Together We…Support Students
Jacqueline “Jackie” Meza is a quality assurance coach in our Riverside region. Jackie has been working for Think Together for the last nine years. Jackie has grown in the organization from a program leader, to a site coordinator, to now being a quality assurance coach for the last two years. Her “why” is that to her, working with children is so fulfilling. “They are the future and having the opportunity to play a role in their development is a rewarding experience.” We are excited to share Jackie’s story with you.
What brought you to Think Together?
I was working for the afterschool program in the city of Moreno Valley when Think Together first came to Riverside back in 2011. I already loved what I was doing so I decided to take the plunge with Think Together. Since then I have been a program leader, site coordinator and now quality assurance coach.
What inspires you about working at Think Together?
I truly believe in our mission of changing the odds for kids. I believe that every student that passes through our programs is changed/transformed in some way and I like to believe that its for the better.
What has been your favorite Think Together memory so far?
Throughout the years I have bumped into students that have been in my program in the past and they all always bring up fun and positive memories they have from their time in my program. But most recently, on the day of Lights On Afterschool 2020, I bumped into one of my students I had in my program about 4 years ago. Not only was he super excited to see “Ms. Jackie” he was so excited to tell me how well he was doing in school, and how he is currently in AVID, but most of all how he still plays basketball and how he practices every day.
“Ever since I joined basketball in Think Together, I love it, and I will never stop playing”. It was such a rewarding experience hearing him say that especially on a day like Lights On Afterschool. It is because of our programs that many students get the opportunity to participate in organized sports and other activities that they may not get the chance to participate in outside of Think Together. Moments like this reinforce my “why” for working at Think Together.
What have you been doing to help support students during COVID-19?
Jurupa Valley School District is currently providing programming in person; however, we did distance learning for two months. During that time, I had the opportunity of working with a group of quality assurance coaches and site coordinators curating lessons so that they could be used for distance learning programs. Together we were able to curate over 100 lessons that are now being used in distance learning programs throughout all regions.
What is one of your goals you want to achieve this school year?
This school year looks very different from most years. My goal is to be able to support the students in our district as much as we can to make them feel supported, cared for, and to give them back a bit of normality throughout this chaos.
What are your personal goals/what’s next for you?
This is only my second year as a quality assurance coach, and I feel I still have a lot to learn in order to become the best quality assurance coach I can be. Soon I will be working alongside Erica Cardoso curating and creating trainings for the organization. I am excited to be able to learn new skills and to take part in the creation of new tools and trainings that will be used throughout our entire organization. This will be a new adventure in my Think Together life!
Thank you Jackie for making sure our students feel supported and we look forward to seeing more from you!