Youth Radio - Topic: The Event

Engaging Latino Communities for Education

nmexico — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:14:11 -0500

Denise Aguilar and Jonathon Aragon from ENLACE (Engaging Latino Communities for Education) New Mexico discuss ENLACE’s importance, their role with ENLACE and "The Event," a Town-Hall meeting on education and Latinos created through a large collaboration between several community organizations, held at the University of New Mexico. Denise and Jonathon offer a unique perspective on community involvement and the importance of education in their audio commentary.

For more information about "The Event" Town-Hall meeting, please read the following blogs.

The Event: Student Feedback on Education

Town Hall Meeting: Latinos and Education

nmexico — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:43:55 -0500

Latinos are sorely underrepresented in higher education. In New Mexico, a state where the Hispanic/Latino population nearly reaches 45%, only 56% of Hispanics/Latinos students graduated from high school in 2008.

To address this issue, El Centro de la Raza, a University of New Mexico multi-service organization geared towards students, hosted a town hall in early October. The town hall, otherwise known as "The Event," was a large collaboration among community organizations as well as students of all ages to discuss Latinos and education. The organizations who helped put the event together were, El Centro de la Raza, The Albuquerque Partnership, ENLACE, the New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community, the Hispano/Latino Education Improvement Task Force and various college outreach programs.

"The Event," gave insight to what students believe are problems facing schools and the education system as a whole. The video below provides an idea of topics and activites covered during the event, and what some of the organizers hope to gain from the meeting.

For more information about "The Event," please view the following blogs:

Engaging Latino Communities for Education

The Event: Student Feedback on Education

Town Hall Event On Education

nmexico — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:04:10 -0500

By Cecy Frescas

As a high school student I am aware of the importance for students to get involved in their education. This is why I think it is so important for events that engage students with education to exist. Recently, there was an event in the University of New Mexico that served this purpose – engaging students with education. The event was a Town Hall on Education, and it was an intended for the students to express their feelings towards the way the education system functions and to let their voices be heard on what changes have to be made.

As a part of the committee that helped plan this event, I was very pleased with the results we obtained. We had a really good amount of students show up to the Town Hall and we were able to see the perspective from high school and middle school students. This event was able to demonstrate that students do care about the way their education functions, and they are willing to spend some of their free time to talk about what does not work in the education system.

There were also elementary students who performed a skit on the importance of college. I thought this was something really neat because it's good for students to start thinking about college at an early stage. I know that these young students have a better opportunity to plan their future because they're already being exposed to the impact that college can have on their lives. From this event I was able to gain better knowledge on what the students really think about our education system. I was able to see that students have a common interest in the changes that could be made with our education. It’s important for students to feel like their voices are being heard because what they think about their education is valuable to everyone.