La Casa holds conference for local Hispanic youths
Barbara Paz Cornejo (far right) and Eric Tellez (right), both seniors in LAS, teach basic steps of salsa dancing to hispanic students from local high schools at the Latina/Latino Youth Conference Thursday. The students from three local high schools attend Beck Diefenbach
Apr 20, 2007
Last updated on May 12, 2016 at 10:29 a.m.
The first Latina/Latino Youth Conference hosted 75 students from three area high schools – Centennial High School, Central High School and Urbana High School, yesterday.
The conference’s purpose was to promote and encourage higher learning after high school, while focusing on introducing more local students to the University.
Entitled “Empower Your Future,” the conference had a variety of session topics such as learning about majors, Latina/Latino studies and opportunities in different colleges.
Co-sponsored by Office of the Chancellor and La Casa Cultural Latina, Adele Lozano, director of La Casa and the conference, was proud of the results.
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“This is our first year doing this so I am very happy about the day,” she said. “I’ve had a little experience with a conference at University of Iowa so the students and I made a plan.”
Broken up into smaller groups, the high school students received an intimate example of the college experience. Each group also had a University student as a group leader.
Their purpose was to answer questions ranging from financial aid and picking a major, to introducing them to academic and social aspects of the campus.
Some students got a chance to see classrooms during a school day, while others participated in workshops on law, business and admissions.
Richard Persaud, sophomore in Engineering, said University students were there to be the high school students’ personal guides.
“The exposure that they got was great,” he said. “When they can be more hands on with the campus they can be motivated to come here.”
Ruth Sierra, fellow sophomore in Engineering, said that the smaller groups were good because the students could ask more questions.
“It’s good that they can relate to us since we’re closer in age,” Sierra said. “It’s a great way to find out what each student needs to know.”
Any student can be a guide in the conference by going to La Casa Cultural Latina and asking about how to become involved.
Cindy SanMiguel, junior in LAS, said that there is a number of Latino and Latina students in the local community that need to be encouraged to come here as we encourage Chicago based students.
“This is a great way to bridge the gap between our University and our high schools,” she said. “I think it was a success.”
