| Carlos Von Son, who teaches at Palomar and MiraCosta colleges,
will be one of several speakers from a variety of fields at the
Encuentros Education and Career Exploration Conference on Oct. 6.
Scott Linnett | Union-Tribune |
Exploring life’s options
Conference slated for Latinos youths
to discuss careers and future goals
By Triveni Sheshadri | triveni.sheshadri@tlnews.net
Friday, September 28, 2007
Ricardo Navarrette grew up in a loving family in Northern California’s wine country. But that was not enough to keep him focused in school.
He had few male role models who could show him the benefits of a good education. He also hung out with friends who didn’t value academic success.
“I had a lot of other influences at school,” said Navarrette, who started getting Ds and Fs in middle school. “Many of my friends dropped out in their sophomore and junior years.”
Finally it was a fall and the brain injury at age 17 that forced Navarrette to re-evaluate his priorities and think about what he wanted to do next.
“It was a second chance in life,” he said. “I had a strong family and I really wanted to make my parents proud of me.”
Though he missed months of school because of his injury, Navarrette made up in summer school and received his diploma with his graduating class.
He earned an associate’s degree from Santa Rosa Junior College and a bachelor’s degree from Cal State San Marcos.
Navarrette uses his life experiences to motivate young Latino males to stay in high school and plan for college. He is an outreach coordinator for GEAR-UP, or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, a federally funded tutoring and mentoring program for low-income students.
He serves on the board of Encuentros Leadership of North San Diego County, a group dedicated to helping Latino boys succeed in school.
For several weeks, Navarrette, who is based at Rancho Buena Vista High School, has been making phone calls and visiting classrooms to recruit students for the fourth annual Encuentros Education and Career Exploration Conference on Oct. 6 at Palomar College.
“We want to show students the benefits of having options rather than being forced into something,” Navarrette said. “We want to show them how college can open up those options.”
Navarrette and other organizers hope to bring in 600 middle and high school Latino boys to the one-day event. The youngsters will take part in workshops and meet with professionals in education, law enforcement, health care, broadcast journalism, aeronautical engineering and other fields.
Representatives from organizations such as Northrup Grumman, Tri-City Medical Center, Cal State San Marcos and MiraCosta College will answer questions about college and careers.
Students will have the opportunity to take part in two workshops of their choice. They can choose fields such as medical technology, nursing, automotive repair and education.
Lisa Montes, coordinator of student employment services at MiraCosta College, has served as co-chair of the event for three years. She said the workshops dispel stereotypes about careers.
She recalls a middle school student who balked at attending a nursing workshop because “it was just for women.”
But he came away from the workshop knowing that nursing was a viable career option for him, Montes said.
Carlos Von Son, who teaches international languages and multicultural studies at Palomar and MiraCosta, is a featured speaker. Von Son said the event would introduce young Latino boys to “real life heroes.”
“Most of the time they see heroes in the media who are movie stars and sports heroes,” Von Son said. “Here they find that there are a lot of heroes in everyday life who have overcome obstacles. They see themselves. You can be a hero, too, and do things for your community and your family.”
The conference is one of several programs by Encuentros Leadership of North San Diego County, a coalition of Latino and other community leaders working to promote Latino success in academics and the workplace.
Oceanside resident Robert Rivas is the founder. The idea for Encuentros grew out of a meeting Rivas attended several years ago. Educators and Latino leaders were worried about the high suspension and dropout rates among Latino boys. The group began to brainstorm solutions, which led to the founding of Encuentros.
The group’s programs draw from the ideas presented in the book “Encuentros: Hombre a Hombre” by Frank Reveles, a professor at California State University Sacramento. It is published by the California State Department of Education.
In it Latino role models talk about their struggle to overcome obstacles and succeed.
“It’s an eye-opener for these kids,” Rivas said.
To learn more about Encuentros, call Lisa Montes at (760) 757-2121, ext. 6493.
Reach reporter Triveni Sheshadri at (760) 752-6757.
