By E
rica Hernandez, Middle School Program Coordinator
Working with ROCK has been one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life. Being a part of a youth development organization, specifically in Visitacion Valley, is exactly what I’ve wanted to do these past few years. Since I was born and raised in Visitacion Valley and also went to school in the neighborhood, I’ve had a close connection with this community. Prior to working at ROCK, I was a teacher’s aide for 2 different preschools and a tutor at James Denman Middle School. Even though those various programs were fun to work at, I was still drawn to working in Vis Valley. Coincidentally, in the Summer of 2007 I was job hunting for a summer position and stumbled across a position for ROCK’s Summer Escape program on Craigslist. I was surprised to find an organization with such meaningful visions and goals in the neighborhood I’ve grown to love so much. I was hired for that position (THANK GOODNESS) and eventually worked in the Homework Help and Saturday Programs. Two years passed, and I’m now the Middle School Program Coordinator. I feel like this entire experience just flashed before my eyes and the opportunity that I’ve wanted for so long happened organically. I’m so happy to be part of this great team and am thankful for this chapter in my life. Hopefully, I can help provide quality programs to the students at VVMS, because they undoubtedly deserve it.
