Getting Results |
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Success
Stories-Children
"I Tackled Jobs I Didn't Think I Could Do"
Johnny Marquez and his Fun in the Sun Experience
United Way of Santa Barbara County’s Fun in the Sun is a highly
specialized summer enrichment program for children ages 6 –12 who are
identified as exhibiting potential risky behaviors, homeless or living
in poverty.
Throughout the 9-week summer session, 250-300 children ages 6 to
12 and numerous counselors engage in a multitude of life-changing
activities that promote positive relationships, fuel their desire to
learn and enable them to resist drug and alcohol abuse pressures.
At ages 12 to
17, Fun in the Sun participants who wish to enter the Counselor
in Training (CIT) program can do so with the help and training of
staff. Here are some of the Counselor in Training stories.
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 With
laughter and a contagious smile, Johnny Marquez was popular among the Lunch
Bunch volunteers and the campers.
He came to Fun in the Sun in
2004. It was then he met Jeremy, a Fun in the Sun staff member. Through Jeremy’s
mentoring, Johnny was encouraged to follow his dreams. After hours, “when
everyone is gone for the day, Jeremy taught me how to play the piano. I told him
I wanted to be an actor and he believed I could do it,” Johnny remembered.
Johnny lived up to Jeremy’s expectation when he performed in two Grease
productions at Fun in the Sun Goleta’s Family Fun Night.
In 2005 as a new CIT, Johnny
exemplified the six pillars of Character Counts (trustworthiness, respect,
responsibility, caring, fairness, and citizenship) and was one of the more
positive and enthusiastic participants. Tracy Cortichiato, a counselor at
Hollister, said, “Johnny is the ideal CIT and a great example for the younger
boys and girls.”
“Summer was cool because of Fun
in the Sun and I loved being a CIT,” Johnny said. “I made friends, visited
places I’ve never been and tackled jobs I didn’t think I could do. There is no
other place I’d rather be spending my summer,” Johnny said. “I want to come
here, learn and become a counselor, all the way, like Jeremy.”
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