SOU Youth Programs
SOU Latino/a/x Youth Programs
With an intent to serve our Latino/a/x community, we offer a variety of ways to engage in meaningful programming. Through our after-school Pathways programming, Juntos en Familia community event, and Academia summer camps, we celebrate identity and work to strengthen cultural bonds.
Academia Latina & Academia Leadership
Developed in 2000 as an annual summer camp, Academia Latino brings students in grade 7 through 9 to the SOU campus for a week to participate in classes, explore the Ashland community, and learn and grow in their culture. With a desire to continue serving our youth, the focus expanded in 2013 to offer Academia Leadership, a 9-day overnight camp, to students completing grades 10 and 11.
César E. Chávez Leadership Conference
As a day-long event held at SOU, the César E. Chávez Leadership Conference has been annually bringing hundreds of students to campus since 2011. Through breakout sessions and workshops, students focus on areas of leadership, cultural arts, and college preparation. Focusing on leadership skills and developing their knowledge of contemporary issues within the Latino/a/x communities, the conference has been a staple of the university community.
Family Events
Latino Family Day and Juntos en Familiar are both day-long educational conferences designed for Latino/a/x families. With a focus on high school success and college preparedness, the conferences are held in both English and Spanish and help ensure that both the students and their support systems are well informed and advised about their educational journey.
Pathway Programs
The Pathway program for students started with the Phoenix Talent School District in 2011. With a focus on supporting Latino/a/x youth who intend to enroll in college upon graduation from high school, the program has been a staple in the southern Oregon community ever since. Through weekly after school programming, tutoring, financial guidance, scholarship assistance, the students access the program from eighth grade to senior year. Additionally, students in Medford are able to receive these benefits through a similar pathways program, Adelante.
