The AAUW Corpus Christi Branch held a meeting on March 4, 2023, at the Antonio E. Garcia Arts & Education Center, at 10:30 a.m.  After introduction of new members and guests, Janet Blanke introduced our guest speaker, Esmeralda Herrera-Teran, director of Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi’s Antonio E. Garcia Arts and Education Center.  Esmeralda has served as director of the Center since 2020.  As a first generation college graduate, she has earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, a Master of Science in Counseling, and a Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi.

Esmeralda spoke about the mission of the Garcia Center which provides intervention in reading and mathematics for at-risk students, delivers health education classes and counseling services to underserved populations, and cultivates the arts with events that enhance creative thinking, problem solving, and stewardship for all community members.  The Garcia Center began as a Center for Hispanic Arts in 1993 to showcase Hispanic artists and to bring art to the west side community.  In 1997, it became a part of the South Texas Institute for the Arts which then merged with the Art Museum of South Texas located on Shoreline Drive.  In 2004, responsibility for the Center was shifted to the Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi College of Education and Human Development.  With that change, education and counseling programs were added to the ongoing arts programming.  Esmeralda clarified that although the Center is managed under TAMUCC, the building housing the Center is still owned by the city of Corpus Christi, so all building maintenance and renovations must be coordinated with the city.

Currently, the Garcia Center offers 138 days per year of after-school programming and 29 days of summer programming for at-risk students.  Tutors are volunteers or they are college students who are compensated through the Federal Work Study program under America Reads/America Counts which is a program to provide training for students to be tutors in reading and mathematics.  Tutors are empowered to do their own lesson planning, which can include a variety of subjects, such as STEM programs, so tutors are building their career skills and leadership skills, while the at-risk students benefit from learning about a variety of topics.  The Center also works with Grow Local South Texas to provide a gardening experience for students in the grounds behind the Center.

Esmeralda stated that the Garcia Center recently started an “intergenerational programming.”  Once a month, senior citizens from a local independent living facility are brought to the Center to interact with the children for an hour.  They have found this connection to be beneficial for both the children and the senior citizens.

As part of its support, the Center provides backpacks filled with school supplies for at-risk students. Approximately three hundred students received backpacks last summer.  The Center contacts CCISD to get a list of the items required for each grade level so that they can prepare the backpacks with as much as possible of those items.

The Garcia Center has primarily focused on kindergarten through fifth grade; however, they are currently developing more teen programs.  One new program is YES – Young Entrepreneurial Scholars – a program designed for sixth through eighth graders that teaches marketing, finance, networking, and the confidence needed to develop a small business.  The program is being offered to 40 students.

Esmeralda emphasized that there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer at the Center for those interested.  Volunteers build a close relationship with students through teaching, counseling, mentoring, and tutoring.  Interested persons are invited to attend any of their events to see if you would like to assist with any of the programs from reading, to STEM programs, the arts, or gardening.

President Catherine Cox and STEM Chair Janet Blanke thanked Esmeralda Herrera-Teran with a speaker’s gift for her informative presentation.  After the meeting, members were invited to tour the facilities.