Information on applying to college, financial aid, parental involvement, teaching strategies and life on campus highlight the 8th annual Latino Education Summit: “Education is Everybody’s Business,” Saturday, Feb. 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the Hayward campus of California State University, East Bay, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd.

Registration, light breakfast, lunch and parking are free! High school students, parents, teachers, school administrators, counselors, and business and community leaders are encouraged to attend. Two computers are among the prizes that will be given away in a drawing at the end of the summit. The event is open to all.

The summit features dozens of workshops in English and Spanish aimed at providing important information to college-bound students and their parents. Teachers and educators will learn strategies for dealing with multicultural and language issues.

Keynote speakers will be Arturo Gonzalez, a veteran lawyer with more than 20-years experience in litigating civil rights cases with the prestigious San Francisco law firm of Morrison & Foerster and Jose Lazares, a vice president at Oracle Corp. High school students, parents and educators are encouraged to attend.

“Year after year we have been able to pass on information and resources to hundreds of Latino families,” said Ron Silva, president of the Hispanic Business, Education, and Training, Inc., one of the conference founders. “We are thrilled with this conference's success.”

The conference is sponsored by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Alameda County and Hispanic Business and Training, Inc. in partnership with the Alameda County Office of Education, Cal State East Bay and Chabot College. The event is also supported by several corporations and businesses committed to improving educational opportunities for the Latino community.

“The key to the success of “Education is Everybody’s Business” has been the leadership of the Hispanic Chamber in developing partnerships with educational institutions and in convincing businesses and corporations to provide funding so that the event can be free,” said Sheila Jordan, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools.

For the first time, CSU East Bay, Chabot College, and other higher education institutions are offering on-the-spot admission to eligible high school seniors. Pre-registration for the event is highly recommended though not required. For further information and to register, call 510-885-3516 or 510-536-4477. Or you can go to www.csueastbay.edu, look under “Top Stories” and click on the link for the "2008 Latino Education Summit."