High school students interact with community leaders at Latino conference

Irasema Salcido, center, founder of Cesar Chavez Charter School in Washington, D.C., was the keynote speaker for the eighth annual Latino Youth Conference sponsored by AU’s Latino and American Student Organization. The goal of the conference was to promote Latino culture, identity, and student leadership among area high school students. The students had an opportunity at the conference to interact with community leaders and college students, such as Karleana Lahens ’06, left, and Lauren Zielinski ’06, right. Workshops dealt with such topics as preparing for college, diversity within the Latino community, and the financial aid process. —SA