For the 7th year in a row, 100% of Chicas graduate high school

It’s a hot day in June. As the morning heat begins to rise off the black pavement in the parking lot behind the Adelante Mujeres building, our Chicas team is concentrating on turning their cars into big, moving words of congratulations. They are prepping for their first-ever Chicas Graduation Celebration car parade.

A global pandemic changes a lot of things, including how we celebrate graduations. In years prior, we’ve celebrated our graduating Chicas in a big auditorium with families, hugs, and group photos. This year is different, but thanks to our creative Chicas Team, it was just as special.

The long line of decked-out cars assembles. As they approach the first house, an orchestra of car horns begins to echo across the neighborhood. Windows roll down, car radios blast music, and Chicas staff pop up through sunroofs with congratulatory signs. The excitement draws out curious neighbors to see what the ruckus is about.

The first graduating Chica comes out to greet the parade with a big smile on her face as she watches the cars slowly pass by.

Since meeting face-to-face and having conversations doesn’t jive well with social distancing, our Chicas Facilitators also put together a heartfelt video which they sent to all of the graduating seniors.

“We are so incredibly proud of you and all of the hard work you’ve put into your educational careers so far,” says Itzel Chavez Gomez, Chicas College Readiness Coordinator, in the video. “We know these last few months weren’t easy but you still pushed through and look at where you are now.”

The Chicas Youth Development Program works to empower Latina girls and now serves over 700 girls every year. With weekly after-school sessions (recently turned virtual) and one-on-one mentorship with our Chicas Facilitators, the program covers topics like leadership, college readiness, cultural identity, and much more.

This year, all twenty high school seniors in our Chicas Program graduated, keeping the program’s 100% graduation rate in place for the 7th year in a row. This is compared to a 76% graduation rate of Latino/Hispanic students last year in Oregon.

The twenty graduating Chicas have pretty incredible plans ahead of them. They’ll be attending universities such as Oregon State University, University of Oregon, Portland State University, George Fox University, and more. They plan to study marketing and graphic design, dentistry, physiology, pre-med, psychology, political science, education, biology, engineering, animal science, nursing, and more.

These chicas are strong, they are leaders, they are community advocates, and they are SO ready to fly high and show this world that ‘Si se puede!’.