Operation Jump Start

IMPORTANT NEWS: Seniors, we are excited to announce that our Scholarship Submission deadline has been extended to this Sunday, June 6, 2021 11:59PM! This means that you still have an opportunity to apply to our incredible sponsorship opportunities! Read through this post to learn more about each Scholarship and just how much you could receive if you are selected! For many, scholarships can be the defining line on whether you have a successful college experience. This is why we are encouraging all of our OJS seniors to apply to all of our available scholarships! There is no limit to how many you can apply for!! To read the full sponsorship prompts for each scholarship click the link in our bio, or check your emails!! We can't wait to hear from you, Class of 2021!!

Scholars' Day is less than two weeks away and we are so excited! Have you registered to attend? We'd like to reiterate that everyone is invited to Scholars' Day! Whether you're a student, mentor, alumni, or an OJS community member, we hope that you will join us for Scholars Day!! If you can't make it to SDC but would still like to support our seniors, we ask that you consider making a donation to Operation Jump Start. Donating to OJS is one of the best and most direct ways that you can support our mission. Donations in any amount are appreciated and we are so grateful for everyone who has already chosen to support OJS! To RSVP for Scholars' Day and/or make a donation to OJS in honor of Scholars' Day visit ojslb.org today!

Can you believe it?! Scholars Day is less than 3 weeks away! We’re so excited to celebrate our seniors and want to remind you that everyone is invited to Scholars Day! We really want to fill the celebration with as many friendly faces as possible, and hope to see you there!! RSVP today, we can’t wait to have you join us!! Continuing in our series of Senior Graduation Photos, we have Jasmin J.! Jasmin is a current high school senior who has received college acceptance from CSULB and SFSU!! Join OJS in wishing Jasmin a HUGE congratulations!! We are so proud of her and we can’t wait to celebrate Jasmin and all of our seniors at our 2021 Virtual Scholars’ Day Celebration!! Will you be coming to Scholars’ Day 2021? Register at OJSLB.org! We hope to see you there!!

Operation Jump Start is now recruiting students and accepting applications for the Academic Year of 2021-2022! Do you know a Long Beach student who could benefit from OJS's support and enrichment? Visit our website or click the link in our bio to submit your application today!

Operation Jump Start's 2021 Scholars' Day Celebration will be happening virtually on June 12th, 2021! Join us in celebrating our Graduating Seniors ALL ARE WELCOME!! RSVP Here: ojslb.org In the past year, many faced the unknown. While we all had to change our day-to-day lives, our students were going through their own academic journey at home on top of their personal experience with the pandemic. That is why this year’s SDC theme is unique to everyone because every student was facing unique experiences through COVID and continue to deal with the repercussions of COVID. That is why we want them to fill in the blank because EACH student was thriving through their own experience.

This last Saturday, our Youth Leadership Ambassadors joined the Community Action Team in their monthly Beach Clean Up. YLA students extended the invitation to all OJS mentors and students! We love seeing our students give back to the Long Beach community and get one-on-one time with their mentors. Thank you to everyone who joined us!

Did you know that January is National Mentoring Month? National Mentoring Month is an annual mentoring campaign nationwide dedicated to celebrating and elevating the mentoring movement. Operation Jump Start is so grateful to have such an amazing team of mentors. Our mentors are at the heart of our organization and if it wasn’t for them OJS wouldn’t exist! OJS would like to take a moment to celebrate the power of mentoring relationships. We at OJS express our appreciation for our amazing mentors, recognize that there is a need to continue to recruit new mentors, and offer opportunities to thank the mentors who have positively impacted our lives. Students & Mentors Feel free to comment below and share how your OJS mentor/mentee has affected you!!

In honor of Mentor Appreciation Month, we want to take a moment to say thank you. What better way to express our gratitude than to bring all of our OJS friends together for a virtual Happy Hour celebration. We hope to see all of our wonderful mentors and volunteers this evening at 5pm. Registration sent via email. We hope to see you there!

We are pleased to announce that the S. Mark Taper Foundation recently awarded Operation Jump Start a grant to support essential OJS programming and operations. It is because of supporters like the S. Mark Taper Foundation that OJS can continue to serve our students and the greater Long Beach community. We sincerely appreciate the S. Mark Taper Foundation for recognizing the importance of a college education and working with OJS to make college dreams a reality.

Wishing you a wonderful New Year. 2021 We're ready for you!

From all of us at Operation Jump Start, we are wishing you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season.

It's not too late to give the gift of education this holiday season!! As a nonprofit that relies on donations for financial support, one of the most important ways that you can make an impact is by becoming a monthly donor to OJS. Monthly support directly impacts our programming and ability to best support our students. In this post, we've outlined some of the resources that our monthly supporters help to ensure that our students have access to. However, whether you make a monthly donation or a one-time gift, your donation is helping to support Long Beach Youth who need it the most! We'd like to thank everyone who has graciously supported us this holiday season. If you would like to help us give the gift of education you can do so by visiting oslb.org today!

Calling all OJS Students and Mentors!!! Fall is here! Which means College Tour season is here! Although COVID-19 has put a halt on most in-person events like college tours, we invite you to join a fun, informative, and ALL-day VIRTUAL college tour. Hosted by the National College Attainment Network (NCAN).... This is a perfect opportunity for mentors and students to get together via zoom and learn all about colleges all over the nation! The event is taking place this Sunday, November 8th 11:00am - 7:00pm. Register via the link in our bio! Once registered, you will be able to exhibit schools, upcoming sessions, staff, picked videos, or book 1:1 meetings with admissions counselors. OJS Students Only: Enter for a chance to win a $50 gift card by sending us a confirmation email of your registration and a paragraph of what your experience was like doing virtual college tours. Submission deadline is Monday, November 9 at 5:00pm. We hope you'll attend and we can't wait to hear from our students!

Yesterday, OJS Programs Coordinator, Sandra Lopez celebrated her birthday and we just want to take a moment to publicly celebrate her! Sandra started her tenure as a BSW intern in 2016. An internship that was supposed to last a period of 10 weeks ended up turning into a summer internship and eventually becoming an official position at OJS. She received her BA in Social Work and minor in Sociology at California State University, Long Beach. Sandra provides support for our Programs Team and coordinates effective student events and workshops. Thank you for being a part of the team, Sandra. OJS appreciates you!

A quick throwback to last week when members of our Youth Leadership Ambassadors met at the OJS offices (Social-Distanced and following the proper guidelines, of course!) and made phone calls to all of our wonderful donors to thank them for their support over the years! We really are so thankful for all of the support that Operation Jump Start receives from the greater community and we can't tell you know that enough!!! Thank you, @yla_ojs for spreading the love to the OJS community, and if you received a call we hope that it brought some sunshine into your day!

There are so many different aspects that make the OJS community so wonderful, and we want to make sure that you get to know the faces who make up our team behind-the-scenes! Meet Panny!! An OJS alumna, former AmeriCorps Vista Member, and now Academic Coach, Panny has had many roles at OJS and has been with us for almost a decade now. ... I was born and raised in Cambodia, and my family immigrated to the US when I was twelve. As a first generation student, I knew I wanted to go to college but did not know where to begin or how to get there. Fortunately OJS was there to provide specific guidance, support, and resources I needed to achieve my goals. I was able to receive a scholarship to go to Northwestern University and graduated debt free with additional financial support from OJS. I am beyond excited to return to OJS and assist other students from similar backgrounds navigate the new landscape of education during these trying times. Outside OJS, I work with the American Red Cross Disaster Service Team in promoting disaster preparedness education and assisting disaster relief effort. Besides community service work, I enjoy doing Blogilates with friends, traveling (when it’s safe again), and exploring different food places in SoCal (I’m a foodie!) Thanks, Panny, for all that you do for OJS!

Calling all OJS Seniors!! Supper Club is BACK!! Tune in tonight for our first Virtual Supper Club of the School Year!! Check your emails for the RSVP link We can't wait to see you there!

From all of us at Operation Jump Start, we would like to say THANK YOU for your support during Long Beach Gives. Donations closed at 10AM this morning and we closed in at $11,430 ($150 Offline). On the leaderboards we were in the top 50 of all campaigns (#43) and we were in the Top 20 for Medium-sized organizations (#18). This is out of 150+ organizations total. Seriously amazing! Even though we didn't hit $15,000, we still achieved a terrific feat. And we have you to tha...nk for that. Whether you donate, volunteer, mentor however you support OJS, it makes a huge impact on the lives of students and families in our organization. We can't thank you enough for that. If missed @longbeachgives donation period but still would like to support OJS, you can still donate directly through our every donation counts towards impacting the lives of our students and families. Thank you for making college dreams a reality.

We are so thankful for all of the support that we've received in Long Beach Gives so far. We genuinely could not exist without the the generousity of our supporters. From all of us at OJS, Thank you. Time is running out to participate in Long Beach Gives. If you haven't yet had a chance to donate, we ask you to please consider doing so as soon as possible. Help us to reach out goal of $15,000 to support OJS Programs and Operations. We are almost 2/3 of the way to our goal, but in order to finish strong we need your help. Visit the link in our bio to donate, and share this post with you network. No matter what, we thank you for your support. We are so grateful for our OJS community!

Meet Jada CSU Monterey Bay Student & OJS Alumni Thank you Jada, for sharing your experience with OJS! We could talk to you about supporting our programming all day, but what really matters is what our students think of our programming. We are so honored to work with students like Jada, and we are so proud of all of our students and alumni. They are the reason OJS does all that we do. ... When you donate to OJS, you are helping to offer continuous support to our students. You are helping us help them succeed because ultimately our students are at the center of OJS' existence. Please help us continue to provide support to our students by donating to OJS' Logn Beach Gives campaign. It's not to late to make a difference in the lives of students and families all over Long Beach! https://donate.longbeachgives.org/operation-jump-start

Operation Jump Start had a wonderful morning of @longbeachgives Thanks to supporters like you!!! We are excited to say that we currently have received a total over $5000 in donations to OJS just over one-third of the way to our goal of $15,000!!!! This is wonderful news, but the race is on if we want to meet our goal of raising $15,000 for OJS by the end of today! If you haven't given yet, we ask that you consider supporting OJS' mission by donating to OJS' Long Beach ...Gives Campaign. When you donate to OJS’ Long Beach Gives campaign you are supporting Long Beach Student’s dreams of higher education. Your donations will directly affect the lives of students in Long Beach and will help to ensure that our students achieve success. Not only will you directly be affecting the lives of OJS students by supporting Operation Jump Start, but you'll also be placing your support and your dollars into the Long Beach Community You'll be donating to an organization working to create positive change in your own back yard! What a wonderful way to give!! We need your help. There's less than 24 hours left to make an impact on the lives of Long Beach Students in OJS and we hope that you'll be a an OJS champion by donating too. If you've already done so we thank you so much. It's because of our supportive givers that we are able to provide the services that we do in the first place!

TODAY IS THE DAY! Long Beach Gives is here and the race is on to meet our goal of raising $15,000 of crucial funding for OJS Students and programming! We are excited to say that we are starting the day with a total of $3000 already donated to OJS!!!! This is incredible news, but we still have a long way to go if we want to meet our goal of raising $15,000 for OJS by the end of today! If you haven't given yet, you can check out the link in our IG bio to donate and learn more... about Long Beach Gives. There's no better way to give than by giving back to your community giving to organizations that have the power to create positive change in your own back yard. If you haven't yet given to Long Beach Gives, we ask that you kindly consider donating to OJS. OJS is constantly working to empower our Long Beach youth to live up to their potential and achieve their dreams of higher education. We need your help. There's less than 24 hours left to make an impact on the lives of Long Beach Students in OJS and we hope that you'll be a an OJS champion by donating to. If you've already done so we thank you so much. It's because of our supportive givers that we are able to provide the services that we do in the first place! https://donate.longbeachgives.org/operation-jump-start

For this weeks #YLAWednesdays and in honor of Long Beach Gives happening TOMORROW, our Youth Leadership Ambassadors wanted to share a message with all of our OJS supporters and members. "We are the Youth Leadership Ambassadors. We are a dedicated group of OJS students who work to plan and organize events and help engage other students within OJS. Think of us like the Student Body Government of OJS! With the help from our staff who are a diverse group of individuals, OJS pro...vides us, OJS Students, a mentor, teacher, financial support, and volunteer opportunities. Operation Jump Start wants the youth to be greatly involved in this program, which is the reason why the Youth Leadership Ambassadors program was established. With 10 members, the YLA shares ideas and plans and organizes events to make the overall experience fun and educating. Not only that, we motivate each other to get out of one’s comfort zones and strive to become a better leader for all. By donating to Operation Jump Start you are ensuring that students like us have access to the crucial and impactful resources that Operation Jump Start provides. With your donation, Long Beach students and parents will benefit. There is no doubt that during the COVID health crisis, low-income families have been hit the hardest. Without increased support and guidance, the gaps in economic inequity will indelibly worsen. We seek the support of our community to work alongside OJS to help ensure that the most deserving scholars reach their full potential. Since Operation Jump Start is a community full of diversity, your donation will be used for providing resources, college tours, student supper clubs (college readiness clubs for Senior and Juniors OJS students), more college readiness events, tutoring, mentoring, and so much more. For college students in Operation Jump Start, financial support and other resources such as counseling are continuously available for them and your donation will help to make sure these important resources continue to be provided. Thank you for the potential consideration of donation to Operation Jump Start. Sincerely, Operation Jump Start’s Youth Leadership Ambassadors @yla_ojs "

It’s the week of Long Beach gives and Operation Jump Start is so excited to share that we have already raised over $2,000 for Long Beach Gives!! We are currently in the Top 100 Campaigns on the Long Beach Gives Website! This is wonderful news, but we still have a long way to go if we want to reach our goal of raising $15,000 of crucial funding for OJS. Sharing our social media posts about Long Beach Gives and sharing our Long Beach Gives profile page helps to show others the... important work that OJS is doing and also increases our chances of reaching our fundraising goal for Long Beach Gives. When you donate to OJS’ Long Beach Gives campaign you are supporting Long Beach Student’s dreams of higher education. Your donations will directly affect the lives of students in Long Beach and will help to ensure that our students achieve success. Not only will you directly be affecting the lives of OJS students by supporting Operation Jump Start, but you'll also be placing your support and your dollars into the Long Beach Community You'll be donating to an organization working to create positive change in your own back yard! What a wonderful way to give!! We hope you'll consider donating to OJS during Long Beach Gives 2020, but whatever your choice may be we would like to thank you. Thank you for continuing to support the mission of OJS. We wouldn't be here without dedicated supporters like you. https://donate.longbeachgives.org/operation-jump-start

Get to know OJS!! Today we want to begin our Series of staff and intern highlights for the 2020-21 academic year! Meet Maria Alvarez, OJS Program Director! Maria joined the team in 2015. She is a product of LBUSD since preschool! She has lived in Long Beach pretty much her whole life. She attributes her success to her teachers specifically her AVID teacher. Maria often shares that if she didn’t have a program and a teacher who truly cared about her education she wouldn’t b...e where she is today. She first hand knows what students and parents in the organization go through in regards to navigating the higher education system. It is an honor to work with students and parents to help them with the college process. Getting into college is more than the academics, it is getting them ready for the life experiences college will give students. When Maria is not working she enjoys working out, sipping on some coffee, enjoying family time and watching documentaries. In this picture, Maria is enjoying some mommy and son time (6 years old) in Guanajuato, Mexico! Maria was born in Queretaro, Mexico and was brought to the US at only 4 months. It also happens to be Maria's birthday today!! Say hi and send her some birthday wishes in the comments below!!

Did you know OJS won the 2020 California Mentoring Partnership Golden Bears of Mentoring Award? We're so honored to be able to serve Long Beach youth through our mentorship program and are so grateful to all of our mentors for all of the work they do. By donating to OJS' Long Beach Gives Campaign you are supporting more than simply an organization you are helping to provide mentors to Long Beach Youth. You are helping to give the youth in your own community invaluable ...mentorships that impact them beyond their high school years. When you support OJS you are expressing your commitment to youth and to education within Long Beach. If you would like to play a role in providing mentorship to Long Beach youth you can donate to OJS' Long Beach Gives Campaign through the link in our bio OJS Volunteers even have their own P2P Fundraising Page and goal that you can support! And of course, the greatest gift that you can give is to apply to be an OJS mentor (link in our bio). Whatever you can do, we hope you'll consider supporting OJS' mission and help us support youth and education in the LBC! #mentormondays #longbeachgives