Our students never cease to amaze us. Anita Bailey, current student in the Women in Tech Program, is singing with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir this Monday at President Obama’s 2013 Inauguration.

We must admit our jaws dropped upon hearing this exciting news from Anita. For one, she gets to witness and be a part of a moment that gets placed in American history. Heck, she may even get to shake the President’s hand. And two, she is a member of the world-famous, Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir! We had no idea! Our students come to us from all walks of life with an infinite amount of talents, passions, and life experiences. We take great pride in their accomplishments — past, present and future — and are so proud to have Anita in our Per Scholas family.

Anita will be practicing with the choir all weekend before heading to D.C. on Sunday. She can rest easy and relish in the moment from start to finish because she has her tech studies well under control. She passed the first part of her A+ certification exam this week (the first in her class to do so) and will graduate with her class two weeks from now certified and job ready. The employers will come knocking to snatch her up, we have no doubt.

The Inauguration will air on national television Monday, January 21, at 11:30 a.m. The 280-member choir will be performing on stage a portion of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Keep your eyes peeled for the Per Scholas student.

To Anita: We are over the moon excited for you. Congratulations. And… tell Obama “Hi” from Per Scholas. Thanks.

“I believe in touching people’s hearts in times of need.”

That is what Robert Maseda, this month’s featured student, wrote to Per Scholas staff immediately following Hurricane Sandy as he organized a team of volunteers for post-Sandy relief. Robert created his team with New York Caresand invited everyone at Per Scholas to join. Every weekend since then, Robert and his team have spent all their free time helping the victims of Sandy recover.

Robert was born in the South Bronx, a tough place to grow up. I couldn’t help wondering how he became the cheerful, inspiring man he is. “This is a neighborhood I can help make better,” he replied instantly. “If everyone gave a little to help, the whole world would be a better place — One person at a time.” A father to five girls; owner of a rescued dog (and one fish, he adds); a heavily involved school parent committee member— the size of this man’s heart is enormous, and it shows.

Robert came to Per Scholas after watching the success of his wife Elizabeth, a 2011 graduate. Since completing her training at Per Scholas, Elizabeth has landed a job and done very well at Peak Systems. For Robert, having Elizabeth by his side proved a real benefit in training. “I would watch and learn from Elizabeth and whatever I didn’t know I would just Google it. I didn’t know that’s how the professionals really do it,” he laughed. “Technology is global. It’s a language that’s the same for the whole world. Learning it opens up so much.”

Robert began class at Per Scholas nearly 15 weeks ago. On the third day, he decided the class needed a name: TEAM RHINO. Atypical of past classes, I had to ask why. “Rhinos are thick skinned, humble, and when they need to charge, they have tunnel vision and knock everything out of their way. Nothing stops them.” But what started as a joke quickly became a source of class pride. Robert helped get his classmates fired up and ready for any challenge.

“Robert motivated all the students in Cycle 11 from his first day in class,” shared Frank Mallia, the class’ tech instructor. “He worked with two students in particular who were failing the course during the first few weeks of training and tutored them in his free time. Both student’s grades improved dramatically and both are now on track to graduate with their classmates in January.”

Who is this guy, right? Superhuman do-gooder. Why isn’t he running for office?

We are happy to share the news that Robert has already landed a job and began working a few weeks shy of the last day of class (a departure we do not discourage). He’ll be back for his graduation during the first week of January, where he will deliver the valedictory speech. We can already predict that it will be inspiring.

Read more student stories.

We are super excited to introduce the first Student of the Month from our first-ever class in Per Scholas | Columbus. Meet Edgardo Cornejo.

Edgardo moved to Columbus in mid-June from Florida with his wife and two children to be closer to family. Edgardo was born in Peru, and has been in the U.S. for over 20 years. Edgardo is determined to get back to his career roots — technology. Edgardo was a programmer back in the mainframe days, and then had a small computer business in Tampa where he built, upgraded and serviced computers. Edgardo chose Per Scholas primarily because he could sharpen his technology skills and earn his A+ certification at no cost to him — a price that is right considering his current financial situation.

Edgardo currently works as a chef in a hotel in downtown Columbus. Though we discourage students from working while in our training, which is a full-time commitment with a strict attendance policy, Edgardo insisted he could manage it. After all, he says, “I’ve worked multiple jobs [at once] since I was a teenager,” and gave his word he would never miss a class, never be late, and never leave early. Indeed, Edgardo has kept his word with perfect attendance and a positive energy everyday emerging as a leader in class. He is determined to return to the career that he loves.

“When you meet someone like Edgardo and see the enormous potential, you’re immediately reminded that Per Scholas matters and has a tremendous impact. Edgardo has all the traits an employer needs and wants — rock solid work ethic, a true passion for learning, and unwavering commitment to achieve goals — he just needed an opportunity to prove himself. He will achieve great things returning to IT,” Andrea Applegate, Director of Per Scholas | Columbus, attested.

Edgardo and his 19 classmates are the first class of Per Scholas | Columbus and finish training December 14, 2012. We look forward to seeing Edgardo create one of many first success stories in Columbus in the near future. Best of luck to Edgardo and the entire class!

Read more student stories.

With the chaos of Hurricane Sandy gradually passing, Per Scholas is happy to be getting back to normal and even more eager to share the story of an inspiring Per Scholas graduate. Michelle Harper-vanRabenswaay looks like many of the faces we have seen of individuals hit hard by the economic recession. Michelle had a lifelong career up to 2011 loyal to one employer, a non-profit in Flushing, New York, for almost 25 years. With no clear explanation, her position was dissolved and Michelle was let go.

Michelle didn’t collect unemployment. Instead she maintained a part time retail job at the The Container Store working nights a few days out of the week. This transition was a far cry from her 9:00-5:00 office life helping to operate a non-profit. Although this was a hardship for Michelle, she viewed it as a choice to carry her into the next phase of her career.

Michelle found Per Scholas in early 2012, fortunately shortly after her job ended. She continued working nights at The Container Store and came to class every morning, on-time. She killed it in tech class. With the vast majority of Per Scholas students coming in as beginners her instructor wondered, “Where the heck did this come from?” Well, while at her last job she learned a lot from the sole IT person on staff, the IT Director. She watched and learned, and began working out issues of her own by trial-and-error. She pushed herself a little more with some side classes and over time became the default #2 support person the staff turned to when issues arose. Over the nine years following, Michelle was responsible for huge projects like creating the Active Directory infrastructure and transitioning the agency from on-site to outsource IT support. “I’ve always had an investigative mind developed by my mother and I realized that IT is my real passion. I am constantly curious about how tech works and find incredible rewards when I solve a new problem or learn about a new technology. It’s a skill that can never be taken away from me which is empowering.”

Armed already with skills most any employer would find valuable, Michelle found the ticket to her success was the professional development training — our Life Skills course which readies our students with a marketable résumé, on-the-job etiquette, interview skills, and most infamous, the 60-second pitch. “I practiced my 60-second pitch literally every day. It’s amazing how hard it is to talk about yourself. The life skills training gave me so much confidence in myself and made all the difference in making my job search effective. I have Mr. Naser to thank for getting me to where I am.”

“Michelle had the best attitude in class every day. I knew from her acceptance of new methods and diligence toward carving herself into an outstanding professional through Life Skills class it would result in her having huge success in the pursuit of her IT career,” her Career Developer Elias Naser shared about Michelle.

So where is Michelle today, you might ask. In the Per Scholas history books, that’s where! Michelle is the first Per Scholas student to be hired by the global financial service provider Barclays. She began her new full-time, permanent job this week as a Global Technology Analyst. The company expresses Michelle will not be their last hire from Per Scholas either. Michelle wanted to especially thank the leadership of Per Scholas board member Joe Squeri, CIO of Barclays Wealth and Corporate Bank, for opening a door and Louis Berrios and Nicole Wuerslin, the employment specialist team at Per Scholas who connected Michelle with the opportunity. And of course, her tech instructor Mr. Washington because without teachers in our lives, there would be no professions.

This is Michelle’s first step into Corporate America after nearly 25 years in non-profit. She’s excited to have been given the opportunity — and at the age of 50, she’s an inspiration to anyone that you never give up on achieving your aspirations.

Read more student success stories.

Were some of you wondering whether we train any women at Per Scholas?… You bet we do. Janea Wilkerson is the September student of the month and couldn’t be more proud to be the first woman featured.

I personally had never met a female tackle football player until I met Janea. I didn’t know a professional female league even existed. Janea enlightened me with a full history (the New York Sharks is one of the best franchises in the nation). Janea is familiar with pursuing a male dominated dream. Whether sports or the tech industry, she faces the gender disparity head on. “If anyone out there ever tells you ‘You cannot do,’ you can do. That’s how I live.”

It’s a message more women need to hear. The CRA Taulbee Survey found less than 12% of Computer Science degrees were awarded to women in 2010-11. Where my girls at?! Twelve percent is alarming. The Fifth & Pacific Foundation (formerly Liz Claiborne) and New York Women’s Foundation are committed to empowering women and provide dedicated funding to help Per Scholas serve more women to address this disparity. In our first year offering a women-only program option, more than 100 women enrolled, just under a third of the student population. Interested in applying for courses? Click here.

Janea started class with a knee injury. She tore a ligament while playing football. If you have lived in New York City with any restriction on your mobility, even for a short time, then you can probably guess what Janea endured to travel an hour by subway, making it on time to training each morning. The doctor told her to stay off stairs: for most of us, New York City is stairs, stairs and more stairs.

But being in the classroom was Janea’s top priority. “I have a lot of college debt and still no degree. You are going to teach me — at no cost? — I’m going to be there.” She was drawn to technology in particular after helping a nonprofit create its website. “I would forget to eat lunch, go to bed. Time would just pass working on this stuff and that is when I realized I was hooked.” She came to Per Scholas to learn much more, to open the world of technology and begin seeing firsthand how it all worked.

Seeing Janea’s potential, her instructor Obinna has helped her learn more about network administration and web hosting, key skills to bookend her web design savvy. “I feel he intentionally throws things into his sessions meant just for me. He’ll be like ‘this can be used for USER WEB HOSTING. WEB HOSTING…’ look right at me, smirk, and then carry on. It means a lot to have that encouragement.”

Today, with a few weeks left to go, Janea has already completed and passed Part One of her A+ certification. Part two is next, followed by the MCTS.

Oh — and then there’s that pesky surgery for her knee on November 1. With a nervous smile, she sees the extra deadline as one more motivation to finish everything she came to Per Scholas to achieve. You go, girl!

Read more student success stories.

“People say I’m a machine,” Allen says, “I hope I can get some of my sister’s creativity. She is into fashion.”

Allen Wan is a boy genius (we think). He first came to Per Scholas when he was still just 17 years old. We couldn’t admit him then, because our program serves adults 18 years or older — but we knew his application was worth keeping. We called Allen in for class just after his 18th birthday.

Allen made history at Per Scholas by becoming the first graduate hired by Goldman Sachs — a company legendary for its grueling and lengthy hiring process. Moreover, this is Allen’s first job, and now his life is going to change forever.

Allen currently lives with his parents and younger sister in the Samuel Gompers Houses, a public housing project in the Lower East Side. His mother was born and raised in the Bronx and his father from Malaysia. Allen was already known by his neighbors as “the tech guy” well before he came to Per Scholas. As he described it, “I was helping out my neighborhood by teaching a class on how to do basic computing. We have a lot of elderly in my area. I would teach them about technology and what it means and how it can make your life a little bit easier.”

Typically, Allen is modest about his achievements, giving credit to many of his classmates for their support. “In Cycle 6 we have so many great people like Don, Greg, Gustav, Angel and many others I feel deserve Student of the Month. They along with Mr. Jurado [Allen’s Career Developer] did a lot of work with me, gave me a lot of life training.” Cycle 6 IT Instructor Maureen Monaghan also singled out Allen’s classmates for being his mentors and role models. “This was a team effort,” she says, “Everyone involved should be proud of helping to make Per Scholas history.”

Allen begins his new job as a Goldman Sachs Test Engineer later this month. But like an increasing number of graduates, he also plans to stay involved in Per Scholas. That shouldn’t be difficult, given his new company’s multiple touchpoints with our work already, including board-level leadership and major financial support that makes stories like Allen’s possible. We wish him every success!

Read more student stories.

Per Scholas graduations — “pinning ceremonies” — are very special events. Staff, volunteers, friends and family all gather to mark each new graduate’s success. The ceremonies are always moving and few graduates fail to attend. It’s part of the Per Scholas experience.

Our July Student of The Month, Ranflin (Flin) Estrella, 30 years old, missed his own pinning ceremony.

But far from being disappointed, his instructors and classmates understood. While Flin’s classmates were celebrating their own achievements, their thoughts also turned frequently to Flin, who was sitting in the hospital by his father’s side — just as he did nearly every night while at Per Scholas.

Flin’s father is severely and chronically ill. Flin sits by his hospital bed every night to keep him company. One might think that sleeping every night (and waking every morning) in a hospital chair would take a profound emotional and academic toll. Yet when you ask Flin’s instructors, you hear something else.

“Flin’s best quality is his winning smile, he is always smiling,” says Career Development Instructor Jose Jurado. “He was rarely absent and maintained a strong academic performance.” Steven Nunez, his Employment Specialist, says much the same. “He always shows up with a smile.”

Flin was also a leader in his class. He credits his military experience for his determination to succeed — and it was unstoppable. Before graduating, Flin went on 10 job interviews, more than any classmate. Failure was clearly not an option.

We are thrilled now to report that Flin is working. From those interviews, he landed a full-time job at Cablevision with a great starting salary — nearly $10,000 more than the average for Per Scholas graduates.

Life can be hard. Life is very hard for many of our students in ways most can’t understand. Flin could have felt angry at the world and made poor choices in response. But instead he smiles. He looks at the world in positive light, treats others with kindness, and makes every effort to put his best foot forward. We at Per Scholas believe his father raised a very good son.

Read more student stories.

UPDATE Feb 2012: The “I Am Someone” campaign raised $47,398 from more than 200 donors to help Per Scholas students and graduates in 2012. Thanks to all our volunteer fundraisers and generous donors!

UPDATE: The “I Am Someone” holiday campaign has launched! Please visit the Per Scholas page on Razoo.com to join in — it’s easy and takes just a minute. Be sure to check out the video of our graduates talking about the impact of Per Scholas in their lives.

“I Am Someone” campaign.

The campaign is celebrating the achievements of Per Scholas graduates and program participants while building a new base of support for the agency’s work. Between November 2011 and January 2012, it will focus on raising dollars from individuals through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networking sites.

Please stay tuned for further announcements!