For the last 15 years, Pasadena ISD HOSTS mentors have helped more than 12,000 children overcome the biggest challenge they face—reading.

And every year, the mentors were thanked for their continued contributions to student success with a breakfast held at the Pasadena Convention Center at the start of the new school year. Every year except for last year, that is.

With funding running scarce districtwide, the annual HOSTS breakfast had to be cancelled. Funds are still running low, but Pasadena ISD HOSTS coordinator Ginger Lay is hopeful the traditional breakfast can make a comeback this year with the help of the community. 

“If everyone just gave a little, I know we could make this happen,” she said. “We have never had to ask the community to help financially with this event, and we hate to do it. But we also hate to go another year without having it. Our mentors deserve this breakfast, and we just don’t have the money to do it on our own.”

While the breakfast is held primarily to celebrate HOSTS mentors, it is also a time to recruit new ones.

“This is a great time for us to introduce HOSTS to individuals or organizations who are looking for a way to help our kids,” Lay said. “Our kids need good mentors, and the breakfast is a wonderful way for us to recruit them. The more volunteers we have, the more students we can serve.”

HOSTS (Helping One Student to Succeed) is a highly-structured one-on-one mentoring program designed to help students improve reading, writing and problem-solving skills, and Pasadena ISD’s program is the largest in the state with more than 2,000 annual volunteers.

“A number of our students struggle in reading,” said Pasadena ISD Superintendent Kirk Lewis. “Their unique circumstances create a barrier to learning which can only be overcome when teachers and volunteers work together to provide the extra help needed to build that strong reading foundation. HOSTS mentors make a difference, and this breakfast has served as a small way for us to honor them for their support.”

Texas Bay Area Credit Union in Pasadena has already made a $5,000 contribution for the event. Since the HOSTS program began in Pasadena ISD, numerous TBACU employees have served and volunteered their time as mentors. Eight employees are currently mentoring in the program, and nine-year mentor and TBACU’s director of marketing Tiffany Washington said they are eager to see the breakfast return this year.

“It was heartbreaking when we learned last year’s breakfast was canceled, and we immediately knew we wanted to do what we could to help with the event for this year,” she said. “We knew we couldn’t cover the expense of the entire event, but we wanted to do something.”

This year, the HOSTS program is trying to solicit donated food items from various companies to bring the cost down, but funds are still needed for decorations, food, printing and mailing.

“Hopefully other companies will follow our lead,” Washington said. “The HOSTS program is such a wonderful and rewarding program to be a part of.  As local business leaders within this great community, it’s important for us to give back in any way we can."

L.F. Smith Elementary teacher Eva Mercado and her husband own Mercado Remodeling in Humble, and the couple also made a $200 donation for the breakfast.

“It is good to help the community,” she said. “It helps our students achieve a better education for a better future.”

HOSTS is offered at 18 Pasadena ISD campuses where more than 1,000 students need assistance with their reading and English skills. In the last five years, 81 percent of HOSTS students have passed the reading portion of the TAKS exam all because of the support provided by their mentors.

This year’s breakfast is set for Sept. 4 at 7:30 a.m. at the Pasadena Convention Center. Donations will be accepted until then, but Lay said she hopes to receive any donations no later than the end of August.

For more information, to make a donation or to attend the breakfast with a guest, please contact Lay at 713-740-0051 or e-mail her at glay@pasadenaisd.org.