First Star Academy Summer 2025 Video
Scholars and Peer Mentors at the First Star Cal State University San Bernardino Academy share the impact of the program
Peter Samuelson to receive APSAC Award
First Star's Co-Founder and President, Peter Samuelson, has been selected to receive this year's Outstanding Media Coverage Award at APSAC's Virtual Colloquium. Peter is being honored for both his work with First Star and his latest film Foster Boy, which has activated a national movement of reform against corruption in the for-profit foster care system. The Award will be [...]
First Star CEO Lyndsey Wilson appears on NewsNation PRIME
June 3, 2021 First Star CEO Lyndsey Wilson appears on NewsNation PRIME and weighs in on the tragic police shooting involving runaway foster children in Florida (story). Noting that foster youth are retraumatized in group homes where they are more likely to test lower in school, less likely to complete high school, and are more [...]
First Star Featured in TIME Magazine’s April Cover Story
Our CEO, Lyndsey C. Wilson, lends her voice to the April 12th cover story in TIME magazine, which serves as a time capsule that captures the difficulties young people face to finish high school and to go to college. The article highlights a First Star Miami scholar who is now shifting their sights from college to the workforce, shining a light on [...]
Foster care crisis
Foster care crisis: More kids are entering, but fewer families are willing to take them in NBC Article 12-30-20 By Char Adams The nation’s foster care system has been especially overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic, with experts and state agencies saying more children are entering the system, and fewer families are willing to take them in [...]
Best Practices for Supporting the Class of 2020 Foster Youth
May 2020: First Star, in collaboration with United Friends of the Children, and FosterEd (NCYL) drafted a two-page document to assist school-based professionals with guidance on how to best support foster youth during this challenging time. This list of best practice strategies was designed for teachers, counselors, SpEd teams, FY liaisons, administrators, and any individuals [...]
Shaq in the Hat
February 17, 2020: Shaquille O'Neal attended the premier of Foster Boy at the Pan African Film Festival on Monday night. While there he met students from the First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholars Academy. Shaq is focused on bringing awareness to the foster care system as the executive producer of “Foster Boy,” a film [...]
One woman’s journey out of foster care
One woman’s journey out of foster care and the daunting task of ‘aging out’ for vulnerable youths Natalie Clark entered and exited foster care until ninth grade, when she went in and stayed in. Transitioning to adulthood is especially challenging for foster kids. By Lois M. Collins Feb 13, 2020, 10:01pm MST Deseret News Article
Kent State to help children in foster care get to college
https://www.record-courier.com/news/20191226/kent-state-to-help-children-in-foster-care-get-to-college By EILEEN MCCLORY Reporter Kent State University’s resolution for 2020 is to help children in the foster care system in northeast Ohio realize they can succeed once they age out of the system, usually at age 18 or 21. Eighth-graders who have been placed into foster care and have been affected by the opioid [...]