Lincoln High is a struggling school.

A string of administrative problems and increasing violence between students at Lincoln continues to prompt many families to send their kids to schools outside their neighborhood.

But Karly Van Holten saw something she liked about Lincoln. Despite having other high school options, she told her mom she wanted to stay in her neighborhood and go to Lincoln.

“Everything about Lincoln screams community,” she said. “I learned how to be in a community and how to be one with others rather than just being a high school student.”

The Lincoln High senior has excelled at the school. She’s been accepted to more than 30 colleges.

Van Holten joins Scott Lewis and Laura Kohn to talk about her experience at Lincoln High and how it shaped her for success.

Also on the podcast, Gina Gianzero, executive of Diamond Educational Excellence Partnership, joins Lewis and Kohn to talk about how the nonprofit is helping kids in southeastern San Diego stay in the educational pipeline.

“We emerged with a common understanding of the problem,” she said. “Which we say are leaks in this pipeline that runs from cradle to college to career. And we focus on stopping those early leaks.”

She said one of the common hurdles families face is the months of learning students lose during summer break. More commonly known as the “summer slide,” research shows kids from low-income communities usually suffer the most during this time.

That’s why every summer, DEEP gives students from southeastern San Diego the opportunity to continue their education outside of school by offering literacy support, field trips, arts activities and more.

“The research shows that all these kinds of enrichment activities are pretty critical to making this an experience for these children that will ultimately empower them,” Gianzero said.