LG Students Learn Finances

Fifteen Llano Grande students are participating in a financial literacy workshop hosted this week by The University of Texas-Pan American.
The training comes as part of a student-led initiative called Financial Aid and College Education Specialists (FACES), in which the students are becoming experts on the college application process in order to provide guidance to their peers and local families.
As part of the expertise they are gaining, the FACES students are learning about various topics including budgeting, saving, banking, and credit card use, essential knowledge for any graduate who is expected to take on more responsibility for themself after high school.
Students will benefit from their learning as they transition into financially independent adults, but will also be sharing their learning with other youth and community members as they launch their peer mentoring program on issues of college admissions and financial planning for college.
This training is made possible through a Hispanic Serving Institution Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant awarded to the University of Texas Pan American

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YAB Presentation Photos Online

State Farm formally announced Llano Grande student Edgar Diaz as one of 17 young people from across the U.S. selected to be a member on their Youth Advisory Board at a presentation held at the Llano Grande House on July 21, 2009.

Photos of the event can be viewed HERE .

The press release about the event can be read HERE .

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LG Hosting Free Training on Service Learning

The Llano Grande Center, with support from the State Farm Good Neighbor Citizenship grant, will be hosting a free full-day seminar in October for teachers and students on service learning.

This workshop, scheduled for November 13, will enable teachers and students to understand the elements and benefits of service-learning and to design service-learning projects for their own classrooms. Because State Farm is committed to supporting service learning in more classrooms across South Texas, this workshop is open to teachers and students from across the Rio Grande Valley.

As part of the workshop, the Llano Grande Center will share its own curriculum for service learning, as well as examples of some of the success stories to come out of Edcouch-Elsa High School. One of those successes includes a group of students who organized an awareness campaign to inform teens about the dangers of distracted driving.

“Being involved last year in Llano Grande’s Ready, Set, Drive project was life changing,” said Angie Rodriguez, a 2009 Edcouch-Elsa High School graduate who helped to organize the cleanups. “It’s not about just giving my time to a service project, but about changing myself, seeing others change as well, and learning things I may not have learned otherwise in a typical classroom.”

Teachers who participate are eligible to recieve a free Flip camcorder (www.theflip.com) to document whatever service learning projects they initiate at their own school.

A brochure of the workshop can be downloaded HERE. For more information, or to register for the workshop, please call Associate Director Delia Perez at (956) 262-4474. Because space is limited, teachers are asked to register as soon as possible.

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New Date For Service Learning Training

The service learning training being hosted by the Llano Grande Center has been rescheduled for Friday, November 13, 2009. More information on the training can be found HERE. A brochure for the training can be downloaded HERE.

The training will be held from 9 a.m to 3:30 p.m. at the Hampton Inn & Suites located on Nolana and Expressway 281 in Pharr.

Registration for this FREE event is open until October 30. For more information, or to register, please call our office at (956) 262-4474.

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Llano Grande to be featured on “Today” Show

The Llano Grande Center will be featured on national television Thursday, October 22 as part of a weeklong NBC News series called “A Woman’s Nation” which takes an in-depth look at the changing role of women in the workplace The story, which focuses on Llano Grande Center Associate Director Delia Pé²¥z, will air during the “Today Show.”

Reported on by “Today Show” correspondent Jenna Bush-Hager, the piece highlights Pé²¥z as an inspirational role model for young women, because of her accomplishments, but also because her work with the Center creates new opportunities for young women to succeed. The feature will also highlight the work of the Llano Grande Center as a model of assets-based learning that looks beyond deficits to encourage young people to achieve.

Pé²¥z is a native of the Monte Alto community just north of Elsa, the youngest of seven children to parents who had little formal education. Before graduating as salutatorian from Edcouch-Elsa High School, she was part of the student group that initiated the Ivy League college trip at EEHS. Delia attended and graduated from Yale University and returned to help develop the Llano Grande Center as a teacher. Her work as the chief manager of the Center focuses on developing leadership in young people as a way to prepare them for college.

The feature on Pé²¥z and the Llano Grande Center is part of an NBC News series developed by former NBC reporter Maria Shriver titled “A Woman’s Nation” which reports on the emergence of strong women in roles beyond the home. Data being reported on as part of the piece highlight how women now – for the first time – make up 50% of the nation’s workforce, and how more than 50% of graduate degrees are now earned by women.

The story on Pé²¥z and the Llano Grande Center will also feature interviews with students who have been influenced by Pé²¥z and continue to be involved in the Center’s programming. Maribel Saenz, a Llano Grande Board Member and a senior at the University of Texas-Pan American; and Samantha Herrera and Angelica Rodriguez, both seniors at EEHS, sat down with Bush-Hager to answer questions about their experience with Llano Grande and the role women have played in their lives.

The “Today Show” airs weekdays from 7 to 10 a.m. on NBC affiliate KVEO, channel 23, cable channel 8.

The Llano Grande Center is a community-based non-profit that operates in conjunction with the Edcouch-Elsa school district to revitalize the local community through youth. The goals of the Center include creating access to higher education, engaging students in community change initiatives and developing leadership that respects local history and culture.

For more information, please contact our office at (956) 262-4474.

For more information on “A Woman’s Nation” please visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33247001/ns/today-a_womans_nation.

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Article on Llano Grande in The Monitor

The Llano Grande Center was feThe Llano Grande Center was featured in a story in The Monitor – South Texas’ largest daily newspaper – about the Center’s upcoming national appearance on NBC’s “Today” Show.

The article – which can be read online HERE – highlight’s Llano Grande Associate Director Delia Perez and her role in working with young people to develop leadership and provide new opportunities.

The national story produced by NBC is scheduled to appear on Thursday, during the “Today” Show, sometime between 7-10 a.m. Central. More information on that story can be found HERE.

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LG Featured On NBC’s “Today” Show

The Llano Grande Center and Associate Director Delia Perez were featured in a nationally aired segment on NBC’s “Today” Show this morning.

The newsstory is part of several pieces produced by NBC News for a series entitled “A Woman’s Nation” which focuses on the changing role of women in the workplace and at home.

Thursday’s segment on the Llano Grande Center – reported on by “Today” Show correspondent Jenna Bush-Hager – focused on Perez’s story as a young woman who helped to create a movement here in Edcouch-Elsa that sends more and more students to high school, including Ivy League universities.

The story shows how Delia, salutatorian of Edcouch-Elsa High School class of 1993, went to Yale University and returned home after graduating from college to inspire other young women to do the same.

The story can currently be seen on NBC’s website HERE or by visiting:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33247001/vp/33429071#33429071

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Llano Grande Students Begin Gardening

Following up on work that began last year, students in this year’s Llano Grande class have been developing a research project around the idea of health and nutrition.

Under this project, the young leaders are exploring the food they are served in school, what access they have to food at home, and what implications exist for their health, their quality of life and the way they view the world.

As part of that research, Llano Grande students are also engaging in the creation of a garden, where they will experiment with growing their own food, participating in the “slow food” movement and learning what alternatives exist for their consumption. As students learn about healthy options, community sustainability and the social issues around food, they hope to continue sharing their learning with their community.

This video represents the beginning of that garden project. It was filmed at the Mercado Gardens, a project hosted by the Delta Region Revitalization Corporation in Edcouch, TX. You can view it below, or by clicking HERE.

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Llano Hosting College Party

A Llano Grande Center student group is giving high school students the chance to get real insight into what they’ll be facing in college.

The EEHS College Party, coordinated by the Financial Aid and College Education Specialists (FACES) group, is bringing together alumni from universities across the country to talk to students about their own college experience. The event is intended to provide high school students a perspective on college that goes beyond SAT scores and dorm life, focusing on some of the real-world challenges and opportunities that come with higher education.

During the event, high school students will be able to go from classroom to classroom to listen to alumni from more than 20 universities, including Ivy League schools. During the presentations, the students will also be able to ask questions about anything from college life to financial management.

Parents of high school students are also invited to the event to hear from other parents who have sent their children away to college, as well as to ask questions about what to expect.

The event is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 17, at Edcouch-Elsa High School. Please feel free to call our office at (956) 262-4474 if you have any questions

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FACES Meetings Moved To Tuesdays

In order to accommodate the changing schedules of students and staff, the weekly meeting of the Financial Aid and College Education Specialists (FACES) group is being rescheduled from Thursday afternoons to Tuesday afternoons.

The meetings will still begin at 4:30 p.m. and take place at the Llano Grande House, located on Monte Cristo Rd.

The staff felt this move would help better accommodate the schedule of students who weren’t able to make the meetings on Thursday afternoons due to other extra-curricular activities or because of work.

“There is a lot of important work that our FACES groups is working on, and we felt it was important to make sure that we could meet with them,” said Llano Grande Center Associate Director Delia Perez. “We feel this new schedule will help bring more students into the meetings.”

FACES is a student-led initiative, supported financially by the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, that does community outreach on the college application process and financial aid. Along with setting up events and college recruitment meetings, the group is also available to meet with parents and students one-on-one to offer guidance and advice on college services.

It is still possible for students to join FACES and help spread the word about college. For more information about FACES, please come by the Llano Grande office at Edcouch-Elsa High School in Room A-1, or can contact us by calling (956) 262-4474.

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