Spring Branch ISD Featured News

 

For the past 19 years, John Grubbs has helped dozens of Northbrook High School students in the Collegiate Challenge program as one of the original mentors.

This Spring Branch ISD program matches mentors with juniors and seniors to guide them through the college application and financial aid processes. Many are the first in their families to attend college and need assistance with the myriad of details needed to achieve admission and funding.

Grubbs got involved in Collegiate Challenge after his retirement as a civil engineer with the City of Houston because he thought he could be of help, along with other mentors from Chapelwood United Methodist Church.

“I know education is not the solution to every problem,” said Grubbs. “But it is a solution to a lot of problems.”

This year, Grubbs is pioneering a new, college-focused mentor program to help high schools seniors involved with the SpringSpirit organization in the SBISD community. Currently he is working with two seniors who plan to attend a four-year college next year.

He met up with both of them at the SBISD College Night recently, to help them maximize their exposures to various college representatives.

“You want the college reps to know they have spoken to you,” advised Grubbs during a pre-event mentoring session.

“I push them [mentees] pretty hard to look at a career in order to get the right major at the right university,” said Grubbs. The goal of this focused planning is to help students graduate from college in four years.

Laura Smith is education coordinator for SpringSpirit, and was thrilled when Grubbs responded to a request for help she sent through the Chapelwood UMC communications network.

“There are a lot of younger students coming up through the SpringSpirit programs,” said Smith.

“Our goal is to have a T-2-4 plan for every one of our seniors, and to use John [Grubbs] to help us broaden our programming to include college preparation advice and whole person mentoring.”

Mr. Grubbs is proud of the mentees he has had over the years, including two standouts: Carla Trochez (a senior at Texas Women’s University) and Griselda Vasquez (a Texas A&M graduate now working for the university).

“Mr. Grubbs is very reaffirming,” said Trochez. “He can also give tough love in a supportive way.”

She also praised his methods for helping her choose the best university for her goal to be a dietician with a focus on performance.  Attending college with no debt has been a reality for this TWU student, thanks to scholarships to which Grubbs encouraged her to apply.

Trochez is in the process of applying to graduate school, and has once again reached out to her mentor to review the personal statement attached to the application.

Griselda Vasquez is a 2007 graduate from Northbrook High School. It meant so much to her to have community representatives come to help students in the Collegiate Challenge program.

“I was the first in my family to attend high school—so college was a mystery to us all,” said Vasquez. She fit Collegiate Challenge weekly meetings into her busy schedule, and was matched with John Grubbs as her mentor.

“He showed up every single week to spend time with his three mentees,” said Vasquez. “Mr. Grubbs’ dedication and time is what helped me accomplish my degree and those of countless others.”

Vasquez graduated from Texas A&M College Station in 2013 with a degree in history with a Spanish minor. She is now employed through the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, where research is conducted and technology developed to address state and national problems.  She also assists at other university research facilities around College Station, Texas. Thus she has three offices and three employees reporting to her.

She is getting married soon, and guests are limited to just immediate family—and Mr. and Mrs. John Grubbs.

“That’s how special of a person he has become to me,” said Vazquez.

A head count of all the students Mr. Grubbs has impacted over the years is hard to estimate because every one of his mentees had siblings, cousins, and friends who also benefited from his college advice pipeline.

Dozens of young adults are now successfully navigating the world of work because of Mr. Grubbs, who gave every one of them an additional challenge:

“I make all my kids promise me that within 10 years, they will all be mentors,” he said.

 

By Becky Wuerth, SBISD Communications
Becky.wuerth@springbranchisd.com