Article Published: Monday, November 08, 2004
Whittier Daily News

Getting early jump on college path El Monte students spend day visiting Rio Hondo College
By Araceli Esparza , Staff Writer

WHITTIER -- Priscilla Valdez is not timid about her desire to become a singer. In fact, it almost seemed providential when she and some other El Monte sixth-graders visited a choral ensemble class at Rio Hondo Community College for the first time last week.

The students' visit was part of an annual program, dubbed "I'm Going to College,' that has been hosted at the Whittier campus for the past three years. Via the program, students from several school districts (including El Monte City) get a glimpse of college hands-on.

Wednesday's participants sat in on two to three class sessions ranging from astronomy and mechanics to health and criminal justice. They visited the school's Career Center and asked questions of students and professors, including the popular "Do you have detention?' question that always produced giggles from the crowd.

"It's never too early to begin thinking about college at the elementary level,' said Ricardo Padilla, Senate Bill 65 outreach consultant with New Lexington Elementary School in El Monte. "What we're trying to do is to get it into (students') minds that college is a possibility, even at a younger age.'

"I'm Going to College' is the result of a government grant written by and given to Rio Hondo as part of its outreach services to neighboring communities.

Padilla and Martha Carreon, Title 5 coordinator for Rio Hondo, helped organize last week's field trip.

The 150 sixth-graders from New Lexington and Potrero arrived at Rio Hondo, equipped with curiosity for the day ahead, and were divided into groups.

"I've thought about college, and we started talking a lot about it in the fourth grade,' said Valdez, adding that she and her class have participated in the grant program for the last two years. "I expect new things this time, and I'm excited about college because I think it will be fun.'

For Valdez, 12, college may not only provide an outlet toward her love of music; she also hopes to be the first in her family to pursue higher education, a trend that is becoming more common in early-generation families in the United States.

She plans to attend UCLA, where some of her uncles studied, get a scholarship and study music because it's "what I do best: playing guitar and singing,' she said.

Padilla said his district is comprised of many Latino and Asian students whose parents were never afforded the opportunity to study beyond high school if that. Resources like the Wednesday's event provide a "good stepping stone for the kids to start speaking about college in their vocabulary.

"The more you talk about it, the more they see it as a reality, and that it's possible,' he said.

For 11-year-old Tito Martinez, Rio Hondo is not the first college he has visited. His older sister's college in Alhambra is a campus with which the Potrero student is familiar. Martinez hopes to begin studying to be a doctor once he graduates high school in 2011.

It's a dream he's had "ever since I was born, practically,' Martinez said, adding that "if you go to college, then you could get a degree and make money.'

No matter what their dreams entail (or what their driving force might be), students from this week's field trip were encouraged to dream big and share their goals with others.

Jan Von Almem, a sixth-grade teacher at Potrero, said, "When I starting teaching 20 years ago, going to college wasn't in students' vocabulary. Now it's not quite as scary for them.

"These kids go back home thinking, 'Hey, I could do that.' '


Araceli Esparza can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2303, or by e-mail at araceli.esparza@sgvn.com .