HOLLISTER
– College may not be for everyone, but it is at least open to
everyone.
HOLLISTER – College may not be for everyone, but it is at least open to everyone.
Some students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds don’t realize they can go to college. The Educational Talent Search out of California State University, Monterey Bay attempts to reach out to these students and let them know college is within their grasp.
“Our goal is to help get students into any post-secondary school of their choice,” said DeAnna Macias, outreach specialist with the Educational Talent Search of CSUMB.
The ETS program reaches out to 10 high schools in the area, including San Benito High School. At SBHS, about 150 students in all four grades are participating in the program.
“Usually, these are the students whose parents have no expectation of getting them into college. They have the potential, they just don’t know it,” Macias said.
SBHS senior Nancy A. Gonzalez will be the first in her family to go to college.
“Before I participated in this program, I didn’t think about going to college. I just thought about getting through high school and working at McDonald’s,” Gonzalez said.
Students like Gonzalez can take advantage of ETS’s various services, including field trips to colleges, academic advising, financing post-secondary education, processing college applications and requirements like the SAT or ACT. The program also offers workshops and information sessions for bilingual parents.
For more information on the Educational Talent Search, call ETS at (831) 582-3662 or visit the U.S. Department of Education at www.ed.gov.
