HARLINGEN — A bachelor’s degree in English. Certification as an emergency medical technician. A license to practice welding.
These are the kinds of credentials Educate Texas wants young people to obtain in preparation for the workforce, says Dr. Nolan Perez, a member of the Harlingen school board.
“This is an amazing public-private partnership for an impact across the state,” said Perez, who has just been appointed to the Educate Texas Committee.
“I am thrilled to serve on this important concern,” said Perez, who has served on the Harlingen school board for several years.
“I’m eager to learn how I can help the work of Educate Texas,” Perez said. “I am really happy with the opportunity to impact what happens in the Valley.”
Perez was appointed to board upon receiving a call from John Fitzpatrick, executive director of Educate Texas.
“He told me that they were strategically expanding their committee to better accomplish their statewide mission,” Perez said. “He told me that I’d be a good addition since I represent public education and higher education and I am from the Rio Grande Valley.”
Educate Texas is one of many initiatives of Communities Foundation of Texas, which helps donors get the most from the giving and connects them with community needs, says the CFT website.
Communities Foundation of Texas pools money from numerous sources in order to fund important programs for such causes as at-risk youth, low-income families and medical research. Currently CFT manages funds from more than 950 sources.
With the funding from CFT, Educate Texas has a local project called RGV Focus, which is geared toward creating a collective impact model in the Valley.
“Collective impact means let’s get the regional K-12 leaders together with regional higher education leaders like UTRGV, TSTC, STC, etc.,” Perez said. “They’ll all put their minds together around the common goal of increasing the number of graduates that are college or career ready and end up getting credentials and degrees that lead to successful careers.”
