Amy Bucher has been with the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Peninsula for two years.  In the past she has worked in a variety of after school programs from the YMCA and BELL to Keys School in Palo Alto.  She is originally from the East Coast and spent most of her life in Virginia. She majored in English and Education at Guilford College in North Carolina, and graduated with a certificate to teach high school English. However, she went on to teach English in elementary schools in Japan for two years. 

Having lived everywhere from Indonesia to New York, Amy is greatly enjoying working with the Boys and Girls Club and the Taft community in Redwood City.  She loves planning programming and partnerships that expose Taft students to the world around them.  She's excited about the opportunities that they have ahead of them and the role that CNG plays in their lives.

José González was born in El Salvador and moved to the United States in 1989 due to the country’s Civil War. José was raised in San Mateo where he attended Aragon High School. José recently graduated from UC Berkeley where he majored in Political Science. While at Cal, José studied abroad in Rome, Italy for five months and became an active member of La Unión Salvadoreña de Estudiantes Universitarios.  José is the first member of his family to go to college. In the future, Jose hopes to attend Stanford University’s STEP Program to receive a Masters in Education and teaching credential in history. His ultimate goal is to be California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction.

This is José’s first year working for the CNG program at Taft Community School. José has several years working in education as Director of Student Activities for the Peninsula Bridge program, and Director of Academic Outreach for the San Mateo Youth Foundation. He has experience working with middle school and high school students, and CNG will be his first opportunity to work with students in K-5. Jose has a passion for education and to see every student he works with reach their fullest potential.

Faby Corona was born in Morelia, Mexico. She moved to California at the age of nine and returned to Mexico to attend high school and later La Universid ad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo where she graduated in 2005 with a degree in Accounting. She also continued her studies in English teaching at El Instituto Tecnologico de Morelia and after graduating, Faby joined her school as an ESL teacher. This gave her the opportunity to work with children.

In 2008 Faby joined BGCP at the East Palo Alto Academy as their Program Assistant Director. After two years Faby is now working at Taft Community School where she wants to continue serving the children and families of this community and to help them get a better future.

Jordan Marcello grew up in San Francisco and San Mateo. Jordan loves playing sports of all kinds such as soccer, basketball, and football.  He is an avid San Francisco 49er fan and believes in team cooperation. Jordan loves working with young scholars because he never had any younger brothers or sisters and aspires to become an influential role model. 

Yesenia Figueroa has been working with young people since she was in 7th grade and, hasn't stopped since.  She was born and raised in Redwood City and is oldest of 3 siblings.  She is the first in her family to attend college. Yesenia currently attends Foothill College, and is working on becoming a dentist. 

This is Jasmin Guzman's third year with CNG and her second year working as a fifth grade mentor. Jasmin is from East Menlo Park and has been attending the Boys and Girls Club since she was four years old.

She graduated from Menlo Atherton High School and is now attending De Anza Community College with a plan to transfer to San Jose State University. She would like to major in nursing because she loves taking care of people. She is proud to work for CNG.

Lupe Contreras is currently a full time student at De Anza College, majoring in Early Childhood Education. She has obtained her certificate to be a certified preschool teacher. Lupe has been a long-time resident of Menlo Park and attended Belle Haven School.

Lupe enjoys playing sports like basketball and swimming as well as skating and doing new and exciting things. Mentoring for CNG is a great opportunity to help the community. Lupe enjoys that she learns from her students and is able to inspire them to be GREAT.

Melissa Camberos is a college student at San Jose State University.  She was born in San Jose, CA but spent most of her childhood years in Jalisco, Mexico where her parents are from.  Amy was the first generation class to graduate from Adelante School and the first graduating class of Summit Preparatory Charter High School. 

Cynthia Brice is a recent graduate from the University of California, Berkeley where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Gender and Women’s Studies and Art History. She grew up in Hayward, California where she attended Tennyson High School. Cynthia has always desired to be a teacher and enjoys helping others learn. In her spare time, she plays softball and reads. In the fall, she will be attending the University of Memphis to pursue a Master’s Degree in the History of Egyptian Art. In the future, she hopes to become a professor.

Cynthia first started working with kids as part of a summer program two years ago where she taught classes on Mythology and Art History. She believes that knowledge is meant to be shared and is very excited to be part of the BGCP this year.

Albert Romero is 19 years old, currently attending Cañada College. He is new to the CNG Program, but is really excited to get to meet all the new kids and to build strong bonds with them. Playing Baseball and Soccer for most of his life, he has a passion for sports. With that, he coached soccer for two years and volunteered as a baseball coach also.

He believes that through hard work and motivation, anything can be achieved. He was a Boys and Girls Club kid before and supports the education and sports programs they offer to youth.