The League of United Latin American Youth Leadership Conference was instituted in 1988 in response to concerns about the state of education and lack of programs that promoted and developed leadership in young people attending middle and high school. It was believed that schools needed community involvement to assist with these key issues and with the cooperation and involvement of our public, private and charter schools and institutions of higher learning, a nationally recognized program was born to assist students with a program that would offer resources, mentoring and leadership skills to help our youth and young adults remain in school, graduate and further their education. It was important that students who attend the conference be exposed to an institution of higher education thus the setting for the conference at Pima Community College's West Campus.
During its inaugural year, the conference was a one-day program that reached more than 900 youth; a number surpassed each year to the current attendance sixteen years later of 5,000 youth in an expanded two-day program; one day for middle schools and the other for high schools.
As important as the development of the LULAC Youth Leadership Conference was for the State of Arizona, so was the formulation of the LULAC Educator's Banquet, an opportunity to not only celebrate the accomplishments of the LULAC Youth Leadership Conference, but to also encourage the community to assist and be a part of contributing to our children's future via a scholarship fund which to date has provided more than half a million dollars in scholarships.
In 1996 the Metropolitan Education Commission (MEC) learned that Pima County ranked last out of all Arizona counties in high school graduation rates at 57%. Almost immediately the Commission held hearings and forums in the community to gather information on how to accelerate the change in these rates. Out of this process came the GOAL ONE: GRADUATE! META NUMERO UNO:GRADUAR! Action Plan. One of the Guiding Principles for this plan was: “We are committed to motivating students from their earliest years who have varying academic skills, attitudes, abilities, and interests through career development, vocational and alternative educational programs, and higher education opportunities’’.
The MEC then joined together with Pima Santa Cruz Tech Prep Consortium to develop a workshop for students featuring career and technical education (CTE) options. The first event was held at Flowing Wells High School and was very well received by students, parents, and local employers. This began the development of the Key to Employment for the 21st Century Symposium which through the last fourteen years has grown in attendance from a few hundred students to over one-thousand. It is designed to inspire students to pursue college, science, technology, and 21st century careers. It provides students with an opportunity to meet industry professionals, to explore technologies, to learn about courses of study, skills and educational requirements that will prepare them for college, and to connect with colleges, trade schools, and community organizations that provide opportunities for internships and training.
Today, the Key to Employment for the 21st Century Symposium includes many high tech fields: Aerospace, information technology and eLearning, Media Arts, Environmental Technology, Optics, Bio Sciences, Nanotechnology, Engineering, Hospitality, Management, Healthcare, Architecture/Construction, Law/Fire Science/Public Safety. Careers are explored through exploratoriums, exhibitors, demonstrations, and workshops. Through engaging Pima County students in exploration of industry technologies, career opportunities, job requirements, salaries, and high school and college curriculum requirements for these job opportunities, the Metropolitan Education Commission has worked to expand the number of high school graduates in Pima County as well as the growth of the number of students accessing college or technical schools and preparing to enter the workforce.
