U-Lead Athens co-director and co-founder Dr. JoBeth Allen sits with Clarke Central High School Class of 2021 alumnus Daniel Garcia-Pozo, a former U-Lead student and current volunteer, on Feb. 26. Allen has relied on volunteers like Garcia-Pozo to ensure that the program is helping underdocumented students achieve higher education. “In addition to (former) students, we have people from UGA. We have people from the local high schools. We have people from the community,” Allen said. “We couldn’t do what we do without our volunteers. They’re just wonderful.” Photo by Lucas Donnelly
Nonprofit organization U-Lead Athens provides services to aid underdocumented students, but has faced challenges due to the ongoing pandemic.
When nonprofit organization U-Lead Athens shifted their meetings online in March 2020, underdocumented students didn’t lose help with achieving higher education. They lost an in-person community.
The organization’s primary goal is to enable college access for underdocumented students, but Clarke Central High School Class of 2020 alumnus Gerardo Navarro, a former U-Lead student, gained much more from the program.
“U-Lead was a safe place for me to extend my worries about academic life, in general,” Navarro said. “The more times I came to U-Lead meetings, the more I grew comfortable with the environment (and the) people.”
Besides a safe environment, U-Lead provides many other services to students to help them gain entrance to college.
“We help with a variety of tutoring in specific subjects (and) college applications,” Dr. Melissa Pérez Rhym, U-Lead Athens co-director and Cedar Shoals High School Associate Principal of Instruction, said. “That can be anything from essays, the actual filling out of the college application (or) filling out (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) forms.”
U-Lead also offers scholarships to students who would otherwise be unable to afford the cost of college.
“We gave 69 scholarships this year, (and) we’ve given around 70 for the last three or four years,” U-Lead co-founder and co-director JoBeth Allen said. “For students who aren’t eligible for any other kind of scholarship or they’re at someplace where the (payment) gap is really big, we offer scholarships up to $5,000.”
To encourage students to participate in U-Lead, CCHS foreign language department teacher and U-Lead CCHS contact Christian Cordón provides students with information about the organization.
“I try to advertise and tell (students) the benefits about U-Lead, what U-Lead does and the opportunities
that they can get through (the organization),” Cordón said.
“We saw that in order to be in a good position to get into those schools that do offer help for underdocumented students, you needed help with tutoring (earlier) and you needed help with SAT and ACT prep. So we started expanding what we did as an organization in order to put students in the best position possible their senior year.”
— Dr. Melissa Pérez Rhym,
U-Lead Athens co-director
Before the pandemic, the organization had broadened the scope of its operations to include several other services for underdocumented students.
“We saw that in order to be in a good position to get into those schools that do offer help for underdocumented students, you needed help with tutoring (earlier) and you needed help with SAT and ACT prep. So we started expanding what we did as an organization in order to put students in the best position possible their senior year,” Pérez Rhym said.
However, the ongoing pandemic forced the organization to return to its initial aim. It has also impacted the number of students who attend U-Lead meetings.
“I’d say half as many students (are) attending (meetings since I left U-Lead),” CCHS Class of 2021 alumnus Daniel Garcia-Pozo, a former U-Lead student and current volunteer, said. “I’d say roughly 20-25, but that’s on a really good day. Usually, it’s around 15 or so.”
While the number of U-Lead students has decreased, Pérez Rhym has seen U-Lead’s effect remain steady due to members’ ambition.
“The people that are coming (to meetings) are very motivated,” Pérez Rhym said. “If you’re taking the time to Zoom for two hours on a Thursday night, it’s probably your most motivated students that are taking that extra time to make sure that they’re getting help on their applications and looking for every scholarship opportunity possible.”
“The people that are coming (to meetings) are very motivated. If you’re taking the time to Zoom for two hours on a Thursday night, it’s probably your most motivated students that are taking that extra time to make sure that they’re getting help on their applications and looking for every scholarship opportunity possible.”
— Dr. Melissa Pérez Rhym,
U-Lead Athens co-director
To help pay for the scholarships it offers, U-Lead has garnered support from the community.
“We say to our donors, ‘Help us make sure that the students can go (to college on a scholarship) their sophomore, junior and senior year,’ and we can bring in a new class of freshmen,” Allen said. “(The donors) have stepped up.”
U-Lead is also trying to restart some of its in-person fundraising to garner more money for students.
“We just started planning (the U-Lead fundraiser and festival DreamFest),” Pérez Rhym said. “We’re going to try (DreamFest) again this year in-person.”
Garcia-Pozo is thankful for all the organization has done to help him achieve a higher education.
“(U-Lead) is a wonderful organization and we would love more people in the community to know about it,” Garcia-Pozo said. “We (always) like help, and the help of the Athens community is always appreciated.”
