San Antonio Major Julian Castro used the first day of school as an occasion to convey an important message to students. High school students need to have their sights set on college.
Castro not only wants San Antonio students to stay in school. He wants them to aim high.
“Their economic future and the economic future of this city depends on them getting a college degree,” Castro said. “So they’ve got to go on beyond high school. That’s just the reality of the 21st century. We want to do everything we can to make that more possible for them.”
A surprised Lee High School student body got an inspirational message along with their usual morning announcements. “I just wanted to wish each and every one of you a great school year on behalf of 1.3 million San Antonians,” Castro said over the public address system.
Then, he took to the classroom to tell seniors about a new city initiative. It’s a program called Café College, a one-stop shopping place for high school students looking for help in navigating the intimidating college application process. It was a welcome message.
“Anyone in high school or middle school can go and get expert information on admissions and financial aid and get free or discounted SAT prep courses,” Castro explained. “So it’s going to be an all-purpose resource center for folks to achieve their dream of going to college.”
“All of us as parents want our children to do better than we do in life,” commented Lee High School principal Michael Cardona. “And that’s really all we can ask. And college is a way to do that.”
At Lee High School, only about 55% of seniors go on to college. That’s a figure the principal and the mayor would like to see change.
