In East Palo Alto — where state education figures show more than nine in 10 public school students are low-income and more than half are learning English — many are finding hope and connection at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula.
Lena Potts provides the perfect artistic outlet for a group of high school students on a field trip.
“Many students are afraid, afraid of what the future holds for them,” she said, pointing to the recent presidential election.
Potts urges the teens to create social justice signs that express what’s on their minds.
“It’s okay to feel like things are falling apart a little bit. What can we do that’s positive and productive and moving forward?” Potts said.
Over the past decade, she has mentored thousands of students from kindergarten through high school at the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Peninsula.
For the past four years, Potts has been site director of the East Palo Alto Clubhouse, the largest of the 29 venues on the Peninsula.
“East Palo Alto can get some negative attention because of a history of a significant amount of trauma. And while that remains true in many cases, and that is our history, there is also so much joy here,” she said. “Our children are resilient. Our families are resilient.”
Many of the students who regularly come to the clubhouse come from low-income, undocumented, and single-parent families. Potts cultivates a safe haven where they can grow and thrive through academic support, connection and community.
“I want them to choose to go to college, or choose to enter a profession. I want them to have the opportunity to choose the path that works for them and find a career and a fulfilling life that is authentic to who they are,” she explained. .
She started her job as site director just after the COVID-19 lockdown. She pivoted from in-person programs for a year and a half to distributing food to thousands of participants and their families.
She then spent the past three years rebuilding visitor numbers from the ground up. Today, 240 active members participate in the free programs.
Her efforts increased enrollment in regular high schools sixfold to about a hundred students.
And she raised money to secure a new Best Buy Teen Tech center that provides access to technology, including a 3D printer and computers.
Potts also created TeenChella – the club version of the Coachella Festival. The children perform music, build teamwork and have fun.
Nayeli Chapa Maldonado studied in the clubhouse for several years before working with the teens as a community liaison in high school. She calls Potts a mentor and inspiration.
“She is like a second mother. Whether it was personal or school related, I always knew I could count on her,” Maldonado said.
“It has been a privilege for me to serve the community for a long time, and I get to watch them grow up,” Potts said.
So for expanding the opportunities for Boys and Girls Clubs participants to grow and prosper in East Palo Alto, this week’s Bay Area Jefferson Award goes to Lena Potts.
Sharon Chin
