Nine-year-old Xiomara Ramos wants to be an astronaut when she grows up, and a new scholarship from a family-owned Tucson business seeks to help her make that a reality.
Tucson Iron & Metal has committed to paying the equivalent of two years at Pima Community College, a value of approximately $10,000, for all 38 fourth graders at Mission View Elementary.
Most scholarships are offered at the high school level, but the scrap-metal recycling business wants to invest early in the students’ academic careers. This will give them time to see secondary education as attainable, said Andrea Kippur, who is overseeing the scholarship program for her parents, Gary and Tandy Kippur, owners of Tucson Iron & Metal.
Fourth grade is also the point at which teachers at the Tucson Unified elementary school start to have more discussions about college with students. A puppet named Professor Sabe Lo Todo — Spanish for professor know-it-all — keeps kids engaged. The goal is academic retention.
Gary and Tandy Kippur own Tucson Iron & Metal. Says their daughter Andrea Kippur, who is overseeing the scholarship program: “Anything that we can do to ensure students have access to quality education is going to make an impact in the community.”
“We have a rhyme that says, the longer you stay, the better the pay. The better the pay, the longer you play,” said Elizabeth Hoover, a student support coordinator.
Hoover directs weekly lessons that include talks about college and careers.
Mission View is a South Tucson pre-K-5 school, with a 100% free-and-reduced-lunch eligibility, a measure of poverty, and nearly 93% of its 201 students are Hispanic, said Principal Sandra Calkins. The under-resourced nature of the school and its community was a key driver for Tucson Iron & Metal’s investment.
“The inequities in this community are geographic and racialized,” Kippur said. “Anything that we can do to ensure students have access to quality education is going to make an impact in the community.”
A lot of students would be the first in their families to attend college. That’s the case for Josiah Fimbres, a student with a streak of an engineer in him. His mom feels that Josiah has always shown promise for a future college career.
“He’s always looking for ways to build things he wants. He’ll say ‘Oh I want this watch,’ and try to build it out of cardboard or paper,” Candida Tovar Fimbres said.
While before, there existed an expectation and hope that Josiah would attend college, Fimbres says that the scholarship helps better guarantee his academic future.
Cataleya Felix, 9, answers a question in her fourth grade class at Mission View Elementary School. Tucson Iron & Metal has committed to paying the equivalent of two years at Pima Community College for her and her classmates.
The scholarship also includes plans to keep students excited about their education. Speakers, internships and campus visits are in the works. Kippur said she’s even in the process of trying to get Sen. Mark Kelly to visit — a sure-to-be unforgettable opportunity for aspiring space explorers like Ramos. Tucson Iron & Metal has also partnered with local nonprofit Lapan College & Career Club to allow students access to their already established curriculum.
The club has after-school programs like robotics and pet therapy to expose students to different career paths and mentorships to give guidance on things like college and financial aid applications.
After all, keeping kids engaged is just as important as providing them with a financial leg up, said Jackie Vasquez-Lapan, CEO for the Lapan Sunshine Foundation. In fact, the club experienced a 40% growth in graduation rates among the students it supports after opening the after-school and mentorship programs.
There are no GPA minimums to earn the scholarship. The only requirements are graduating high school and getting into some kind of secondary education program, whether that’s at a university, community college or trade school. The Kippur family is adamant about making the scholarship as accessible as possible. And that accessibility extends to different learning styles.
Emilio Alvarez has autism and is in a special-education fourth grade class at Mission View. If Alvarez decides to attend college in the future, he’s a step closer already.
Jayla Bryant, 9, listens to her fourth grade teacher, Francisca Miranda, as they talk about setting short and long term goals at Mission View Elementary School.
“It was something that I didn’t expect. It was a pleasant surprise, seeing how eager the individuals contributing were to helping the kids,” said his mom, Rachel Gomez, when asked about the scholarship’s inclusivity.
Alvarez is 9 and loves aquatic animals — from ocean life to pond residents. Gomez said she can see him becoming interested in marine biology.
“I would always encourage him to go to school if that’s something he wanted,” Gomez said. “It is nice to have some kind of resources available for him.”
