College applications, financial aid, and career goals—it’s the stuff of nightmares for high school students everywhere.
But Santa Maria’s high schoolers can expect some help planning for higher education, thanks to a conference organized by the Ernest Righetti High School Latinos Unidos Club on Saturday, March 18. The fifth annual conference, arranged by the 30 members of Righetti’s Latinos Unidos club, will be open to all students in the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District as well as those from Kermit McKenzie Junior High in Guadalupe.
“It’s important because the groups are not only students encouraging others to pursue dreams through higher education, but they’re also becoming leaders by striving for their own goals,” district Public Information Officer Kenny Klein told the Sun. “They hope that the conference will help motivate and empower youth to network and make connections while encouraging them to pursue higher education.”
Patricia Villalobos, who supervises the Latinos Unidos club and helped found it in 2012, said the conference will feature speakers and workshops to help students understand the requirements and application processes for financial aid and college admissions.
The event is based on a similar conference held at UC Santa Barbara to promote higher education among Latino high schoolers.
“Latinos are very underrepresented in colleges and universities,” Villalobos told the Sun.
That’s why she helped start the Latinos Unidos club in the first place, she said—to provide hands-on help for Santa Maria’s Latino high schoolers and help see them through from Righetti to college.
“Initially, that’s how it was established,” she said. “To give the Latino students—any Latino students, whether it was a newcomer or ones that were born here or ones that speak Spanish or ones that were bilingual, all of them—a place to come together.”
But the club has grown beyond that original goal, now providing a safe space for Righetti’s students—Latino and otherwise—to discuss and debate everything from current events to personal issues.
The group started expanding beyond the Latino student population around its third year, Villalobos said, when students started inviting their non-Latino friends to participate in club activities.
“I started seeing more diversity in the members, and ever since, every year, we get a little more diverse,” she said. “I would still like to see it more diverse, but slowly, it’s getting there.”
At each weekly meeting, the club president gives a presentation on a current event—anything from local to global news—and calls on the club members for their thoughts.
“They talk about the topic and ask students for input and they engage them in discussion,” Villalobos said.
Through the club officer roles, Righetti students learn to speak publicly and organize events, she said. Though the club doesn’t maintain hard data on how it’s helped students achieve their college goals since it started five years ago, Villalobos—who has taught at Righetti for 12 years—said she’s observed a noticeable change in those who get involved with Latinos Unidos.
“What I’ve seen students do is become leaders,” she said. “I see how slowly they open up, they become really good communicators, they become more comfortable speaking in front of their classmates, they know how to network, they know how to talk to people.”
And on top of that, the students involved have a community to depend on for even their personal life issues. Villalobos said the club members often come to her or each other seeking advice.
“Sometimes it’s just personal issues that they’re going through, stuff that they go through with their families, and they’re not sure who to talk to,” she said. “I feel like some students have opened up a little more and they’re able to come share what they’re going through.”
Club President Estela Navarro said in a district press release that the March 18 conference could ultimately help local high schoolers create more career opportunities for themselves, since doors open for young adults with college degrees.
“It will empower and encourage students all across the [district] to thrive, unite, and pursue educational goals,” Navarro said in the release.
The conference is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Righetti’s cafeteria on March 18. Bus service has been arranged for attending students.
Staff Writer Brenna Swanston wrote this week’s School Scene. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Mar 2-9, 2017.
