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Published on Saturday, October 01, 2011
By BY DAVID OLSON
About 5,000 parents, children and educators jammed the Cal State San Bernardino Santos Manuel Student Union on Saturday for an education fair aimed at increasing the number of Latinos who attend college.
The large turnout for the inaugural event signaled the importance that Latino parents attach to their children's education, and a hunger to find out how best to guide their kids toward college, said Enrique Murillo, executive director of Latino Education and Advocacy Days, which organized the Feria Educativa College and Career Fair.
Participants came from throughout the Inland area and Los Angeles County. Coachella Valley Unified School District sent 12 school buses with nearly 700 children and parents.
"We want them to see what it's like to be on a college campus and more than anything to know that college is an attainable goal," said Bea Gonzalez, coordinator of the school district's After School Education and Safety program.
The fair included Spanish, English and bilingual workshops on college-entrance requirements, parental involvement in education, financial aid and high-school dropout prevention. More than a dozen colleges and universities had booths with materials, as did educational nonprofits that assist students and parents.
Murillo, a professor of education at Cal State, said the fair sent a message to students that they can succeed. Many low-income Latino kids come from families and neighborhoods with few or no college graduates to serve as examples.
"One of the major obstacles in our community is we have to believe in ourselves, that, 'Yes, we are college material,'" Murillo said. "We have to do our part to rid students of doubts and fears of their academic and motivational abilities, to say, 'Look, I did it. I grew up in the same neighborhood as you and I made it
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