TSC enrichment program enhances parent, student connection in BISD schools

Texas Southmost College’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers staff talk to parents and students Sept. 30, 2019 about educational opportunities at TSC.

Texas Southmost College’s Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers participated in BISD Early College High School open house days Sept. 30 to inform students and parents of the various opportunities available to them through the program’s before and after school extracurricular activities.

The BISD open houses provide an opportunity for students, parents and teachers to connect and offer insight into how schools can better serve their students. At each open house, Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers, TSC’s grant-funded enrichment program, conducts outreach to recruit and inform students and parents of the program’s activities and various information sessions offered free of cost.

“We’ve seen our students, our teachers and parents come and get firsthand information from Texas Southmost College professors that help show the different career pathways available through TSC,” said Norma Jean Canales, principal of Rivera Early College High School. “These opportunities give them the awareness of what’s offered and what they can do. Parents sometimes don’t know what’s going on in their community and with these open houses and information sessions they are given an in-depth idea about the careers available to their children.”

With Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers, TSC advisors visit high school campuses and work directly with college labs, and assist parents with the college application process.

Canales says that the connections that have been made produce a child who wants to keep on going to their college education.

“Honestly, I’ve seen the growth with my students,” said Beatriz Escobedo, a biology teacher at Rivera. “The meetings (TSC have) allow parents to understand that their child can have a future. There’s opportunity because we live here and TSC is here. We’re able to connect everyone and that’s very important when it comes to education.”

The college’s Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers attended sessions at Hanna ECHS, Porter ECHS, Pace ECHS, Lopez ECHS and Rivera ECHS.