Women’s Group Provides Students a Link to Success

Many of the students at Ramona High School in Boyle Heights have madrinas (godmothers) in their immediate families. But few of them can compare to the madrinas they have at school.

Las Madrinas, a nonprofit professional women’s group with 21 members, has been providing a crucial social link to the alternative school for nearly a decade.

Women ranging from a congresswoman to a television producer to business owners share their time with the seventh- through 12th-grade students, most of whom are girls and a third of whom are teen mothers.

One student, Dana Garcia, 16, said she was inspired to become a lawyer last year after attending a law workshop sponsored by the Hispanic Women’s Council during a Madrinas field trip to UCLA.

Dana, Ramona’s student body president, said that if it wasn’t for the school’s staff and support from Las Madrinas, she would be getting failing grades and skipping classes like she did in her old high school.

“I thank God that we have them,” she said.

The small school houses students who transfer from regular schools throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District because of behavioral problems, failing grades or truancy, said Principal Rachel Templeman.

“The school is a very special place. All the women that have been working with Las Madrinas are so taken with the school,” said the group’s co-founder, Helen Hernandez, the owner of a public affairs and community outreach consulting firm.

Added Templeman: “Las Madrinas are tremendous role models for the students.”

The idea for the group, given its name by the students, came from Hernandez, 47, and Dr. Marion Morse Wood, 77, a former USC business professor and management communications consultant.

There is a direct connection between the largely Latina student body of Ramona High and the Madrinas. The women often hear the students say they feel no one understands them or cares about them, Hernandez said.

During a meeting in which students discussed personal feelings, Hernandez said a student told the group through tears that her mother had never told her she loved her.

“I got up and put my arms around her and said: ‘But we love you,’ ” she said.

Erika Roman, 17, a mother of a 2-year-old boy, said she appreciates the encouragement she gets from Las Madrinas.

“They always tell us not to give up because we’ve managed to stay in school so far,” said Erika, who plans to go to East Los Angeles College to major in business.

Principal Templeman, 54, herself a member of Las Madrinas, said 60% to 75% of graduating seniors have gone on to attend two- and four-year colleges and vocational schools since the group became involved in providing scholarships.

The resources Las Madrinas has organized for the students include an annual senior tea and spring conference, a scholarship and Christmas program and educational field trips, said Olivia Campos-Bergeron, 41, director of work force diversity at KNBC and a Madrina.

All events and programs are financed through fund-raisers and business donations, she said.

“We serve as role models for these women,” she said. “All we ask is that they perpetuate the giving and care. And that is the best gift we can give them.”

Two months ago, Carlos Lavin became the first Padrino (godfather) and the first male president in the group.

Lavin, 52, whose wife Cathy is also a member, said he first came in contact with the school three years ago through his work as a photographer.

The group, whose membership includes Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles), is working on getting 42 computers for the school and books for the library, Lavin said.

“The girls have to earn everything we give them. It’s not just a handout,” he said.

During a student poetry contest last year held by the group, Lavin said he broke into tears after listening to the students’ poems.

“Some of these girls are just incredible,” he said.