ALE lends a day to Latino High School Students

Monday, 15 February 2010 21:03

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers club, or SHPE, hosted their fourth annual ALE (Advancement of Latinos in Engineering) Day, to help create awareness and inspire young Latino males to join the fields of  engineering, math and science. 

SHPE President German Castillo, a junior who is pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, gave motivational speeches throughout the day.

“I want them to know that financial resources are out there and they should know if they come to The University of Arizona, that there are so many opportunities to get involved,” Castillo said.

“Being in SHPE has helped me realize that I like to organize things and hopefully be a manager, I hope to be an inspiration to these kids.”

Donald Bryant-Carter, an attendee of ALE Day, said that being a sophomore motivates him to start planning his future - possibly in engineering at the UA.

“My main two goals right now are - if I don’t make professional football  - I want to be a train conductor, and being an engineer would definitely help me,” Carter said.

Stephanie Ochotorena, a SHPE member and a junior at the UA, said that her brother Ray was the co-founder of ALE Day.

“This day has always been one of my favorite events that we do because it’s the most influential event,”  said Ochotorena.

“I think kids come here thinking they’re just getting a day off of school but then by the end of the day, they really take a lot away from hearing real life experiences,” she added.

The day started at 7 a.m. at the Marriott University Park Hotel with a light breakfast and a welcoming ceremony hosted by the UA SHPE advisor Dr. Erica Corral. Nearly an hour later, keynote speaker James Valenzuela of the Raytheon Mission Assurance Awareness & Warfighter Program Manager gave a motivational talk to the young attendees. The following afternoon  workshops included companies such as IMB, AZengineering and Raytheon. The lectures concluded with time for the students to voice their questions and concerns from the future engineers.

SHPE has many events throughout the school year including La Familia to help break the digital divide in the Hispanic community and the Young Latina Forum and Science Day to help create awareness of science amoung the for the younger generation. Also, SHPE has a variety of sports teams to join, ranging from flag football to basketball. 

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Written by Marcy Christine Jones