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“Latinos are the fastest growing population and largest ethnic group in the country, but unfortunately Hispanic youth are less likely to complete high school and attend or graduate from college,” said Sabina Elizondo-Serratos, associate director of Multicultural Student Services at UT. “This summit serves to empower students and parents and provide them with information to better navigate the educational system.”
Workshops to get the students excited about learning included an engineering lab about math conversions with the new hybrid vehicles, a business lesson about finances and a science exploration using the simulation center on the UT Health Science Campus.
The keynote speaker for the event was Fremont native Mónica Ramírez, the director of Esperanza: The Immigrant Women’s Legal Initiative of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which works to eradicate sexual violence and gender discrimination against farmworker and low-wage immigrant women. A senior staff attorney with the law center’s Immigrant Justice Project, Ramírez has been a farmworker and immigrant rights advocate for more than 15 years.
The summit also included information about the Ohio Graduation Test and financial aid options for college, including a UT scholarship for attending the Latino Youth Summit.
The evening before, attorney Ramírez spoke to the parents and students at Despierta Latino, a dinner held at the Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Center.
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