellCare's Arizona team as well as ASU and First Star:

Scott Cummings, State President, Care1st Health Plan Arizona
Lorenzo Chavez, ASU's Assistant VP of Outreach & Partnerships
Robin Winston, First Star's Executive Director
Stephanie Davis, SVP & Division President of WellCare Health Plans

First Star In the News
Governor Newsom Administration Awards $740,000 to First Star

In an unprecedented action ([link removed]) , Gov. Newsom's administration has provided $740,000 to establish a First Star Academy at California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State), significantly extending First Star's presence in California. The funding is intended to serve as a catalyst to expand First Star Academies to a further 12 CSU and UC schools over the next five years. The new First Star Sacramento State Academy is slated to launch in Fall 2019.



Stay tuned for upcoming news on this exciting expansion!

First Star National Staff Spotlight:
Robin Winston
First Star's Executive Director

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Robin on the uniqueness of the First Star Academy program and the ways that it is changing the lives of transition-aged foster youth across the country.

I joined First Star in 2011, when our Academy program was just starting out at UCLA. That first cohort of students became an intricate part of my life. I had the opportunity to become the educational rights holder for a few of them, making sure that they graduated high school and moved onto successful adulthoods. Over the last eight years, getting to travel to our ever expanding list of Academies across the country and watch our scholars transform into successful young adults has been one of the highlights of my life. First Star scholars are my heroes!

Robin has been in the Los Angeles-based nonprofit sector for over 20 years. Prior to First Star, Robin worked with DoSomething.org as the Los Angeles Director where she oversaw the expansion of the New York-based teen social-action organization, and before that spent seven years as a senior associate at Levy Pazanti, an event production firm. There, Robin spearheaded dozens of successful events for organizations such as the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, MOCA, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, HRC, Women in Film, and Heal the Bay.
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In the News

National

In February 2018, Glenn and Charlcie Koster ([link removed]) , with their dog Walker, began a cross-country trek from Miami to Seattle to raise awareness for foster care and adoption. Glenn, who is walking, while his wife drives their RV, plans on making it to Seattle by the end of August. Growing up in the foster care system himself, he says this his way of inspiring others to become foster parents or adopt.

Arizona

Starting this fall, any former or current foster care youth under 23 years old who has been in the foster care system since the age of 14 will be eligible for a tuition waiver for any Arizona university or college. This tuition waiver ([link removed]) that the state is offering could potentially cover all costs of college for former foster care students.


Pennsylvania

The Monkey & the Elephant ([link removed]) , a nonprofit coffee shop in Philadelphia, is on a mission to equip former foster kids with the resources and support they need to build skills, find jobs, and create successful, stable lives. We know the M & E well, as our First Star South Jersey Collaborative scholars took part in kindness popup event there in 2017, assembling care packages for local foster youth in need.

There's no better time than now to make a Gift to First Star!
Help make sure our scholars are ready for success this year!
Donate Today ([link removed])
Stay connected to see what all our First Star Academy scholars are getting up to this summer!
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