HR: 13:55h
AN: ED43C-02    [Abstracts]
TI: A New Approach to Reach Latino Populations in Rural and Urban Settings
AU: * Morris, P
EM: smithp@uhd.edu
AF: University of Houston-Downtown, 1 Main St., Houston, TX 77058
AU: Garcia, A
EM: amg0369@hotmail.com
AF: University of Houston-Downtown, 1 Main St., Houston, TX 77058
AU: Galindo, C
EM: charles.galindo1@jsc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA/Hernandez Engineering, 2100 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058
AU: Obot, V
EM: obot\_vd@tsu.edu
AF: Texas Southern University, 3100 Cleburn Ave., Houston, TX 77004
AU: Allen, J
EM: jaclyn.allen1@jsc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA/Lockheed Martin, 2400 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77258-8561
AU: Reiff, P
EM: reiff@ruf.rice.edu
AF: Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77251-1892
AU: Sumners, C
EM: csumners@hmns.org
AF: Houston Museum of Natural Science, One Hermann Circle Dr., Houston, TX 77030-1799
AU: Garcia, J
EM: runner@utb.edu
AF: University of Texas at Brownsville, 80 Fort Brown, Brownsville, TX 78520
AU: Garza, O
EM: garza.og@tccc-ryss.org
AF: Raul Yzaguirre School for Success, 2950 Broadway, Houston, TX 77017
AB: Current statistics indicate that Latino populations have lower high school and college graduation rates than Anglos or African Americans. If Latinos do not pursue baccalaureate and higher degrees, then this group will be left behind as technological advances increasingly drive our society. The drop out rate affects not only the individuals, families, communities, and society from many different aspects, including financial independence, but also loss of potential contributing members of society in science, engineering, etc. Houston, an urban area, with a Latino population of 39% and Brownsville, a rural area represented by 84% Latinos, are two Texas areas where universities, schools, museums, and NASA are reaching out to increase science skills and graduation rates. Many Houston families have the opportunity to be introduced to different options, but Brownsville families do not have the same opportunities as the area lacks a strong industrial and technological base. We have developed programs to improve the space and Earth science knowledge base by providing summer science enrichment programs for K-12 students, family events, exposing high school students to college opportunities, and training high school and college students to serve as mentors to their peers. The peer mentors lead many of the outreach venues, interacting with the public with demonstrations and interactive science activities. In addition, we have developed a series of teacher workshops and modules on integrated science and mathematics. The teacher workshops are designed to provide the teachers with a wealth of integrated examples for classroom use.
DE: 0815 Informal education
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting