ACT Academy to Help Prepare Latino Students

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Office of Latino Academic Advancement and Community Relations and College Access Initiatives, both part of the Diversity Affairs Office, are developing a significant program to support Latino students in Northwest Arkansas to prepare for the ACT exam and the college application process.

La Academia del ACT, or the ACT Academy, is a week-long program that has the object of empowering Latino students with knowledge about their preparation for the ACT exam and the overall application process to higher education institutions. La Academia provides English language learners and Spanish heritage speakers effective strategies to break the language barrier, drawing from their bilingual skills.

La Academia del ACT will take place on August 11-15 at Rogers Heritage High School located at 1114 S. 5^th St., Rogers. The program's daily activities will entail classes about the importance of biliteracy, overview of the ACT exam, the process of college admissions, financial aid, essay and resume writing, and registration for the ACT exam. The schedule for the daily meetings will be from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. during the whole week of the program. The audience for this program is Latino high school students from 10^th to 12^th grade. On Aug. 16, there will be a closing ceremony to award certificates to the students participating in La Academia, and their parents will have the opportunity to attend as well.

There is a limited numbers of spaces available for participants in this program. The cost is $40, which will include lunch for the whole week, cost of materials, and a voucher of $35 to register for the ACT exam. Students who would like to still register for the event can do so by contacting Rafael Arciga at rarciga@uark.edu or Mirna Ordoñez at mjordone@email.uark.edu, in order to receive the application form and detailed information of this program.

The Office of Latino Academic Advancement and Community Relations, better known as La Oficina Latina, and College Access Initiatives are part of the Diversity Affairs Office at the University of Arkansas; and they align in the vision to develop important programs that create more relevant opportunities for advancement in education for underserved and underrepresented students in Arkansas.