Texarkana, Texas and Arkansas newspaper. Includes news, sports, opinion, and local information. Get the latest news and analysis in the stock market today, including national and world stock market news, business news, financial news and more. Top Guide To Buying And Selling Tickets Executive Branch' title='Top Guide To Buying And Selling Tickets Executive Branch' />Latina students during the 2. All 1. 9 of the seniors from last year are currently enrolled in college. Of the elementary and middle school girls, exit surveys show improved self image, deeper confidence and better grades than Latina counterparts not in the program. Aguilar, 2. 8, has had her hands in nearly all of this. In six years with the program, she has led nearly a dozen after school groups. She stuck with one of these groups from third through ninth grade. Her sessions cover topics from alcohol abuse prevention to STEM to LGBTQ support. Aguilar repeats one particular session with nearly every group she has mentored Why you should appreciate your Spanish culture. I want them to love who they are, not be ashamed, she says, explaining that her girls often feel they are ugly, unsupported or hated by their peers. The low income girls Adelante Mujeres serves have working parents, several of them with field labor jobs, according to Aguilar. When they leave school, these girls return home to assist with cooking and cleaning only then can they attempt their homework. Girls come in to the program with anger, blaming their parents for things, she says. Best Certified Ethical Hacking Course In India. But they leave here with a completely different mentality. The Hollywood Reporter is your source for breaking news about Hollywood and entertainment, including movies, TV, reviews and industry blogs. Nick Douglas. Staff Writer, Lifehacker Nick has been writing online for 11 years at sites like Urlesque, Gawker, the Daily Dot, and Slacktory. They begin to appreciate the hard work. Aguilar is no stranger to the topic of hard work. In addition to mentoring, she takes high schoolers and their parents on college visits, for which she coordinates the transportation and on campus experience. I like taking the girls, she says. But I like taking the families more. Often times they are afraid to let their daughters go to college. They dont want them to go out of town. Visits to University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Western Oregon University, Linfield College and PSU usually mean all day Saturday trips. At Aguilars urging, colleges facilitate student panels with other minority students, lunch with Latinas attending the school, admissions workshops and dorm tours. Aguilar aims to show parents and girls what helpful services the school can provide. We can enroll our girls, she explains. But then what Whos going to be there to make them feel connected to the college That is what I want them to know. From across a conference table in Adelante Mujeres second floor office, she explains that many of her Chicas girls view her as a second mom. She is a mom to two of her own, ages 7 and 2, a youth soccer coach, wife, daughter and member of Forest Groves Lions Club. Does she sleepYou get used to it, she says with a shrug and a laugh. I cant remember what its like to come home and not do anything. But doing nothing isnt really Aguilars style. Her next goal includes finishing a second degree in human development. I want to provide more support to the girls and really understand the development stages they are going through, she says. Steph Barnhart. BOTTOM LINE FOR PORTLANDAguilar assists more than 4. Latina girls in Forest Grove annually by providing leadership education, mentorship and college prep. Leticia Aguilars prize is generously sponsored by Grady Britton.