Why Oregon MEChA Statewide Is Closing the Achievement Gap.

Fourteen years after the founding of Oregon MEChA Statewide, the '08 MEChA Leadership Institute gathered student officers from around the state at Mt Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon, last Friday, Nov. 7th. We were warmly welcomed to the campus by the chapter advisor, Ms Elizabeth Perry. In a room of 31 officers, board member and Western Oregon University alumn Ms Eloina Franco posed the question,

"How many of you have anyone in your family that has graduated college?"

Only 1 hand shot up. Exactly, that's why Oregon MEChA Statewide is here. To close this achievement gap.

The Institute has been closing the high school achievement gap since it was first launched. Aimed at the high school MEChA student officers, these students learn about good study habits, college entrance exams, life in college, running effective meetings, taking minutes, fundraising, recruiting members, and in general being good citizen role models. Some want to study engineering, others business. Some want to start at a community college, others want to go straight to a four-year.

I was pleased to run into Mr Jerardo Marquez of the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. His group awards scholarships annually, this years' application opens Dec 1, 2008. Forty-nine hardworking students received help last year, $145K total awarded. Marquez noted that the average award is between $2-5K. Board member, Mr Juan Mayoral, a retired U.S. Army Paratrooper and Portland State University alumn also expressed his delight of this year's Institute. I was glad to see Mayoral still pounding the ground for these bright students. I was also invited by the college MEChistAs from Western Oregon University promoting the 2009 MEChA Regional Conference. Their hope is that through their conference they can expose these Latino students to the college atmosphere, and perhaps recruit a few to the Monmouth campus. Again, closing the achievement gap.

Last month, the board had asked if I would present a 50-minute workshop on effective meetings. I agreed. The bright, smart and articulate MEChA high school students that I witnessed as a presenter at this year's Institute was super reassuring. Ladies, and gentlemen with these students, their supporting families and their advisors closing the achievement gap is closing. To the attendees and advisors, as promised I've embedded my powerpoint below using SlideShare. Let me know if you run into any issues clicking through. As always I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

Enjoy! -David Molina, Co-Founder/CEO, BilingualHire

The Effective Meeting

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