Four people sit around a table with the word HoPe next to them. Roxy Peña-Pineda, Clarke Central High School Hispanic Organization Promoting Education vice president of communications and CCHS junior, believes that HoPe has has a positive impact on her education. “(HoPe) gives you a lot of college updates that I (did not) know about. It gives me scholarships (opportunities). (When I saw them) I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know this one was available,’ said Peña-Pineda. “I didn’t know I could apply to this one while I’m still a junior or I didn’t know this test day was available for like SAT or ACT.” Illustration by Frances Thrasher
The Clarke Central High School Hispanic Organization Promoting Education chapter started with a goal to help minorities during the 2019-20 school year after ending two years prior.
After being inactive for two years, four Clarke Central High School students brought the Hispanic Organization Promoting Education (HoPe) club back to CCHS during the 2019-20 school year.
CCHS junior and HoPe President Raymond Pan, senior Jimena Somilleda, junior Roxy Peña-Pineda and junior Nathaly Zuniga serve as the club’s officers this year. There are three main jobs in the HoPe club divided among the four positions.
“Jimena is the (vice president) of communications, so she does all the promotion and Instagram and social media things. We have to get the word out to students to know that we exist,” Pan said. “Nathaly is the (vice president) of development, and Roxy’s the (vice president) of service, so she’s actually the one who reaches out to local middle schools and elementary schools for volunteer opportunities.”
“My freshman year, we had a HoPe chapter at Clarke Central, and I honestly loved it because I felt like I was at home because I was welcomed with open arms.”
— Jimena Somilleda,
CCHS senior and HoPe vice president of communications
Somilleda was a member of the HoPe chapter at CCHS during the 2017-18 school year, before the chapter became inactive.
“My freshman year, we had a HoPe chapter at Clarke Central, and I honestly loved it because I felt like I was at home because I was welcomed with open arms. Sadly, our chapter was disbanded after my freshman year because of a lack of people applying to be an officer,” Somilleda said.
For the 2019-20 school year, Somilleda had a desire to restart the club, primarily to support underrepresented minority students.
“(Pan and I) noticed that we were one of the only people in our (Advanced Placement Biology) class that weren’t White, and we’re like, ‘Oh, there’s not many resources for minority students.’ And then I started talking to Raymond about how, when I was a freshman, there was a club that really helped minority students graduate and achieve their fullest potential,” Somilleda said.
CCHS junior and HoPe member Daniela Robledo also believes that Hispanics are underrepresented in CCHS school organizations.
“(I joined HoPe) because it’s a Hispanic organization. I didn’t see a lot of that (in) school. When I saw it was the Hispanic Organization Promoting Education, I’m not part of any other clubs, so (I was) like, ‘For one, that sounds fun. And also, it would do me good to be a part of a community like that,” Robledo said.
The HoPe club volunteers at various events for middle and elementary schools in the Clarke County School District.
“Recently we had the ROAR (Respect Ownership Attitude Responsibility) night at (Cleveland Road Elementary School). We also helped Whitehead Road (Elementary School) with their Valentine’s dance and Bingo Night as well. Our first event ever was helping (Clarke Middle School) with their open house and guiding the parents,” Pan said. “We (also) did translating at Cleveland Road Elementary School when they had their fall (parent-teacher) conferences.”
With 60 HoPe chapters around Georgia, the club officers at CCHS work with other chapters to plan events.
“We got together with our cluster schools (which are) Clarke Central, (Cedar Shoals High School) and (Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School). So we’re all building that trust with each other. It’s really helped me because (I get events from) Cedar’s and Monsignor Donovan’s vice president of service,” Peña-Pineda said.
University of Georgia sophomore Zarina Frausto is the graduation coach and District 22 supervisor for the HoPe organization. She founded a HoPe chapter at her high school and then had a desire to continue helping HoPe as a college student.
“I’m just in charge of overseeing the chapter making sure everything’s running really well. Since I am local, I go to most of their events, and I give them feedback on how they could improve. If they have questions, they can always ask me because I was once in their shoes,” Frausto said. “I went to Etowah High School, and I was (the president and founder of HoPe), so I have some idea of how to help them run their chapter.”
Robledo believes that HoPe has given helpful information about scholarship opportunities to CCHS students who are applying to college.
“HoPe gives a lot of information about scholarships, not just the HOPE Scholarship. Jimena, she (showed) us this Instagram page that (has) a lot of small scholarships that are easy to get. I think for a lot of our students who need scholarships, it’s probably helped them a lot,” Robledo said.
Peña-Pineda is thankful that the HoPe club has helped her discover more opportunities at CCHS.
“It gives you a lot of college updates that I know about. It gives me scholarships. I like talking about scholarships. I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know this one was available. I didn’t know I could apply to this one while I’m still a junior’ or ‘I didn’t know this test day was available for (the) SAT or ACT’ (until I learned at HoPe club),” Peña-Pineda said.
Somilleda thinks that one of the primary functions of the club is to inform members about the requirements to get into college.
“We actually had a meeting with just seniors and my graduation coach Zarina Frausto. We had members that were just completely in the dark about what it takes to get into university, how to even apply (and) what is necessary to apply, and I feel like she really reached out to them. And those members applied to universities, and they’re actually going to a university they love next year,” Somilleda said.
Pan feels that he and his peers’ educational and community involvement experiences have been largely impacted by HoPe.
“I know that we’ve made a positive impact on a lot of other students.”
— Raymond Pan,
CCHS junior and HoPe president
“On top of the community service events, I was exposed to scholarship opportunities that I feel like I would have not known without HoPe. HoPe also allowed me to meet other students, not just from our school, but from across the state, who care about their education and their future,” Pan said. “I know that we’ve made a positive impact on a lot of other students.”
Frausto believes that minorities are given a place to be themselves in the HoPe community.
“Giving minorities a voice and giving them a place where they’re allowed to converse and meet people that are of familiar (or) similar backgrounds like that, I feel like it’s impacted Clarke Central because it gives minorities, not just Hispanics but other minorities at the school, to be involved with something bigger,” Frausto said. “We like to stay connected, go to meetings, have fun, play games (and) things like that. I feel like (HoPe has) made an impact in connecting everyone as a family.”
Story by Margaret Kelleher
Package by Ireland McCage
