GONZALES — Career path opportunities along with valuable college entrance information were available to Gonzales Unified School District (GUSD) students at the second annual College and Career Fair on Oct. 14 at the Gonzales High School campus.
Colleges from as far north as the University of Oregon and as far south as Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo participated the event, along with UC Berkeley, Cal State Sacramento and UC Santa Cruz. Local colleges attending included Hartnell College and Monterey Peninsula College.
Along with the colleges in attendance, students attended sessions and workshops that included workforce information in plumbing, law enforcement, agriculture and media and technology.
The event began at 10 a.m. in the Roger Fernando Gym with a presentation by keynote speaker and Monterey County District 3 Supervisor Chris Lopez, who took time out on his birthday to speak to the students, parents and school staff.
“You have an extremely supportive community,” Lopez said. “When you drive down the main strip, you can see all the banners of the kids that are doing incredible things. This means your community sees you and cares about you. Lift each other up and carry a ladder and a wheelbarrow. When you succeed, use the ladder to lift the next person up to where you are. When someone is struggling, pull out the wheelbarrow and help them get to where you are going. Helping others by lifting them up makes us all stronger.”
After the inspiring words from Lopez, GUSD Superintendent Matilde Zamora was joined by school board members and representatives from Hartnell College for a ribbon cutting to officially launch the Gonzales Early College High School Program for 9-12 grade students.
The program will begin next August on the Gonzales High campus.
Hartnell College will be looking for a group of 30 current eighth-grade students (ninth graders in 2024-25) and 30 current ninth-graders (10th graders in 2024-25). Current ninth graders will take one class in the summer of 2024.
The criteria used to select students who apply will include: 1) Student Motivation (most important factor); 2) GPA; and 3) Reading Level.
“We will be looking for students that want to go into education in some way,” said Ben Grainger of Hartnell College. “Whether they want to go into elementary education, early childhood education, teach in special education or even if they want teach in middle school or high school, be a school counselor or a coach, this pathway will provide the classes to work towards their educational goals.”
While Hartnell has satellite campuses in King City and Soledad that offer many courses of study, the Early College High School Program will be only taking place at Gonzales High School and will allow students in the program to earn a year and a half of college credit while working on their high school diploma.
Melissa Morales, the newest member of the Gonzales Unified School District Board of Trustees, was excited about having the chance to serve as a board member and to able to participate at the College and Career Fair. Morales, 25, is the youngest school board member in South Monterey County.
“I’ve always felt I would help in the Gonzales community, but I worked in Monterey for a couple of years and felt detached from the community,” Morales said. “When I heard there was a seat available here on the Board, I put in my paperwork and was selected. It is so exciting to be at this event because there are so many pathways you can take for yourself to progress, and of course you can always come back to serve your family and friends that we care about in this community.”
