For immediate release — Sept. 27, 2011 

(DALLAS) — High school students are busy people. They are busy texting, doing homework, going to a Friday night football game or planning for an upcoming date. Their social schedules are intertwined with social networking online. But they do need to look ahead, plan and learn more about the process of earning a college degree.

Las Llaves del Exito, a free one-day program offered by the Dallas County Community College District and the Dallas Independent School District, can give students the keys to their success: a college education and information about how to navigate the system so that they can attend a college or university.

Sponsors for the event are DCCCD and DISD. Partners include the University of North Texas-Dallas, the University of Texas at Dallas, the Hispanic College Fund, the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Education Is Freedom, Texas A&M University-Commerce, the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, Dallas County Schools and LULAC National Educational Service Centers Inc.

Throughout the morning program, those partners will share important keys to success with students and their families, especially students who are among the first members of their families to enroll in higher education. They will present a special program on Saturday, Oct. 29, “Las Llaves del Éxito” (“The Keys to Success”), from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the University of North Texas-Dallas, 7300 University Blvd. (formerly Houston School Road) in Dallas. The event is free and open to the public; students in grades six through 12 (middle school and high school) — and their parents — are encouraged to attend. Breakfast will be provided. Students and parents should register that morning in the building marked “7400.”

Las Llaves was started almost a decade ago by a committee of community members who wanted to encourage high school students to graduate and continue their education. The conference will feature information sessions in English and Spanish about topics such as preparing for college (taking college entrance exams, STEM careers, dual credit, college life) and applying for and learning more about the opportunities that a college education can provide by using the keys to success to open that door. Several parent workshops are scheduled in English and Spanish about college preparation, financial aid, college admissions and college readiness.

Middle school sessions will focus on choosing a career, earning college credit in high school (dual credit), writing a winning essay for college scholarships and admissions applications, and paying for college, among others.

More than 1,100 participants attended last year’s fall event, and more than 200 volunteers work with students and their parents, providing practical information to help them become college-bound. (A related spring event will be scheduled specifically for high school juniors and seniors.)

College representatives, admissions specialists and financial aid advisors will talk to families about the application process and steps they need to take to be considered for admission and financial aid.

For more information, call the DCCCD office of outreach at (214) 378-1771 or DCCCD’s Spanish line at (214) 378-1713. Details also are available at http://www.dcccd.edu/keystosuccess or http://www.dcccd.edu/llavesdelexito.

Also see Las Llaves del Éxito: Fast Facts

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Press contact: Ann Hatch
214-860-2478; ahatch@dcccd.edu
(615)