5th-10th Grade Students Seek Opportunities for College
By Yara Hidalgo
According to the “SJSU, districts help Latinos prepare for college” article by Javier Erik Olvera on Saturday February 9, 2008 (http://origin.mercurynews.com/ education/ci_8222846) Latino students and parents attended a conference at San Jose State University to get informed about the road to attending college. Superintendent Glen Ishiwata from Moreland School District said, “The seeds need to be plowed early.” Organizers of this occasion want the students to get as much support as possible before their teenage years so that they know what classes they need to take to attend
college.
In the article, Olvera stated that research and statistics demonstrates that many Latino students are not ready to attend college right after high school. They are the ones that overcome far more obstacles than anybody else. Many Latino students come from immigrant parents who never attended college and sometimes never
finished school because of economic problems with their families. For example Olvera reports: “Yolanda Montoya immigrated 15 years ago from the Mexican province of Michoacán, where she quit school after the fourth grade because she had to help her family financially.” She decided to take advantage of this event by taking her 13-year old daughter.
Yet another challenge that these families face is the lack of capacity to college tuition and fees in in addition to not being aware of the many scholarships and loans available. It’s critically important that parents attend these conferences and workshops with their students so that they can get the most of out it and know where to lookout for valuable resources.
Over 120 workshops were available for parents to learn how they can participate in their children’s education and support them to obtain higher education. Superintendent Ishawata said, “There is a whole population out there of Latinos that do not realize there is an open door to college and there is a path to get to it.”
This was a great opportunity for Latino students to have been part of so that they are aware of what’s out there and resources that can be great help. Students from LPS-SJ would have benefitted a lot from this type of event because it will help them look ahead and be aware of what’s next.
It will work as a head start for many of them because now they know what the college requirements are and the types of financial aid that is available. Our staff at LPS-SJ should be encouraged to attend these types of events as well as promote it to their students so that they know of resources students can contact. It would be a great help for teachers to attend so that students who aren’t able to attend the meeting they can receive the information from them. Students and staff, as well as parents, can try to contact San Jose State University and ask when their next workshop will be or if they know of other types of events like they one
they had so that people can attend to.
admin @ April 22, 2008