For immediate release — Oct. 6, 2009

(DALLAS) — High school students are busy people, and sometimes they don’t look beyond tomorrow’s homework, a Friday night football game or an upcoming date. They are sending multiple text messages, scheduling their time with friends and keeping up with one another and the world through Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. However, 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, 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.

Area colleges and universities — in partnership with DCCCD, the Dallas Independent School District, the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Dallas County Schools and several nonprofit agencies — want to share those keys to success with students and their families, especially first-generation college students who are among the first members of their families to enroll in higher education. They will present a special program on Saturday, Oct. 31, “Las Llaves del Éxito” (“The Keys to Success”), from 8 a.m. to noon at Mountain View College, 4849 W. Illinois Ave., Dallas, Texas 75211 (east of Loop 12). 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.

Las Llaves was started several years 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 planning for college, paying for college 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 funding for their students.

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 700 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, recruitment and community engagement 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 Exito — Fast Facts

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