Donor spotlight: Shirley Rondeno
Our community of scholarship donors to the 431 Exchange is responsible for helping deserving students reach as high as they can to achieve their dreams. Something you may not be aware of is that many of our donors are actually the original graduates of the Adult Education Center, the little school that had a big impact on U.S. educational equality and civil rights. It is the Center’s legacy to which The 431 Exchange’s own work is dedicated. A donation by one of those graduates, Shirley Rondeno, helped us reach our goal of raising $50,000 for 2020. Here is a window into Shirley’s story.
2018 Shirley Rondeno speaking at a reunion of the Adult Education Center
In 1969, Shirley was 19 and determined to further her education.
She had just graduated from high school and was living in New Orleans’ St. Bernard housing development. She was raised in a single-parent home and wanted to create financial stability for herself and help her loved ones, too.
“I wanted to be a stenographer; I just didn’t really have the means (to do so),” Shirley told The 431 Exchange recently in an interview. “I applied to jobs, but being so young, it was not easy at that time in the 1960s with no skills. I was just really hoping and praying that a door would open, and the Lord provided that door to open” when Shirley visited a friend who was attending the Adult Education Center.
“It’s as hard now as it was back in the 1960s when I was trying to do better for myself, especially now with the pandemic.”
The friend put Shirley in touch with Adult Education Center Director Alice Geoffray. Two classes were available for a limited number of students. After an interview, Shirley was accepted into the Center. She took the opportunity and ran with it: Shirley was so happy to be there and so dedicated to her work, she had perfect attendance throughout the program.
“We were having some really hard times in the 1960s, and I knew attending the Center would benefit me and my family. I had that will to try and do my best,” says Shirley.
1969 Typing class at the Adult Education Center
Shirley graduated from the Adult Education Center in 1969. One month later, she had a job. She was snapped up by Gulf Oil (now Chevron).
“It was an accomplishment,” Shirley says, “being placed and accepted into the workforce. It meant so much to me.”
“One of the main things that I acquired at the Adult Education Center in addition to all of the typing and shorthand and what have you, is that I became a stronger person,” Shirley continued. “I was always very shy and introverted. I didn’t know very much about interviewing and the workforce and interacting with professional people. The classes I took at the Center, the interaction with the different students, it provided me with the comfort level that I needed in order to interact with everyone—not only in the workforce, but even with my family.”
The $1,000 Shirley received from Chevron for her volunteer work with The 431 Exchange was critical in putting us over the top to reach our 2020 fundraising goal of $50,000.
Shirley’s first job at Gulf Oil was relieving other receptionists. She went on to work in mail services, production, invoice processing, and permitting. When Gulf merged with Chevron in 1984, she was kept on and stayed in permitting until she retired after 39 years of service.
Gulf/Chevron was an excellent company for which to work, says Shirley, providing great benefits, including health insurance and a stock savings plan. They also offered continuing education, and Shirley was able to attend Delgado Community College and Southern University, both in New Orleans.
1972 Chevy Nova (Click to enlarge)
After obtaining her job, one of Shirley’s goals was to buy a car. “We didn’t have transportation,” she said of her family. She saved for two years to buy a spanking new 1972 bronze Chevy Nova. “This car had 4 miles on it,” says Shirley. She had saved $2,000 and was able to finance the remaining $900 and the insurance through her employee credit union. Shirley and a friend went to driver’s education at one of the public high schools so she could take the wheel.
Shirley is a valued member of The 431 Exchange’s Scholarship Committee.
Her work includes letting major U.S. companies know about our scholarships, as well as reviewing, grading, and scoring essays. She also assists in selecting winners.
2019 Shirley Rondeno at The 431 Exchange’s reunion and scholarship event, “Still, We Rise!”
Shirley does all this work as a volunteer. As a member of the Chevron Retirees Association, she is eligible to receive funds from Chevron for volunteer work. The $1,000 Shirley received from Chevron for her 40 hours of volunteer work with The 431 Exchange was critical in putting us over the top to reach our 2020 fundraising goal of $50,000. (When we set that goal, we honestly weren’t precisely sure how we were going to make it, being a fairly new nonprofit.)
“It’s such an honor to be part of The 431 Exchange Scholarship Committee,” says Shirley. “I feel like in doing it, I’m helping those who are trying to further their education, who are trying to acquire skills and make a better life for themselves, It’s as hard now as it was back in the 1960s when I was trying to do better for myself, especially now with the pandemic.” Helping students further their education “uplifts me,” she says.
Adds Shirley, “I’m very, very thankful to this day” of her time at the Adult Education Center.
Gulf Oil was one of the first employers to hire Adult Education Graduates, starting in the 1960s. By doing so, the company helped set off a chain reaction of the integration of white-collar offices across America. In addition, Gulf was active in the Center’s process of helping to prepare graduates for employment, by participating in mock job interviews as part of the school’s curriculum.
At the 431 Exchange, we can’t help but feel that Chevron’s funds for Shirley’s volunteer work have brought us full circle, for which we are extremely grateful. Our mission is to keep the Center’s legacy of educational equality moving forward to the next generation, and these funds are helping us do just that.