SF State’s Project Connect teamed up with more than 30 groups, teams and organizations at the Bay Area High School Conference on Oct. 4 to promote higher education for high school students from low-income neighborhoods.

About 350 students from San Jose, Oakland, Daly City, Hayward, and San Francisco converged at Jack Adams Hall for an informational fair with food and live entertainment. The students attended an orientation and ate lunch before visiting their choice of more than 15 workshops, with topics ranging from resume building to cinema production.

Yasmine Williams, 17, is a senior at Oakland Tech High School and said her dream is to attend UCLA and possibly major in journalism. She is one of many who took advantage of the free information at the event, and chose to attend a workshop that outlined the history of minority education in the United States, titled "500 Years of Mis-Education."

“It makes it easier on me. I learned lots of info I didn’t know before,” said Williams, who counted 25 other students from Oakland Tech.

Associated Students, Inc. worker Vanessa Perez said she has been involved with Project Connect for five years, and explained that part of the project’s goals are to help high school students that are under-represented.

“We are here to provide and advocate access to higher education to underprivileged kids,” Perez said. “We are here to motivate, give them tools, and work against the inequity in access of college information at these schools.”

Project Connect is spearheaded by director Mario Flores, a member of Associated Students, Inc. An ethnic studies graduate of SF State, Flores said it has become a passion to return the favor that was given to him.

“As an immigrant student with low income, it was very difficult for me to come to school,” Flores said. “Because my parents did not go to school, they thought it was impossible for me.”

Flores welcomed the nine represented high schools with entertainment from local hip hop station KMEL, who sent Darell “D.C” Coleman out to appeal to the students.

“We like to be out in the community doing what we can,” said Coleman, a graduate of Patten University in Oakland. “The college information is out there. It takes someone to be proactive and go find it.”

In some cases, however, information found students. Skyline College sent recruiter Juanita Quintero to SF State to represent the San Bruno school and educate students about their options.

Quintero said there was a wide diversity represented in the crowd, as students cheered loudly for a song over the loudspeaker.

“This can show them that college is not all about studying. You can have fun, too,” she said.

Another group with a table at the fair was the Black Student Union, which provided information on financial aid and offered help selecting courses. BSU volunteer and Community Service Coordinator Erin Haywood worked to make sure students would be aware of their surroundings, create optimism, and be confident in achieving their goals.

“We want to remind them that there is always an option,” said Haywood, a 20-year-old education major.“It is never too late, and it is never too early.”

One student who was planning early was 14-year-old Jonathan McGinnis, a student at Jefferson High School in Daly City. McGinnis is a point guard on the school's basketball team and hopes to play for Duke University.

“I learned more about different colleges. So if I don’t get into Duke, I’ll have more options,” said McGinnis, who enjoyed the social aspect and the music most about the event.

The SF State step group of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. put on a well-received entertainment act. The group dressed in white shirts and neckties and carried red walking canes. Their dance routine had the crowd on its feet.

“We do this as a community service, never for profit,” said fraternity Polemarch, or president, Brandon Landry, a 22-year-old brodcast electronic media arts senior. “We stayed up late practicing for this one. We are reaching out to all ethnicities.”