Immokalee students win $4M in scholarships through tutoring program

IMMOKALEE, Fla. (WINK)—Dozens of first-generation students from Immokalee are heading to college this fall with more than $4 million in scholarships.

The students are in the Guadalupe Center's Tutor Corps Program. Immokalee High School is just days away from seniors like Sol Reyes graduating.

"For the past four years, I've been working really hard," Reyes said.

"I'm just really proud of myself," Reyes said. "I came into this community not really knowing what was next."

It wasn't until his sophomore year that Reyes began to see what the future had in store for him when he learned about the Tutor Corps Program at the Guadalupe Center. WINK News reporter Camila Pereira explained how alumni played a role in this achievement.

"Through this program, I've been able to find countless opportunities," Reyes said. "I've also been able to tutor at an elementary school as well as the middle school, and just being able to mentor those kids and see the changes that I'm making, it's really impactful on my own journey."

That journey is now taking him out-of-state to the University of Chicago. He, along with more than 34 students in the program, are going to college this fall with more than $4 million in scholarships.

"I remember getting my college acceptance and going straight to my mom, and she was just like, it's a weight off my shoulder," Reyes said. "And that really spoke to me, because it does, financial aid does help students like me from Florida, from low income rural communities, tap into those networks and be able to, you know, go into spaces that they may not have been able to without financial aid."

Reyes said it's going to be bittersweet leaving home, but he's excited for the opportunity. He credits the staff at the Guadalupe Center, like Anita Herrera, assistant director of the program, who was once a Tutor Corps member herself.

Herrera has helped hundreds of students get into college and received the College-Ready Florida Innovator Award. [placeholder: Link to College-Ready Florida or information about the Innovator Award]

"A lot of it is like the student work, though, like they put a lot of effort into it," Herrera said. "I'm just there to kind of help them, but it's been really rewarding. I love seeing when they're going to go."

Daniel Martinez, the director and also a Guadalupe Center alum, said he feels the same. That's why he came back—to give back.

"You see these kids come in with struggles or hardships or whatever it is that they might be facing, and now they're headed off to college to do incredible things that you really just can't believe, but also can believe because you've seen how hard they've worked," Martinez said.