Why Phoenix teacher Jason Catanese launched a college prep camp for low-income kids

Jason Catanese wasn't supposed to be a teacher — at least, not according to his college degree.

Catanese, who focused on political science as an undergraduate at Northwestern University, hit the reset button heading into his final year of college. An internship in the U.S. House of Representatives during the summer of 2010 left him unfulfilled, he said. He wanted to make a difference he could feel.

Catanese applied to work at Pueblo del Sol elementary and middle school in Phoenix's Maryvale neighborhood through Teach for America, a nonprofit organization that matches young leaders with classrooms in low-income communities.

Now more than a decade into his career, the seventh- and eighth-grade teacher also runs a college preparatory camp he founded and is a member of the Arizona State Board of Education, roles he said allow him to advocate for students facing education barriers.

Along the way, he's empowered students who say his lessons are as much about life as they are about math.

"I think he was just meant to be a teacher," said former student Tania Arreola. "To a lot of people, including myself, Mr. Cat's a role model."

Improving math proficiency in a low-income neighborhood

His students needed a challenge, and Catanese remembered thinking during his first two years as a teacher. They consistently handed their tests in early.

At the time, Pueblo del Sol had neither a geometry nor an algebra program. That was a problem, he said, because math proficiency is a strong indicator of whether a student will graduate college in four years.

Roughly 10% of Maryvale residents have a college degree, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Pueblo del Sol serves a student population that is about 90% Hispanic, and four out of five students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

Catanese launched algebra as a voluntary after-school program. He expected to open his door to about 20 students on the program's first day. More than 80 showed up.

"This was the wake-up call we needed, that when we gave kids opportunities, they were going to show up," Catanese said. "We didn't want our kids' circumstances to become their destinies."

The after-school program quickly gave way to official classes. Catanese said he has since taught geometry to more than 500 students and algebra to more than 1,000.

Test data provided by Catanese from the 2022-23 school year show 81% of his students passed the algebra qualifying test for Phoenix Union High School District, compared to 30% for all students who took the test. For the geometry qualifying test, 96% of his students passed compared to 68% of all students.

"It was more than just a class. It was a life lesson," said former student Eduardo Diaz. "He taught you that in spite of the challenges that are put in front of you, you can always excel."

The Arizona Educational Foundation recognized Catanese as a 2022 Teacher of the Year finalist. His work also caught the eye of former Gov. Doug Ducey, who appointed him to the State Board of Education in the spring of 2022.

Launching a camp to help students prepare for college

Soccer camp, science camp, Boy Scouts camp, church camp: Catanese had attended just about every camp imaginable as a kid, he said, so his mind naturally returned to those experiences when former students approached him in 2015 with concerns about the ACT college entrance exam.

With the help of friends, he formulated a plan in less than a month to host a summer camp experience where kids could "really see themselves in college for the first time."

About 120 students attended the program's inaugural year in 2016, taking financial literacy and standardized test workshops during the day and enjoying pool parties and carnivals at night.

Arreola and Luis Torrez said they credit "Mr. Cat" with forever altering the course of their lives in more ways than one. He'd encouraged the former students to pursue higher education and, by inviting them both to his camp, ended up being the reason they met. They married last April, about seven years after meeting at Camp Catanese.

"We're like his kids. He's our teacher for life," said Arreola, who earned an associate's degree in administration of justice from Phoenix College. "I wouldn't have gotten through college if it wasn't for him and Camp Catanese."

Torrez is now a General Motors software engineer. He graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor of science in computer and information systems.

"As a first-generation student, you don't have anybody to teach you to do that. My parents didn't go to high school," Torrez said. "I really do owe it all to Mr. Cat."

Camp Catanese has expanded to a yearlong experience for students in grades seven through 12, with conferences and events planned throughout the year. More than 350 students participated in 2023. Camp Catanese also awards tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to high school and college students.

Though Camp Catanese is open to all, 90% of last year's participants were to be first-generation college students, and 100% were free and reduced lunch eligible, Catanese said. Most students are from the Maryvale area.

Since 2017, every camper has graduated high school on time, and more than 90% have enrolled in college.

'The Rose That Grew from Concrete'

Diaz's life changed dramatically in the few years after he took algebra in middle school.

In 2020, authorities deported his mother, an undocumented immigrant and single parent. His grades and attendance slipped as he shuffled between relatives in Mexico and California before landing at an Arizona foster home to finish high school in 2023.

He'd chosen not to submit his application to Grand Canyon University last spring, resigned to the thought higher education was no longer an option.

But Catanese prompted a change of heart when he invited Diaz to attend summer camp, where counselors and professional writers rallied behind Diaz as he crafted an essay explaining his life circumstances to GCU.

By week's end, Catanese announced before the campers that Diaz was accepted.

"I didn't know how to react. I didn't know how to feel," said Diaz, now a GCU student. "Finding out I'm going to go to university flipped a switch in my brain that I can do what I want to do."

Outside Pueblo del Sol months later, standing beside a mural of roses painted by his former students, Catanese reflected on a poem by late American rapper Tupac Shakur. He'd recited "The Rose That Grew From Concrete" to his classes before, which likened Shakur's unlikely rise to fame to a rose that bloomed despite seemingly impossible circumstances.

Just like Shakur, his students are capable of greatness no matter their backgrounds.

"I thought I was going to be here for two years and then go to law school," Catanese said. "Like a lot of teachers, the first time you walk into your classroom and you meet your kids, you realize it's not going to be the plan."

Reach the reporter at nicholas.sullivan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why a Phoenix teacher launched a college camp for low-income students