Teacher Appreciation Week runs from Monday, May 4th through Friday, May 8, 2026.
Hello family, friends, teachers, peers, and the whole community of Sun Valley! Let’s talk about CIS—Communities in Schools—which is a wonderful program for not just your student/child to grow, but for your family, as well.
I am currently a Senior at Procter R. Hug High School, and I have been introduced to an amazing program that has helped me throughout my whole four years. Before I start, I would like to share that CIS is a nonprofit organization. They have created this program for students like me and many others to have the opportunity to get through rough patches and difficult times, as well as encourage them to complete their education and extend their skills outside of school.
CIS has been around since the 1970s, and we have Bill Milliken to thank. He understood what few don’t; poverty was causing and still pushes students to drop out of school before graduation. To help with this problem, he made a change and found a way to help support families and students in need so they could complete their education. Obviously, I could not meet Bill, but I did have the privilege of meeting Melissa Jacinto and Alex Gasatoto, who are the CIS site coordinators at Hug High School. I like to say they’re heaven sent, and I had the honor of getting to interview them to have our families and friends understand how much being a part of CIS impacted their lives.
First, when asked about the most challenging obstacle in their career, Mr. G stated, “The changes and impact this career can have, as far as how it affects and alters your personal lifestyle, the several types of personalities I would have to work alongside with, and the workload that did not match the pay.” Ms. Melissa claimed that she struggles with leaving work at work and not taking her kids’ struggles home, since she often thinks of them and their barriers. It turns out that she was a family graduate advocate before becoming a site coordinator. Both Mr. G and Ms. Melissa agreed that this is the career they’ve always wanted, and they simply wanted to help and give back in any way they could!
Taking on a position of this magnitude could easily wear a person down. However, neither of them has ever given up! Ms. Melissa shared, “I’ve never wanted to give up because if I did, I would be giving up on my students.”
From all of this, I can tell you how thankful I am to have these two members of CIS organization and their unbiased opinions on their experiences, they have their own amazing but different personalities, and that’s what we love the most about them. They have both risked so much to make sure all their students get equal opportunities. In my experience, I’ve never really hung out with the right type of people, but Melissa and Alex always knew how to tell and keep me on track. Thanks to them, I will graduate and carry all that they have taught me to succeed in life and show them the person I want to become. I will always be thankful for their faith in me!
For more information about Communities In Schools, please visit the CIS Nevada website.
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