If the Osceola County School District still has a number of openings for next school year remaining, there’s somebody looking for her place in the right school.
Melisa Jimenez, the program director of the 21st Century Community Learning Center, an after-school and summer enrichment program at Renaissance Charter School in Poinciana, is available for one of those challenges.
The program wrapped up Thursday, as did Jimenez’s nine years with 21st CCLC.
The funding for the program — and her position — came from a state grant that sunsetted at the end of the school year. Funding for the extracompetitive grant did not come through, bringing it to a reluctant end.
“I’m now looking for an opportunity,” said Jimenez, who noted the school plans to expand its K-8 tutoring program and sports offerings in the fall to compensate for the lack of a 21st CLCC program.
Thursday served as a celebration of what students accomplished during the program — they participated in skits and dance numbers one last time, to the delight of a packed Poinciana Renaissance cafeteria.
“I need to thank the parents, for supporting us and fighting for what you’ve needed. I will always be grateful,” she said. “We had great business partners. And the program wouldn’t be possible without our teachers, tutors and volunteers who have been truly committed to our program.
Osceola School Superintendent Dr. Debra Pace was on hand for the program’s final day, to laud Jimenez’s efforts.
“It’s evident in the smiles and excitement, that I see here, what this has meant,” she said. “To Mrs. Jimenez, I offer up a heartfelt, ‘Thank You.’”
Thursday was not an easy event, or a celebration, for parents like Cyd Aguayo, whose oldest enters high school this year but has fifth and second-grade girls who’ve been in the program since 2017.
“If I could pay her salary I would, if it meant retaining this kind of program,” she said. “I hold the program in high regard — because of the people, teaching, loving on and encouraging our kids.”
Aguayo told a story of one daughter, then 7, who put a drawn picture of a heart on the fridge — not the shape, the organ — in 21st Century.
“She tells me the parts of it and the functions … at 7 years old,” she said. “Right there I was amazed at the work in a two-hour after-school program.
“I’ve been deep in prayer that (Jimenez) stays on at this school, selfishly, blessing our kids with learning about cultures. Our kids have been loved, and supported, and encouraged, and built to be leaders in a community that truly needs it now. We can’t just let that go.”
