November, 1999

Helping Central Valley parents learn how to support their middle and senior high school children to be prepared for college

A recent conference helped Central Valley parents learn how to support their middle and senior high school children to be prepared for college. Some 300 parents, students, siblings and other family members involved with the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement program met at CSU-Fresno on November 6 for a day-long series of workshops.

Families came from areas served by MESA sites at UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, CSU Fresno, CSU-Bakersfield and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Workshops touched on topics such as financial aid, UC and CSU admissions, community colleges, using the Internet, and purchasing a home computer.

The conference also included hands-on math and science activities for families. Participants had a chance to learn about the science of snails, build air-powered vehicles, and construct towers from a single sheet of paper. Many workshops were conducted in Spanish.