Helping Them Give the Old College Try

Although Greg Rodriguez always thought about going to college, he drifted through junior high school without paying much attention to his classes.

But the Puente High School Program, which helps Latino high school students prepare for four-year universities and colleges, motivated Rodriguez to get serious about his goal.

The Magnolia High School junior is now enrolled in honors and advanced placement classes thanks to Puente, a pilot program at 18 high schools throughout the state. Magnolia and Savanna high schools in Anaheim are the only Orange County schools taking part in the pilot.

About 360 freshmen, sophomores and juniors make up the two local Puente programs.

“The people in Puente are so enthusiastic, and everybody has the same belief and hope for their future,” said Rodriguez, 17, of Anaheim. “It’s inspiring.”

The high school pilot program is an offshoot of the Puente Community College Program, which helps Latinos enrolled in community colleges transfer to four-year institutions.

Funding for the $4-million pilot program came from private grants and local school districts, said Patricia McGrath, co-director of both statewide Puente programs. The four-year pilot program ends this year, but McGrath said she is confident that the Oakland-based program will continue with the help of state, private and school district funds.

The high school program puts Latino high school students on the four-year university track by helping them choose challenging classes and providing academic counseling, McGrath said.

“As a former English teacher, I saw these students lost in remedial programs,” she said. “An entire group of people wasn’t taking the kinds of classes they needed to transfer to universities.”

Students are matched with mentors and take regular field trips to college campuses throughout the state. They also enroll in English classes as a group during their first two years to focus on writing skills as well as Latino and Mexican American literature.

“A lot of these kids have never read authors of their own culture,” said Magnolia English teacher Kelly Gallagher. “There’s a validation there that is inspiring to them.”

This is Magnolia and Savanna’s third year in the program, so students won’t apply to colleges until next year. But counselor Steve Gonzales said he already sees the program as a success because of its more than 95% retention rate and students’ academic improvement.

“Students will, of course, have doubts when they’re taking physics or advanced placement biology, and realize how tough it is,” Gonzales said. “I think our success comes from a combination of mentoring, counseling, the English class and working with parents to give these students a plan.”

For Frank Posada, 15, of Anaheim, the best part of the program is the constant support he gets from Gonzales, from his mentor and from other Puente students.

“You have to set goals and really work hard at them,” the Savanna sophomore said. “I really like the influence they always give you about going to college and how they help you succeed, to maybe be somebody in life.”