Teacher’s Pet Project: Keeping Students in College : Education: Armando Sanchez lends moral support and provides information and skills so they will become graduates, not dropouts.

More than 20 years ago, Armando Sanchez dropped out of Claremont Men’s College because he didn’t have the $2,000 he needed to finish his junior year. “I did the only thing I thought I could do,” he said. “I had no other options.”

But Sanchez didn’t give up. Eager to get back to school, he looked for alternatives. “But I was too embarrassed to go back to Claremont,” he said, “so I went to (Cal State) Long Beach instead.”

Today, Sanchez--who holds a master’s degree and has nearly completed work on his doctorate--realizes how close he came to becoming part of a dismal statistic.

In 1986, the most recent year for which figures are available, fewer than seven in 100 Latinos who finished high school had obtained bachelor’s degrees six years later, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Even though the figure has improved since Sanchez’s time, it remains the lowest percentage of any minority.

It is a number that Sanchez, a history teacher at Montebello High School, has vowed to change.

“What I saw was many undergrads having lots of problems graduating because there was a lack of support and organization,” he said. “When I became a teacher (17 years ago), I saw the same problems with my own students. Unfortunately, they have no one to fall back on.”

So two years ago, in a solitary crusade to keep Latinos from dropping out of college, Sanchez founded the Latino Scholastic Achievement Corp. Funded by a corporate grant from KABC-TV, the nonprofit organization helps 80 students enrolled in Southern California colleges and universities by providing them with information, skills and moral support.

“I didn’t even want to go to college,” said Lucy Gomez, 20, a sophomore at Cerritos College. “At first I went to please my father . . . but the program has helped me realize that it’s for myself, and that I’ll be able to give something back to the community.”

Like most of Sanchez’s students, Gomez belongs to the first generation in her family to go to college; she works to help pay her way through school. Guest speakers who tell their success stories during the program’s intensive weekend seminars say these conditions are not necessarily barriers.

“What I like the best is hearing that I’m not alone,” she said. “There are people that have more problems than I do and gotten through, and I realize I don’t have it that bad.”

Even though many Latinos come from low-income families, Sanchez said, lack of money ranks behind culture shock as the primary reason why they drop out of school.

“If you think you’re getting a full 100% scholarship to college, then you’re doomed,” he said. “College is never going to be free, so students have to be aware of all their options--how to obtain money and how to repay it.”

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Sanchez pounds his perspective into his students’ heads from the beginning.

“Alejandro, Hector, Sandra, Juan . . . “ he calls out. All but one of his 20 economics students are recently arrived Latinos and their English is limited, but no Spanish is spoken in this classroom. They all listen raptly as Sanchez launches the class with his daily routine.

“Today’s success seminar,” he begins, as everyone starts taking copious notes. “Let’s go back to the question of business. . . . If you were to ask me, ‘Sanchez, what do I need to be effective in business, you may as well ask me what do I need to get a good marriage or a good life. The answer is, you have to know how to think about other people.’ ”

He pauses for effect. “If you want help, you have to show the world that you can help.”

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Sanchez stresses empowerment, information and networking--important issues for kids who are disoriented when they find themselves in a non-Latino environment for the first time.

“Our students come from segregated (areas), with limited experience in the mainstream. They have to try twice as hard to work the institution and get what they need,” says Abel Amaya, director of El Centro Chicano USC, which refers students to Sanchez’s program. “What he does is fantastic, because he deals with leadership. Armando is very much geared toward corporate America, and we think his program will be a big help to us.”

For Roberto Galvan, a scholarship student who has a 4.0 grade-point average while finishing his business degree, the program has been a godsend.

“One of the reasons I came to USC was the possibility of networking, which the organization stresses. I’m meeting people in different fields and I’ve gone to great motivational seminars.” Raised in Tijuana by a Mexican father and an American mother, Galvan is the classic success story, a bright kid who is the first in his family to attend college.

“Being from Mexico, I can tell you I’m really grateful for the opportunities I get,” he said. “Students (in the U.S.) take many of their resources for granted.”

According to U.S. Department of Education studies, students of all ethnic groups tend to finish college when they enter a four-year institution full time immediately after high school. Only 16% of Latinos follow that “traditional” path, however, compared with 44% of Asians, 30% of whites and 27% of African Americans.

Amaya said many Latino students lack motivation and get no support from family members who have not attended college. The moment they encounter a crisis situation, they drop out of school.

“These kids don’t fall through the cracks--they fall through the Grand Canyon,” Sanchez said. “Even when they’re very motivated, they might still lack language skills and social awareness.”

So Sanchez tries to recruit students as early as possible. Mara Lopez, a freshman attending East L.A. College, has become the first among her eight siblings to attend college, thanks in part to a scholarship and to Sanchez.

Programs like Sanchez’s complement existing college-run programs, and step in to fulfill the needs of nonexisting ones. It also goes a step beyond: by having a corporate sponsor, the program opens doors for internship and placement possibilities.

“Everybody is waking up to see that our students are in a major crisis,” said Teresa Samaniego, director of public affairs for corporate sponsor KABC-TV. “This program is unique, and I truly think it’s the way of the future. Who will spend time and resources on students if corporations don’t do it? Our government certainly isn’t.”

But, as Sanchez has found out, other students are willing to give a hand. “I plan to stay in the program as long as I can,” Lopez said. “It has helped me remain in school, and I’m going to stay and help those that come after me.”