Encuentros in the News

They stride confidently to the front of the class like business executives of the future, giving PowerPoint presentations to fellow classmates and teachers at Rancho Minerva Middle School in Vista. The sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade boys are poised and self-assured when asked questions about the subject matter or about the special effects they used to make their onscreen presentations zing.

All of the boys are Latino and enrolled in a unique class designed to motivate them to stay in school, be successful and take pride in their heritage. Their PowerPoint presentations are about a book they have just finished, Taking Sides by Gary Soto, in which the protagonist leaves a school in the barrio for one in the suburbs, and then struggles with his Latino identity.

In 2003, Carlsbad citizen Ofie Escobedo looked across the room during a North County Times roundtable and asked the men in attendance (in a rough paraphrase): “We in the North County Latinas Association are working hard to help our young Latinas succeed in school. What are you doing for the boys?”

The men’s response was to form the volunteer group Encuentros Leadership of North San Diego County. Encuentros, which is Spanish for “coming together,” aims to increase the number of Latino boys getting into and successfully through college. The high school dropout rate for Latino boys is and has been roughly a staggering 50 percent.

In a push to encourage more Latino boys to stay in school and move on to college, school officials in Vista have expanded a motivational after-school program this year.

The Encuentros program was designed by a local nonprofit group to help Latino boys better define who they are, what they want out of life and how they can get it.

“I think we’re just planting the seed for success,” said David Prieto, who teaches the Encuentros class at Rancho Minerva Middle School. “We’re here to build leaders.”

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