In 2007, the St. HOPE-operated preschool, Triumph Center for Early Childhood Education, opened its doors offering a high-quality early childhood education program for young children in the Oak Park neighborhood. For nearly 10 years, Triumph actively served hundreds of families throughout the community and surrounding areas, creating a learning environment inclusive for all.
In June 2017, Triumph made the difficult decision to close its doors with the hope that through continued conversation, future opportunities would emerge.
Here at St. HOPE we find it very rewarding to recognize the outstanding commitment from our staff, which more than often go above and beyond to give scholars an unforgettable learning experience. With amazing staff like Mr. Sarabia, Sac High’s Visual Arts and Communications teacher, there’s no wonder why we have such amazing scholars.
This month we had the privilege of sitting down with veteran HOPEster, Mr. Sarabia, to hear a little about his story. Here’s what we captured:
Q: How long have you been here? How did you hear about St. HOPE?
Aizik “Aik” Brown proudly describes himself as an Artist and Educator committed to improving the lives of those around him, particularly in Oak Park. Over the past two weeks, Valley Vision has been fortunate enough to have Aizik paint a stunning mural on the outside wall of our new office building as part of Sacramento’s Wide Open Walls mural festival, in partnership with St. HOPE.
I’ve always dreamed about going to an HBCU. I was unsure about my experience at a predominantly white institution. I currently attend California State University, Sacramento and I have loved my experience thus far. Coming from a predominantly black high school, Sacramento Charter High School, the diversity of Sac State’s campus was truly a culture shock, but the levels of love and unity helped me overcome my worries about attending a local university. Sac state is a great campus and I have learned the importance of my presence on this campus.
Underground Books proudly presents renowned and critically acclaimed author Walter Mosley next Friday, October 12 at the Guild Theater and Underground Books. Join us for a fire chat discussion and book signing as Mr. Mosley shares his newest novel, John Woman.
Does place matter any more? It’s a hard question to answer at first.
Research shows that regardless of whether you are rich or poor, virtually everyone has a smart phone today. It’s today’s essential lifeline. Having a fast and reliable Internet connection is another matter, but most of us can get online from almost anywhere. Anytime. Day or night. We are completely mobile and connected, 24×7. So it really shouldn’t matter where we are, right?