Hispanic Education Conference set for Saturday in Modesto

The Modesto Junior College Hispanic Education Conference will be Saturday, giving high school students information about higher education and a variety of occupations, aiming to help Latino teens aspire higher.

The free conference will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Performing and Media Arts Center on the east campus. Students will go to workshops and hear keynote speaker Jorge Perez, son of farmworker parents, who left the gang life to complete his education and become a positive leader.

Workshops will cover career exploration; politics, community and family; youth leadership; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers; preparing for careers in manufacturing or becoming an attorney; Bridge and Project YES programs, and information sessions on MJC, California State University, Stanislaus, and engineering and construction management programs at CSU, Fresno.

Perez now serves as director of the department of student, parent and community support services for the Modesto City Schools district.

He was born in Mountain View to parents who left Mexico in the early 1970s and taught him the values of hard work and respect, and the importance of an education.

Perez’ parents were farmworkers who migrated to Yuma, Ariz., each winter. The winter when Perez was 10, his parents left him and his older brother with relatives in east Salinas to remain in school.

While they were away, Perez began associating with gang members, and by the age of 12 had developed a pattern of getting in trouble with the law. When his father died from a heart attack, 15-year-old Perez further turned toward gangs and risky behavior, eventually spending time in juvenile hall.

In time, Perez was able to combine his “street smarts” with an education and turn his life around. He credits his mother, who never gave up on him, and an 11th-grade teacher who became his mentor, with helping him.

Perez became the first person in his family to graduate from high school, and in 2000 earned a bachelor’s degree in education from California State University, Stanislaus. In 2009, Perez earned a master of science in educational counseling with a pupil personnel services credential from the University of La Verne.

This story was originally published March 18, 2015 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Hispanic Education Conference set for Saturday in Modesto."