The Financial Award application process for the 2023-24 JMCS graduates will be available in February, 2024. Please check the Apply for Financial Award page for information about the application process and financial awards available. Below are the JMCS Foundation Financial Award Recipients from the past school years.

JMCS Foundation Financial Awardees - 2023

Miranda’s life before she enrolled at JMCS was very unstable.  Her previous high school experience was marred by difficulties and complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stringent school protocols.  As a result, she had a strong dislike for school and encountered great difficulty with math.  So much so that she began to ditch classes often.  However, she recognized that she needed resources to assist her with learning but couldn’t access them because of COVID-19.  Even when she attended classes, classroom sizes were too large which made it difficult to get the attention and resources she needed to help with her specific learning needs. 

When Miranda enrolled into the JMCS-UCCIE Riverside program, she felt more comfortable about the learning environment.  Class sizes were smaller and the teachers gave her the one-on-one teaching she needed with subjects like math.  Her educational experience changed dramatically at JMCS and she’s very appreciative of the educational assistance and guidance she received from her teachers and the support staff at JMCS and UCCIE.

Miranda’s personal career goal for the next 5 years is to complete her education by enrolling in Riverside City College and later a university.  Ultimately, she wants to run her own business; a nail salon.  She’s always wanted to run her own business in order to provide quality services to her customers and also provide members in her community with job opportunities.

Morgan Collings story began in 2002 in Victoria, Australia. Her mixed culture family never could agree on where home was, so she was homeschooled as they moved from place to place. Her sister was her only friend and nature was their favorite playground. The situation deteriorated over the years with financial instability, constant conflict, and health issues. In 2022, her family parted ways and Morgan, along with her mom and her sister, started a new life in the U.S.  

They came to the U.S. with only what they could fit in their suitcases and one large moving box along with enough money to get food and temporary accommodations when they landed. The California Conservation Corps seemed like the perfect option for Morgan because she could earn her high school diploma and get paid while learning new skills doing conservation work.

Morgan says she has met and worked with some absolutely amazing people during her time at JMCS – CCC.  These people include her teachers, Minnie and Michelle, and her CMD Special Corps member, Yana Beeler, who have not only been her educators / trainers but cheerleaders who provided her with guidance and moral support.

After completing her work with Chico CCC, Morgan plans to pursue a career in early childhood education because she has passion for guiding the next generation by promoting confidence, good health, and respect for others and the planet.

As the oldest sibling in the family, Jeshua had to go through some difficult times to realize what he wanted in life.  In public school, he was skipping classes and not doing any schoolwork at all.  He ended up hanging out with the wrong people and started using marijuana and pills.  Looking back, he knows he did things that he regrets and he’s not proud of that.  He realized his mistakes and knew that he needed to change his habits to create a better life for himself.

When Jeshua enrolled at JMCS and Richmond YouthBuild, he immediately got “college vibes”.  He learned self-discipline, to stay focused to complete his work and studies.  He credits his teacher Ms. Molly for making him understand that the more patience you have, the more you can get done.  Ms. Molly also motivated Jeshua to apply to Contra Costa College and has convinced him that he can achieve his goals if they’re realistic and he puts in the hard work. 

Jeshua wants to develop a career as an auto mechanic for both gas and electric cars.  To achieve that, he plans on attending the Automotive Program at Contra Costa College. Becoming certified as an auto mechanic / technician will provide the qualifications he’ll need to get and maintain a steady job.

"If you don’t do it, it’s not going to get done." With that being said, Antonio put his mind to it and started “grinding” to be able to manage his studies and graduate with his high school diploma.

Antonio was in the adoption system under his aunt’s guardianship after his parents were both abusing drugs and not providing a stable home environment for their children.   While with his mother and father, Antonio and his sister lived in a house with a number of tenants and limited space.  To say the least, their living conditions were not suitable for children needing parental guidance and love nor the proper environment for learning while going through COVID-19.

Under his aunt’s care, Antonio felt he wasn’t getting the emotional or financial support he needed and quickly found part-time employment to help support himself and his sister.

Antonio is very appreciative of his time at Rancho Cielo and JMCS. “This program helped me succeed in so many things and I really thank all the teachers / trainers / support staff and appreciate all the help and knowledge I have gained from coming here. My goal in the next 5 years is to be working for a good company making a good living wage; $45+ hr.   Antonio would like to pursue a career in construction, especially welding.  One day he’d like to have his own business.

Before joining Rancho Cielo and JMCS, Salvador was facing incarceration. He was a young person with very little guidance or ideas of what he wanted out of life. That quickly changed after Salvador joined Rancho Cielo and enrolled at JMCS.  He immediately started to turn his life around with the help of his case managers and teachers. He strongly feels that they have not only helped him with his schoolwork, but they have also helped him with the personal problems he was facing on a daily basis. 

Under this unique program and educational environment, Salvador learned how to formulate realistic goals based on his strengths and the areas of his personality and character that he needed to change.   

Salvador feels that he has worked very hard to get to where he is today, both academically and personally. He’s held various leadership positions including serving as a classroom foreman and as a paid welding instructor intern.

For the future, Salvador will be attending Hartnell Community College to study business and economics to help him one day start and build his own business. 

JMCS Foundation Financial Awardees - 2022

JMCS Foundation Financial Awardees - 2021

“You’ve got to stay positive.  Never give up on your dreams and goals because hard work and persistence will pay off.”  These are words that Amy Quintanilla lives by, reminding herself each day that she’s strong enough to overcome any obstacle that comes her way.  

 She describes her life before enrolling in JMCS as a little bit of a nightmare. Her parents got separated when she was very young and it seemed to her that she was always going back-and-forth from one parent’s home to another. Her family was always experiencing economic hardship and struggles.  Her housing situation was always unstable as her family had to constantly move from school to school. For that reason, she hated school and didn’t want to continue because she was always afraid of starting over and trying to “fit in”. She found herself hanging out with the wrong group of young people, ditching classes, behaving badly, and getting bad grades.  At this point in her life, she was fighting depression and struggling to stay motivated to finish high school.

 When she enrolled at JMCS, she met a teacher, Ms. Stella Labatte, who was the right person to get Amy back on track.  Amy found a renewed interest in learning and a mentor who motivated her to achieve her educational goals and more importantly, be a better person.

 Amy will be attending Pasadena City College with an interest in earning a degree in Early Childhood Education.  With the life lessons she’s had and the challenges she’s been able to overcome, she knows she can do well in this area and hopefully teach and guide a lot of young children.

Before joining the California Conservation Corps in South Lake Tahoe, Anders was living in poverty in Fruitvale, a neighborhood in Oakland. Living under difficult conditions as a young child, his mother suffered and dealt with alcoholism and partner abuse.  Anders found it difficult to focus on schooI and his grades reflected that. At 15 years of age, he finally moved out, left his abusive household, and moved in with his brother. In order to help his out his brother pay the household bills, he left school and found part-time work. Eventually, he had to find a new place to stay and looked for new opportunities that could provide him with stable housing, employment and education. He had a friend who was already a corpsmember at the Tahoe CCC site, so he decided to join the CCC.  Once there, he was exposed to a different type of educational environment-one he was not familiar with and never experienced before. In particular, his teacher, Ms. Anna Pizelo was of great help, working around his busy schedule, enabling Anders to finally graduate and get his high school diploma.

Anders has worked extremely hard to pursue his educational goals.  Although he’ll need to continue to work in order to support himself as he continues his education at Lake Tahoe Community College, he’ll be pursuing his interests in environmentalism and fire prevention hoping to complete his bachelors in Montana.

“Anything is possible if you are committed”.  This statement best describes Antonio’s determination to complete his high school education and pursue a college education. 

Before Antonio enrolled into the JMCS program at Urban Conservation Corps of Inland Empire (UCCIE) located in Indio, CA, he was attending a public high school and on track to graduate as a senior.  Unfortunately, because of his family’s economic status, he had to leave high school, find employment and help with his family’s expenses.  He didn’t like leaving his high school during his junior year…. leaving his friends and his varsity football team, but he knew he had to help contribute financially to his family.   

At the age of 17, he enrolled in the JMCS program at UCCIE.  This program allowed him the flexibility to continue working and complete his high school credits.  Antonio feels that JMCS staff and teachers were really able to help as he balanced employment responsibilities with his education.  The education structure and techniques offered by JMCS were helpful to Antonio.  In particular, he found that his teacher, Mr. Don Pham, made everything he was being taught so much easier to understand.

Antonio is currently enrolled in college and would like to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. His dream job is to work in public safety as a K-9 officer. He sees himself getting married some day and raising a family. With his education, he knows he’ll be able to give them a better life than the one he had.

Jessica’s life before attending GEM Academy was confusing.  She always felt lost and never knew what she wanted to do with her life. Before attending GEM Academy in Los Angeles, she went to two different high schools.  Neither worked out for her.  She was always ditching classes and making some terrible decisions that affected her young upbringing.   

She felt like a complete failure, and it was always hard to see her parents upset but she felt helpless; she was caught up in her own “messy life”.  In hindsight, she now realizes that she never bothered to take their feelings into consideration.  She was convinced that she’d never graduate from high school because it seemed like such an impossible task.  She felt like life was worthless and did not have the motivation to do anything to better myself. Her parents decided to put Jessica in therapy, and it was her therapist who recommended that she enroll into GEM academy. 

Once at GEM Academy, she met one of her teachers, Ms. Stella Labatte.  Initially, Jessica didn't see anything special about Ms. Labatte; she just thought, “Here’s another teacher who doesn’t care much for her students”.  As months went by, Jessica started to see how much Ms. Labatte cared for her and all her students. Jessica never felt so cared about in a school, never imagined herself being excited to show up because she always thought she'd hate school.  Every step of the way Ms. Labatte was there, providing guidance and instruction that Jessica had longed for.  According to Jessica, “Ms. Stella motivated me to become a better person, and thanks to her I am who I am today because of her.” 

As for her personal goals, she hopes to one day be able to invest in a property, be financially stable and have enough money to pay her bills.  As for her career goals, Jessica sees herself as a registered nurse working at a children's hospital helping kids feel better and making sure that they know they are safe.  As soon as she finishes her prerequisites from Los Angeles Trade Technical College, she plans to transfer to Standbridge University and continue her nursing studies.

Jordan was born and raised in Bakersfield, CA.  She was part of a big family which was always struggling with money issues.  Because of this, Jordan’s family moved around the state of California quite a bit, looking for stable, good paying work.  She recalls that family finances became quite a family issue and soon developed into a toxic home environment.  This home life, along with her ADHD, made it very difficult for her to succeed in a public school; it just wasn’t a good fit for her and she found it difficult to focus.  With all the challenges she was facing, Jordan started to look at alternative education pathways so that she could complete her high school education. 

She discovered the California Conservation Corps in Tahoe, CA and the John Muir Charter School.  Here, education was brought to life for her and she started to blossom.   

Jordan gives a lot of credit to her teacher, Ms. Anna Pizelo.  Jordan feels that the education she received from Ms. Anna was unbelievable…. she had never seen a teacher so passionate and so inclusive of all students. To quote Jordan, “I’m not exaggerating in any way when I say Ms. Anna is an excellent teacher and has brought education to life for me, made something trivial to me so bright and warm. I struggled in every aspect with school, even at a young age, yet she managed to bring the most out of me in school.”

Jordan is currently enrolled at Butte College, located in Chico, CA., majoring in Natural Resources. She plans on finishing her bachelor’s degree at Humboldt State University, CA.

JMCS Foundation Financial Awardees - 2020

Aaron Peterman, 2020 Scholarship Awardee

“We were always struggling……I had no real foundation for feeling like I belonged. I had never been in school, I never had friends, so I always felt very isolated and not a part of society.”  This is how Aaron Peterman describes his childhood until he realized; “Nobody was going to save me, I had to get myself out of this situation.”

So, at 18 years of age, Aaron started working on his plan.  Shortly after securing a part-time vendor position at a farmer’s market, Aaron secured stable housing and in August of 2019, enrolled at the John Muir Charter School (JMCS) campus at Venice YouthBuild.  With no public school credits to his name, he proceeded to take the HiSET (High School Equivalency Exam) and secure credits for English, mathematics, science and social science.  “I found my teacher and supportive staff at JMCS and Venice YouthBuild to be amazingly helpful and supportive.”  As his teacher so aptly stated, "Aaron is bright, kind and knows everything about computers.  From his first day with us, he's been so determined to go to college."

After graduating from JMCS with his high school diploma, Aaron now has secure housing and is enrolled at Long Beach City College where he is pursuing a career in I.T.  "I went through a lot of things that weren’t my fault, but ultimately, once I started taking responsibility for my health, my education, and my future, I started to achieve positive results in my life.”

Ernest Carrillo

Ernest didn’t grow up with a mother and father.  When Ernest was 1 ½ years old, his father was killed by gunshot fire while helping a friend.  His mother was addicted to drugs so he was raised by his grandmother for the first 11 years of his life.  He was later reunited with his birth mother when she successfully completed rehab.  He had to make his way in through an unstable family environment as well as a neighborhood fraught with drugs and gangs.  He knows that he had behavioral issues during his middle school and high school years but he always knew he was smart and could do the schoolwork when he applied himself.  His family’s economic condition required him to work as early as 15 years of age and that put a strain on his studies.  At the age of 16, he fathered his first child. Shortly after that, he dropped out of high school to support his new family.  

When he entered JMCS (May, 2019) he did so because he knew how important it would be not only for himself but for his children.  He found the personal attention the teachers and counselors gave him to be just what he needed.  This approach motivated him to apply himself in the classroom and earn his high school diploma in June, 2020.

Ernest’s short term plan is to continue working and go to college to major in business.  “I’m eager to learn as much as I can so that I can someday have my own business and have the opportunities that my parents didn’t have.  I’m really motivated to be a good role model for my children and show them how education can lead to a better life.”

Sheylie Ramos

That all changed for Sheylie Ramos when she enrolled at the John Muir Charter School (JMCS) campus at Operation New Hope in Rancho Cucamonga, CA in 2018.  “Becoming a JMCS student has been one of the best decisions I ever made. It changed my life drastically.”  

As a single mom with 2 children, she’s doing all the right things to raise her two young children in a positive, healthy, safe and loving environment.  In fact, Sheylie so impressed her teachers and program staff at JMCS as a returning student that Sheylie was recognized for her maturity, work ethic and communication skills.  She was offered a job as a Case Manager at Operation New Hope and plans to keep it as she pursues her college education at Chaffey College.  This allows her to give back to the young people whose life struggles she is certainly familiar with.  She loves counseling and mentoring these young people and considers this work to be the necessary experience for her future career in Criminal Justice.

Her favorite quote, one she lives by is: 
“The struggle you’re in today, is developing the strength you need for tomorrow”

Andres Vera

 Andres faced some challenging times growing up.  Raised in a low-income family by a single parent, he had his struggles with his personal life and in public school while living in the San Fernando Valley.  These issues became so overwhelming that he dropped out of high school during his sophomore year.  For the next six years, he attended several alternative education programs while working but none seemed to be a good fit.  All this time, Andres remembered how his mother encouraged him to finish his education by completing his high school diploma and pursuing a college education.  As an immigrant from Mexico, Andres’ mother never finished her primary education in the U.S. but knew that if her children could successfully complete their education they would have a greater likelihood of success in their lives.  

In 2019, Andres enrolled in a very unique work-education program; the John Muir Charter School affiliated with the Delta Center California Conservation Corps, located in Stockton, CA.   Here at last was a place where he felt comfortable and focused.  The personal attention he received from teachers and work supervisors led to him finally completing his high school education and guiding his to pursue post-secondary education opportunities.

 Andres is attending San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA.  He’s undecided on a major but looks forward to taking classes in mathematics, science, and history. As his teacher stated in his letter of recommendation: “He’s responsible, organized, articulate, exceedingly driven, and personable.”  All the right qualities to do well in college and in life.