Originally published January 23, 2015
By Daniel Perez
UTEP News Service
This year’s Mother-Daughter/Father-Son Career Day event at The University of Texas at El Paso will introduce some fifth- and sixth-grade students and their parents to a spectrum of professions and the role of higher education to achieve those positions.
Approximately 200 students from the Canutillo, Gadsden, Socorro and Ysleta school districts will meet with some of the 36 or so professionals in the fields of law, business, science, writing, education, medicine and engineering who will attend the event at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. The event kicks off with a presentation by Steven E. Smith, vice president of instruction at El Paso Community College, in UTEP’s Union Cinema.
The career day is part of the yearlong Mother-Daughter/Father-Son (MD-FS) Program that was started by UTEP in 1986 to encourage Hispanic girls to attend and graduate from college ready for the career of their choice, and to involve mothers who have a strong family influence. The program started with 32 sixth-grade girls, but quickly expanded. It added the Father-Son component in the mid-1990s and today’s cohorts average about 250 students.
School and district coordinators have said that participation improves grades, attendance and attitude; advances the possibilities of higher education; and enhances parental involvement in the schools. Participants are selected for the program based on criteria including a recommendation from their teacher, no college attendees in their immediate families, and a promise to attend all sessions with a parent and to be part of a community service project at their schools.
“It’s had a positive impact on the school and the community,” said Jose Medel, physical education teacher at Bill Childress Elementary School in the Canutillo Independent School District. Medel has been the school’s Father-Son coordinator for 10 years. “We see students take on leadership roles at the school and the parents get more involved in their children’s lives.”
Medel, who earned his bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies in 2003 from UTEP, said he encounters former students who share their academic and professional successes. Many of them give some credit to the MD-FS program because it exposed them to the University and career options.
Josefina V. “Josie” Tinajero, Ed.D., professor of education, said she has spoken with past participants who tell her the one nugget they heard that day that rang true. It might have been about perseverance, studying hard or dreaming big.
Tinajero, who helped launch the program in 1986, said parents appreciate the career day because they see professionals volunteer their time to share their wisdom and encourage their children. It often generates a desire among them to be more involved in community service at their campuses.
Tinajero said there will be a few new professions represented among the 10 panel discussions in the Psychology, Liberal Arts and Business Administration buildings. They include controller, federal public defender, architect and advertising specialist.
Among the panelists will be Julia Lechuga, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at UTEP. The first-generation college student grew up in El Paso and Juárez and earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology from UTEP. She struggled with English proficiency as an immigrant and held full-time jobs to pay for college. Lechuga said her turning point was finding a UTEP professor who helped her realize that she could achieve her academic goals.
“The bottom line for me is we don’t have all the answers and it’s perfectly OK to seek help,” Lechuga said.
Lee Ellen Banks is another scheduled panelist. She is controller at Lone Tree Strategic Operations, a family investment company, and president of the Executive Forum, a local civic group made up of approximately 130 female executives who oversee businesses, nonprofits, academic institutions, and governmental and legal entities.
The group got involved with MD-FS several years ago as a tribute to a former member who was a staunch MD-FS program supporter. Banks said her organization started an endowment in 2009 to help MD-FS and has continued to offer financial assistance.
This summer she began to study how her organization’s members could get more involved in the program. She decided one way was to provide presenters at the annual career day. She reached out to several other members and their spouses or friends and was pleasantly surprised at the level of interest.
“I got a great response from a number of professionals who were willing to give of themselves to help,” Banks said.
Tinajero said the MD-FS Program will recognize the Executive Forum’s support during Saturday’s event.
Information: 915-204-3499 or http://academics.utep.edu/motherdaughter