Norwalk : Youngsters Tour College

Cerritos College hosted 250 elementary school students from Norwalk today in a program to introduce them to higher education at an early age.

The fourth- and fifth-graders from Edmondson Elementary School were invited to the campus by Art Perez, coordinator and supervisor of the Norwalk-based college’s recruitment office and special programs.

Perez said he wanted to motivate students who live in the college district to continue their education beyond high school. Most of the students are Latinos or members of other minority groups, and many are from low-income families.

These students have a very high dropout rate, and special efforts must be taken not only to keep them in school but to “start them focusing on college at an early age,” Perez said.

The students were scheduled to have lunch on campus, tour the college, including some classrooms, and attend lectures by counselors. Their parents were to be sent literature explaining the benefits of higher education.