HALO brings high schoolers to WSU

WSU HALO (Hispanic American Leadership Organization) host an event called Sí, Se Puede day which invites Latino high school students in the Wichita community to come visit the Wichita State University campus and learn more about higher education offered by the university.

Wichita State’s Hispanic American Leadership Organization’s motto of “yes, it can be done” extended to the turnout at its event last week.

Only in its second year, HALO’s Sí Se Puede (Yes, It Can Be Done) Day picked up momentum with more people attending this year than last year.

Sí Se Puede Day included four workshops for high school students to learn about different WSU organizations. They included teaching students how to be better leaders and to strive to continue their education.

“This year’s event is way better than last year. We invested more time, money and effort,” Oscar Flores, HALO’s vice president, said. “We had a lot more volunteers and we invited one more school.”

Local high schools with HALO or Hispanic groups were invited. 

Southeast High School senior Samy Rivera said he is glad the school’s group was invited.

“This event lets you get to know other Latin people who are also wanting to better themselves,” Rivera said.

HALO’s Chairman of Education Jihad Al-Khatib said he wanted to help reboost Sí Se Puede Day when he joined HALO in the fall of 2012.

Al-Khatib is half Palestinian and half Mexican. He said he saw the need for getting a higher level of education. He is a first-generation American.

Al-Khatib’s committee recruited the Pre-Dental Student Association, Sigma Lamba Beta and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers to assist with the workshops.

Mandy Yip, president of the Pre-Dental Student Association, said she was proud to collaborate with HALO.

“We do a lot to promote minority groups coming here to college and when we heard about this (event) we just jumped on it because most of our students in Pre-Dental Student Association are minorities and females and we thought it’d be a great opportunity,” Yip said.

South High’s Latino Leaders supervising teacher Teresa Molina also saw this as an opportunity for her students to learn that attending college is possible.

“I have lots of kids who maybe are undocumented and think that they cannot go to college and are seeing that that isn’t true,” Molina said. “I have other people who would be first-generation students who maybe do not have the money to come to college. This is a great leadership opportunity.”

Molina also praised the social aspect of the event.

“They get to network with other high school students and college students who are fighting for the same thing,” she said.