AHETEMS Pre-College Symposia
The AHETEMS Pre-College Symposia is the largest, national conference for Hispanic pre-college students interested in STEM. The Symposia provides Latino/a pre-college students the opportunity to gain valuable information on the college process. Students have the opportunity to attend workshops on college choice, financial aid and scholarships and careers in science and engineering and visit with representatives from colleges and universities, scholarship agencies and test prep organizations. In addition, students have the opportunity to travel and network outside their community, two key elements to becoming a successful Latino/a college student and engineer.
Over $10,000 is provided in scholarships and related travel. An additional $43,000 in conference registration, lodging, and travel is provided to offset the cost of attendance.
The AHETEMS Pre-College Symposia is a two-and-a-half day college and career awareness program for Latino/a middle school and high school students. Two tracks - a High School Track and a Middle School Track - are held for approximately 1,200 Latino/a students from the local community, out-of-state areas, and SHPE Jr. chapters. The program is held annually at various universities throughout the United States in conjunction with the SHPE Conference.
High school students attend workshops on college financial aid, SAT/ACT test prep, college choice, college admissions, and careers in science and engineering. In addition, students have the opportunity to meet with over 30 colleges, universities, and scholarship programs participating in the College Fair. Other events include the Welcome Dinner hosted by the Department of Defense, a corporate or university tour, and the college career fair. Previous guest speakers have included NASA astronauts Dr. John Daniel (Danny) Olivas and José M. Hernández, and renowned educator and Hispanic youth advocate Jaime Escalante.
Middle school students (i.e. 6th to 8th grade students) attend a one day program complete with hands-on activities in science, technology, engineering and math. These entertaining and challenging activities are hosted by various corporate representatives and engineering college students.
HISTORY
In 2006, AHETEMS hosted 780 high school students and chaperones from throughout the United States in a 3-day pre-college program in Buena Vista, Florida. This event marked the first time any such program in magnitude and scope was coordinated for pre-college students. Non-local students attended a dinner sponsored by the Department of Defense, a day-long program at the University of Central Florida consisting of financial aid, college choice/admissions, and engineering career workshops, and a college fair. They also had the opportunity to visit with Astronaut Dr. Daniel "Danny" Olivas. Students also spend time in Disney's Magic Kingdom.
In January 2007, in Denver, Colorado, AHETEMS introduced the Middle School Track and hosted 230 local middle school students for a one-day program, which included hands-on activities and a motivational talk by NASA Astronaut Jose Hernandez. The High School Track hosted 125 out-of-state students for a 2.5 day conference and 350 local high school students for a one-day series of workshops. The complete conference consisted of a dinner hosted by the Department of Defense, a chemistry demonstration by the Mean Green Demo Team from the University of North Texas, and a program at the University of Colorado and Health Sciences Center consisting of workshops on college admissions, financial aid and careers in science and engineering. Students also attended a college fair, the SHPE Gala Banquet, a trip to the Air Force Academy, and then attended the SHPE Career Fair.
In November of 2007, as the conference was moved to the fall semester, the program was hosted by Villanova University in Philadelphia, PA, and by the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ in 2008.
