Growing up, I saw tutoring in many forms — from my parents to my teachers, even to the older kids in my after-school program. One of my very first days at Mixte, I participated in a brainstorm that everyone seemed extremely enthusiastic about. I didn’t know what C2 Education was or what Mixte planned to do with it, but I was eager to find out. To share the excitement with my new coworkers, I realized I needed to dream big.

I quickly learned that C2 Education was worlds different from the tutoring I was familiar with. It addressed the complexity of human learning abilities and the importance of education for all people.

When C2 Education came to San Diego, the national tutoring company tasked Mixte with integrating it into our hyperlocal, tight-knit Southern California communities. We knew this meant grassroots media relations that gave back to the community in an organic way. Mixte developed “What’s Your Dream, San Diego?”, which prompted inspiring student and youth organizations in key neighborhoods to dream bigger through art. C2 Education gave each student time to create their own unique “Our Dream Is…” artwork to dazzle the community and earn donations from C2 Education to support their goals for the future. The art submissions were displayed in C2 Education’s Gallery of Dreams to launch each of its tutoring centers in San Diego.

Just as I joined the team, Mixte was gearing up for the Rancho Bernardo launch. With strategic and creative event planning and media relations, we inspired talented groups of students and shared C2’s story with popular media across San Diego.

Rancho Bernardo High School’s Best Buddies left an especially large imprint on our hearts.  Their dream of “inclusion” still feels simple and perfect.

The Gallery of Dreams in Rancho Bernardo, La Jolla and Scripps Ranch were just the beginning. We took this idea of dreaming big and unveiled it to all students across San Diego — inspiring them to reach for their biggest dreams.

After watching C2 Education bring students’ dreams to life, I finally understood what all the excitement was about in the beginning.  This was something different. Something genuine. Something organic and community driven. Beyond Mixte, the campaign was an extremely rewarding experience. C2 Education represents a new approach to education that goes beyond the traditional textbook learning and into the open-ended, inspiration-infused question:

What’s your dream, San Diego?